Governing Bodies
PREMIERSHIP CLUBS MEET AGAIN ON RESTART PLAN
Warring English Premier League clubs will meet on Monday (May 11) with tensions mounting over the divisive ‘Project Restart Plan’ to finish the season amid the coronavirus crisis.
Premier League chiefs hope to return to action next month, but that goal could be scuppered by an internal battle between clubs fiercely protecting their own interests.
The Premier League had delayed its latest meeting until after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on Sunday. But, for those clubs and players concerned about the rush to return, his admission that the virus transmission rate is still too high to significantly ease Britain’s lockdown until at least June 1 was hardly reassuring.
The Premier League has been halted since March 13, but he offered no details about its short-term future and indicated that, while the general population will be allowed to play sports from Wednesday, they must do so only with those in their own households.
And the growing unease about the Premier League’s desire to finish its remaining 92 fixtures only increased on Sunday when Brighton admitted a third player in their squad had contracted the virus.
The scheduled return of Germany’s Bundesliga from May 16 had raised hopes that the Premier League could follow suit, yet there are stark differences between the health crisis in both countries.
Britain’s death toll from the pandemic passed 30,000 last week to become the worst-hit country in Europe. By contrast, Germany has registered just over 7,000 deaths.
However, German second-tier club Dynamo Dresden have put their entire squad and coaching staff into two-week isolation after two players tested positive for the virus.
Also on Sunday, La Liga confirmed five unnamed players have the virus and will go into quarantine.
Brighton chief executive Paul Barber has been one of the more vocal critics of the restart scheme and he told the Mail on Sunday: “We have got to be careful that we do not misstep here because if we do, it could ruin lives. It could cost lives. And we cannot afford that.”
Testing and player welfare remain major hurdles to overcome, with Norwich midfielder Todd Cantwell summing up the feelings of worried players when he responded to the positive test at Brighton by tweeting: “We are just people too.”
Comprehensive testing is believed to be part of the protocols required for a restart, with the BBC reporting that this could cost about £30,000 (S$52,600) a week. Some 40,000 tests – at between £150 and £180 each – for the remaining 92 fixtures are expected to be required with each person tested twice a week.
A lack of unity has provoked another complication for the Premier League over the use of neutral venues.
League chiefs believe they will only get the government’s green light to restart if the number of venues are limited to reduce the medical, police, security and broadcast personnel required.
There are also fears over fans congregating at home stadiums, even though the matches would be played behind closed doors.
Leading the resistance to neutral venues are clubs near the bottom of the table and at risk of huge financial losses by dropping out of England’s lucrative top flight.
Brighton had five of their remaining nine games at home, while Aston Villa were due to play six of their last 10 matches at Villa Park.
“What we can’t accept is a fundamental change to the competition three-quarters of the way through,” Barber said. “That is not fair and there is absolutely nobody who will convince me otherwise.”
Villa’s chief executive Christian Purslow said giving up home advantage “is a massive decision”.
Seven of the 20 top-flight clubs would need to officially reject neutral venues to stop the plan going ahead, although it has been reported the issue will not be put to a vote on Monday.
The Uefa deadline for restart proposals is May 25 and League Managers Association chief executive Richard Bevan has warned a failure to reach consensus soon could see the season cancelled.
Aware of the animosity between clubs, Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish conceded it will not be easy to restart in the current climate.
“It may prove beyond us. We have huge challenges in order to get it back to complete the season but we are planning on doing so,” Parish told the BBC. “There are no easy answers. We have to work through it as a collective. I think we will come out with a consensus in the end.”
-AFP
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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