International Football
QATAR AWARDED HOSTING RIGHTS FOR 2019 AND 2020 CLUB WORLD CUPS
BY LIAM MORGAN
Qatar has been awarded the hosting rights for the 2019 and 2020 Club World Cups by the FIFA Council as the ruling body paved the way for Gianni Infantino to be re-elected President by acclamation.
The Gulf nation will stage the next two editions of the tournament, the last to be held in its current guise, as test events for the 2022 World Cup.
The seven-team event is due to take place in December to mirror the conditions at the 2022 World Cup, moved from its traditional June-July slot to November and December owing to the heat in Qatar.
The FIFA Council earlier this year approved plans to revamp the Club World Cup and make the tournament a 24-team competition, to be held every four years in the space vacated by the Confederations Cup.
It came despite opposition from top clubs in Europe, who have threatened to boycott the new competition, the creation of which has been spearheaded by Infantino.
Potential hosts of the new Club World Cup will be “proactively approached and analysed” before the Council makes a recommendation on the location of the event at its next meeting in Shanghai in October.
The Council, meeting in Paris, unanimously agreed to put a proposal to amend the governing body’s statutes regarding the election to the Congress.
The motion from Asian Football Confederation head and senior FIFA vice-president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al‑Khalifa will allow the Congress to elect a President by acclamation if there is only one candidate.
It is expected to be rubber-stamped by FIFA’s Member Associations when they meet for the Congress on Wednesday (June 5).
Infantino, elected to complete disgraced predecessor Sepp Blatter’s term in 2015, is set to secure his first full four-year stint at the helm of FIFA at the Congress in the French capital.
The Council also agreed to reinsert the word “corruption” back into its code of ethics after it was controversially removed from the document last year.
The inclusion of sexual exploitation and abuse as severe infringements was among the other amendments, due to come into effect on August 1, approved by the Council.
The suspension on the Sierra Leone Football Association, implemented in October, was lifted with immediate effect after the body’s President Isha Johansen and secretary general Christopher Kamara were cleared of corruption offences last week.
The decision was widely expected and ends the SLFA’s brief period in exile.
FIFA has also moved to guarantee public hearings in cases of doping and match manipulation, which the governing body promises will be made public.
A “three-step procedure” which could lead to matches being automatically forfeited for racial abuse will also come into force next month.
– insidethegames
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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