Governing Bodies
HARD TO ENFORCE BAN ON PLAYERS HUGGING, SAYS CHELSEA’S LAMPARD
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard defended his players on Thursday (Jan 14) amid a growing debate about teams celebrating goals with hugs and high-fives while the country is battling the Covid-19 pandemic.
England’s deputy chief medical officer has urged players to stop such physical contact and a senior politician suggested on Thursday yellow cards should be brandished for hugging.
The Premier League was holding virtual meetings to reinforce the message that protocols must be respected, but Lampard echoed other top flight managers in suggesting that was easier said than done.
“Football has and always will be a game of instinct. If we want to take the instinct out of the game then it is not that simple,” he told reporters ahead of Saturday’s game at Fulham.
“The players are good lads and they don’t want to do the wrong thing.
“In a perfect world we will all walk back to the halfway line and just start again. But it maybe will not quite be the case, and I do not think you can hold players hugely to account unless there is clear flouting of those rules.”
Julian Knight, the chair of the cross-party Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee, told Reuters earlier that hugging sent the wrong message at a time of national emergency with many people having to self-isolate.
“In the same way as referees issue yellow cards for players taking off their shirts (for unsporting behaviour), they could do the same thing with this,” said Knight.
“Surely it’s unsportsmanlike to risk someone getting Covid, isn’t it?”
Premier League guidelines for on-field behaviour state that “unnecessary contact, particularly between opposition teams, must be avoided. This includes handshakes, high-fives and hugging”.
Media reports have highlighted examples at recent matches, with Manchester City in the spotlight after eight players held a group hug when Phil Foden scored in Wednesday’s 1-0 Premier League win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Video also emerged of teams celebrating in dressing rooms following FA Cup third round matches.
The Daily Telegraph quoted DCMS committee member Clive Efford as saying such celebrations were an “insult to the staff in the NHS (national health service)”.
City manager Pep Guardiola said it was “weird and uncomfortable” if nobody celebrated with the scorer.
“We are tested maybe five or six times in the last 10 days. Everyone is negative. We are outdoors where the virus is less aggressive. We will follow what the Premier League says but I don’t know if we will be able to do it,” he added.
-Reuters
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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