Governing Bodies
Man United confirm Cavani to miss Uruguay World Cup qualifiers
Manchester United confirmed on Monday (Aug 30) that Edinson Cavani will miss Uruguay’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador after his call-up was withdrawn by the Uruguayan Football Association.
The Premier League announced last week that its clubs will not release players for international matches played in countries on the British government’s red list for travel.
Players who do travel to red-list countries on international duty have not been given an exemption from quarantine on their return so would have to spend 10 days in a government-allocated hotel.
“Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani is set to remain in England during the international break, after his call-up for the Uruguay squad was withdrawn,” United said in a statement.
Uruguay will be also without Luis Suarez for the three qualifiers, after Atletico Madrid revealed on Monday that the striker is suffering from a left knee injury.
He is believed to have picked up the injury during Sunday’s 2-2 draw against Villarreal in which he scored.
“Atletico Madrid’s medical team examined Luis Suarez at Navarra University Clinic (Madrid) after he came out of the game against Villarreal with pain,” the Spanish champions said in a press statement.
“The MRI has detected moderate edema on the posterior surface of the left knee.”
Atletico did not comment on how long the 34-year-old would be sidelined but the injury rules him out of Uruguay’s matches against Peru (Thursday), Bolivia (Sept 5) and Ecuador (Sept 9).
A further complication for South American internationals is that the third round of qualifiers is due to take place on Thursday, Sept 9, just hours before many are supposed to be in action for their clubs.
Spain’s La Liga failed in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) over the weekend for clubs to be able to refuse to release their players after world governing body Fifa extended the window for international games by two days.
Conmebol, the South American football confederation, is trying to make up for lost time after March’s World Cup qualifiers were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the united stance of Premier League clubs last week, Aston Villa have allowed Argentinian duo Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia to travel on the agreement they miss their country’s third qualifier against Bolivia.
Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Giovani lo Celso were also pictured on social media travelling with Martinez and Buendia.
Liverpool manger Jurgen Klopp said on Friday his players affected will not be travelling as the quarantine conditions could see them miss multiple games.
Brazilian trio Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah are therefore not set to travel.
“It’s not even close to a spa hotel, it’s eating and waiting and sleeping,” said Klopp.
“As the clubs we cannot do that not only because we play games in that time but because without being positive (for coronavirus) they lose 10 days of training.
“Without any chance of moving you lose muscle. I’s a real risk for the boys if they have to then play three, four or five days after 10 days in quarantine.”
-AFP
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has offered “heartfelt gratitude” to Iranian authorities for allowing tens of thousands of female fans to attend a top-flight soccer match between Sepahan against Persepolis this week.
After calls for Iran to be banned from the 2022 World Cup because of the continued exclusion of women from football matches in the Islamic Republic, Infantino adopted a policy of personal engagement with the country’s leadership.
Monday’s Pro League clash at Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Stadium, which home team Sepahan won 2-1, was played in front of a crowd made up exclusively of women and girls.
That decision came after a Sepahan cheerleader led insulting chants about female Persepolis fans at a previous clash between the clubs at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium in May.
The Iranian Football Federation fined both clubs and ordered that their next two meetings be played in front of only female fans.
In comments posted by FIFA on social media on Thursday, Infantino said he was “very pleased” that some 45,000 women and girls had been allowed to attend the latest edition of one of Iran’s fiercest club rivalries.
“FIFA has been in constant contact with authorities in IR Iran for several years regarding women and girls having the possibility to attend football matches,” the Swiss said.
“After last year’s Tehran derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal where 3,000 women and girls were in attendance, this latest development comes as a glowing representation of how our game is inclusive and open for everyone to enjoy.
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all concerned who made this possible … and I look forward to seeing even more women and girls having the opportunity to regularly attend football matches in the future.”
Open Stadiums, the women’s rights campaign group that led the calls for Iran to be excluded from the World Cup, said the women fans had turned the stadium “into a symbol of defiance”.
“Women’s access to stadium capacities remains very limited,” it said in a social media post after the match.
“Today, as a punishment for male fans, Iran’s FA allowed only women to attend, and Sepahan Stadium was nearly full. The road to equal and normal access to stadiums for Iranians still requires significant attention.”
Infantino said he would continue his engagement strategy on a visit to Iran in the near future.
“It is my intention to visit Iran soon to further discuss football-related matters, as the country is a significant force in Asian football, and it is important that we continue to nurture the positive and fruitful working relationship we have built,” he said
-Reuters
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Former Brazil striker Ronaldo will run for the presidency of the country’s football confederation (CBF), the 48-year-old said on Monday.
Ronaldo, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 and 2002, will run as a candidate in the CBF elections to replace current president Ednaldo Rodrigues in 2026.
“Among hundreds of things that motivate me to become a candidate for president of the CBF, I want to recover this prestige and respect that the Selecao (Brazil’s national team) always had and today nobody else has,” he told Globo Esporte.
The former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid forward currently also said he expects to sell his stake in Spanish top-flight side Real Valladolid.
“We’re negotiating a possible sale very soon and we should close the deal. It won’t be an obstacle to my candidacy,” he added.
Ronaldo previously owned a 90% stake in Brazilian team Cruzeiro, which he sold earlier this year.
-Reuters
On the sidelines of the CAF Awards holding in Marrakech on Monday, the Executive Committee of CAF will meet to discuss the already choked 2025 football calendar.
The board will also hold meetings with the presidents of the 54 national football federations.
Owing to the already congested international calendar that has necessitated the Africa Cup of Nations holding for the first time in December and spilling over to the following year, the qualification series for the 2027 edition could be discussed.
Already with the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup pushed to 2025 as a result of the football event of the Paris 2024, the draw for the 2026 edition has been made even with the final tournament of the preceding edition yet to be played.
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Can Nigeria break the Ghana-jinx in CHAN this time?
Another World Cup final player dies
Netflix inks U.S. broadcast deal with FIFA for 2027- and 2031-women’s World Cups
Breaking! Uzoho suspended from Super Eagles’ next match with Sierra Leone
No longer Super League as CAF changes name of its new clubs competition
AIU releases its report on Tobi Amusan
-
FIFA THE BEST3 days agoFIFA The Best 2024: How Eguavoen and Ekong Voted
-
CAF Confederation Cup6 days agoWhat a rout! Nigerians spearhead Black Bulls’ demolition of Enyimba
-
FIFA THE BEST3 days agoNigerian journalist, Okeleji makes perfect score at FIFA The Best
-
WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week agoFalconets, Flamingos draw Super Eagles’ World Cup qualifying opponents in Women’s World Cup Qualifiers
-
CAF AWARDS5 days agoCAF Awards 2024: All look at Lookman, the African soccer king waiting for his coronation
-
CAF AWARDS1 week agoNnadozie set to become the first goalkeeper to be crowned as African soccer queen
-
FIFA THE BEST3 days agoBrazil and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr crowned at last!
-
Nigerian Football6 days agoRivers Utd Regain Top Spot as Ikorodu City, Remo Stars Share points