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
International Football
Portugal call up same player named in England Under-18 squad
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
International Football
Soon Cisse ceases to be Senegal’s Coach
After 107 matches spanning nine years, Aliou Cisse will not have his contract renewed as Senegal coach, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Of the 107 matches, Cisse’s team won 70, drew 24 and lost 13.
But the impressive scorecard is not enough to impress his employers.
Thus, the end beckons for Cisse’s successful nine-year spell in charge of the side that included a first Africa Cup of Nations title and two World Cup qualifications.
He had been under increasing pressure after Senegal’s surprise last 16 exit at the 2023 Cup of Nations when they lost on penalties to hosts Cote d’Ivoire.
Senegal are unbeaten in six matches since then, but home draws with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burkina Faso, and criticism from certain quarters over their style of play, made up the mind of the country’s sports ministry, who fund the salary of the national team coach, that a change was needed.
“The FSF would like to thank Aliou Cisse for his good collaboration and his brilliant results at the head of the various national selections that he has managed since his arrival in 2011 and wish him every success for the future,” the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said in a statement.
FSF added Cisse’s exit stemmed from a failure to fulfil the targets in his last contract, which expired at the end of August, which included victory at the 2023 Cup of Nations and reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
They also said the “regression of our national team in the FIFA rankings and the risk of disaffection between our national team and the Senegalese (public)” had played a role.
The FSF will appoint an interim technical team to lead the side in Cup of Nations qualifiers against Malawi at home on Oct. 11 and away four days later.
Cisse, 48, was captain of Senegal when they reached the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup with what is heralded as a golden generation of players.
He briefly had a spell as caretaker coach of the national team in 2012, but took over full time three years later.
He led Senegal to 2018 and 2022 World Cup qualification, making the last 16 in the latter before losing to England. They were beaten in the final of the 2019 Cup of Nations by Algeria.
The side made up for that disappointment when they beat Egypt in the final two years later to be crowned African champions for the first time.
International Football
Why FIFA banned Samuel Eto’o
Always in the news for bad reasons, Samuel Eto’o has again made global headlines. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has banned the former striker and the current president of the Cameroon Football Federation.
He is banned from attending Cameroon’s matches for the next six months for violating conduct rules during the recent U-20 Women’s World Cup, where his national team faced Brazil in the round of 16.
According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee, Eto’o was found to have breached articles 13 (“Offensive behaviour and violations of fair play principles”) and 14 (“Misconduct of players and officials”) of FIFA’s Disciplinary Code.
The sanction stems specifically from the match between Brazil and Cameroon, held on September 11 in Bogotá, Colombia. As a result, Eto’o will be prohibited from attending any matches involving Cameroon’s national teams, both male and female, across all age groups.
“Mr Eto’o has been notified today, the date on which the sanction comes into force,” stated the FIFA press release.
This is not the first time Eto’o has faced controversy. He previously drew attention for his behavior towards players and national team coach Marc Brys, whom he allegedly threatened in front of cameras if his directives were not followed.
During the Qatar World Cup, the former Real Madrid, Mallorca, and Barcelona player made headlines again after assaulting a fan who filmed him outside a stadium after a match.
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