Governing Bodies
PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT, BIDEN BACKS US WOMEN AFTER EQUAL PAY DISPUTE
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has voiced his support for the United States women’s football team, a day after they suffered a setback in their gender discrimination lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation (USSF).
The team’s claims for equal pay were dismissed by a court last Friday, handing a victory to the country’s governing body for the sport.
“Don’t give up this fight. This is not over yet,” tweeted Biden, who was the Vice-President under Barack Obama’s administration from 2009 to 2017 and is looking to unseat incumbent Republican Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. “(To USSF) Equal pay, now. Or else when I’m president, you can go elsewhere for World Cup funding.”
The record four-time World Cup champions’ long-running feud with their federation has been a very public and bitter battle.
The players had been seeking US$66 million (S$93.5 million) in damages under the Equal Pay Act, claiming they were underpaid compared to their male counterparts despite enjoying far greater success. The men have only lifted the regional Gold Cup.
But Judge Robert Gary Klausner threw out their case. although the court allowed complaints of unfair medical, travel and training to proceed to trial, which is scheduled to begin on June 16.
In its summary judgment, it said: “The WNT (women’s national team) has been paid more on both a cumulative and an average per-game basis than the MNT (men’s national team) over the class period.”
The players have since said they plan to appeal against the decision, and 12-time Grand Slam singles winner Billie Jean King, who famously battled for equal pay in tennis, offered words of encouragement to the team on Saturday.
“This is a setback, but it is not the end of the fight,” she tweeted. “The pursuit of equality is a marathon not a sprint, and this lawsuit has generated a meaningful conversation about the treatment of women in sports. One ruling does not diminish its impact.”
Carlos Cordeiro resigned as USSF president in March over words used in a court filing suggesting that women possessed less ability than men when it came to the sport.
The language prompted an on-field protest by players, who wore their warm-up jerseys inside out to obscure the federation’s logo before beating Japan 3-1 en route to landing their third SheBelieves Cup that same month.
Reuters
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
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A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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