Governing Bodies
INFANTINO CONCERNED BY DELAYS TO FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFYING
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has admitted he is concerned by delays to qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was announced earlier this month that Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) qualifiers will not be held in October and November as planned.
Thirty national teams were due to compete in the first round, each playing four matches, but this has now been pushed back until March 2021.
The Asian Football Confederation has also postponed World Cup qualifiers planned for October and November.
Asian qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is currently midway through the second round group stage, with 40 countries still involved.
Teams have three or four matches left to play, with the eight group winners due to book their place in the third and final round of qualification, alongside the four best runners-up.
Qualifiers in March and June had already been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Speaking after the virtual FIFA Congress today, Infantino acknowledged the delays were a concern for football’s governing body.
Infantino suggested additional international windows would potentially need to be created, along with holding more than two matches during the windows, to ensure qualification can be completed on time.
The FIFA President hinted qualifiers could be held in one venue, rather than home and away contests if required.
“I am concerned,” Infantino said.
“This is a real problem, especially if the pandemic does not get weaker and we cannot play in a normal way.
“European national teams have resumed their competitions, CONMEBOL will resume in October.
“We are in the hands of health authorities and we cannot impose things.
“We have foreseen a new international window in January 2022 and qualifiers will conclude in June, rather than as initially planned in March.
“Maybe we are a little lucky the World Cup is in November and December in 2022, as this gives us a little bit more time.
“Obviously the World Cup is the most important competition in the world and is the top priority.
“We have to work to ensure the qualifiers can be held.”
The FIFA Club World Cup is due to be contested in Qatar for the second successive time, as the Gulf nation prepares to host the FIFA World Cup.
Infantino said this year’s tournament is unlikely to be held in December, due to the delay caused by the pandemic to continental club competitions.
Only UEFA’s Champions League has concluded, with Bayern Munich qualifying for the event in Qatar after winning the tournament.
“It is unlikely that this event will take place in December of this year as was originally planned,” Infantino said.
“But we are discussing, we are monitoring, we are seeing if it can be hosted in Qatar maybe at the beginning of the year instead of the end of this year.
“We certainly want to see if we can keep it, but we will do that consulting all the confederations and all the participating clubs and then take the best decision for football.”
FIFA was forced to rescheduled its expanded 24-team FIFA Club World Cup from 2021 earlier this year to accommodate the postponed Copa America and Euro 2020 tournaments.
Infantino has mooted the prospect of launching a Women’s Club World Cup and, again, suggested the Women’s World Cup could be held every two years rather than continuing to be staged on a quadrennial basis.
-insidethegames
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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