Governing Bodies
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE MAY RESUME JUNE 1 AND PLAYED FOR SIX WEEKS BEFORE NEW SEASON
The Premier League is formulating a new contingency plan to finish the season, which reportedly involves fixtures resuming from June 1 and all matches being played within a timeframe of just six weeks.
The current season has been suspended until at least April 30 due to the rapid spread of coronavirus across the UK and the globe.
The Premier League’s schedule proposal would allow the 2020-2021 campaign to begin on time, on August 8 – four weeks after the end of the previous season.
It could prevent a financial catastrophe for clubs with mammoth wage bills to pay and no matchday revenue to support them. Lucrative TV deals could also be hit, with no football currently available to broadcast.
According to The Telegraph, the June 1 start date, which is in just 10 weeks’ time, is not set in stone but more of a target for the Premier League, with the Football Association determined for the season to be concluded.
Ensuring the current season is finished means Liverpool would not be denied their first top-flight title in 30 years.
The FA announced earlier this week that they had bent their own rules to allow the season to be ‘extended indefinitely’ past the previous June 1 deadline.
Following UEFA’s decision to postpone the European Championships by a year, the June 1 start date is one of the best-case scenarios being considered by the Premier League and Football League.
The Telegraph’s report states that games would be played behind closed doors while the Premier League would require the government to sanction the presence of emergency crews within the ground.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, those resources are currently in short supply and the strain on the NHS is only going to increase as the epidemic reaches its peak, which is forecasted to be around June – the time the Premier League are hoping to resume.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a nationwide lockdown this week in an unprecedented move that shut down pubs, cafes, restaurants and public spaces across the country. There has been no football played in the UK since March 13.
Under the Premier League’s June 1 plan, they also intend for the FA Cup to be completed. Finishing both competitions would satisfy key broadcasting partners BT Sport and Sky Sports.
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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