Governing Bodies
ARSENE WENGER GRABS FIFA JOB
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger returned to football on Wednesday after being named FIFA’s chief of global football development, ending any chance of a move to managerless Bayern Munich.
FIFA said the former Arsenal and Monaco coach would be responsible for the growth of the game “for both men and women around the world”, and would also be the “leading authority on technical matters”, including potential changes to the sport’s laws.
It added that Wenger, 70, would also be tasked with coach education and aiding a programme designed to help former players enter management.
“I very much look forward to taking on this extremely important challenge,” Wenger said in a statement.
“Not only because I have always been interested in analysing football from a broader perspective but also because FIFA’s mission as world football’s governing body is truly global.”
Rumours of Wenger making a shock return to coaching had intensified over the weekend after Wenger denied claims by Bayern Munich that they had turned down his offer to take over at the German champions after the sacking of Niko Kovac.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge then said there had been a “misunderstanding” and that the Bundesliga giants would speak to Wenger “in the near future”.
However it is the new FIFA role that brings the Frenchman back to the game for the first time since 2018, when he left Arsenal after 22 years in charge.
Wenger made the Gunners one of the strongest sides in Europe, winning three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups and taking his team to the 2006 Champions League final.
His also won the French league in 1987 with Monaco, adding the French Cup four years later before departing for Japan in 1995.
“I am delighted to welcome him to the team. Since I arrived at FIFA, we have placed football at the centre of our mission, striving to learn from those who know the sport inside out,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
“Arsene is someone who, with his strategic vision, competence and hard work, has dedicated his life to football.”
Bringing in famous faces has been a key part of Infantino’s tenure at the head of FIFA.
Wenger arrives following the departures of technical chief Marco van Basten last year and former deputy secretary general Zvonimir Boban, who became AC Milan’s “chief football officer” in June.
-AFP
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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