Governing Bodies
UEFA in no mood for compromise with FIFA over World Cup plan
FIFA will hold a global summit next week to discuss their plans for holding the World Cup every two years but their biggest opponent, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, shows no sign of backing down.
Ceferin said his organisation had no agreed strategy for Monday’s meeting, suggesting it would not be a defining moment in the process.
“As much as we know FIFA is still pursuing the project, then there are some signals are coming from different sides that they might not pursue it till the end,” the UEFA chief told a news conference.
“We don’t have a particular strategy. For Monday, it will be 211 federations, that means 500 people at the videoconference. I don’t expect something very deep.
“But we will listen and we’ll see and we’ll act accordingly. But for now, we don’t even have the agenda for Monday. The only thing we know is that it’s called ‘Future of Football’, which can mean a lot and can mean nothing,” he said.
Victor Montagliani, a key ally of FIFA president Gianni Infantino and head of CONCACAF, which governs the game in North and Central America and the Caribbean, told Reuters earlier this month that he was leaning towards a compromise solution.
Montagliani floated the idea of a revamped version of the old Confederations Cup, or a global version of the Nations League concept, as alternatives to a biennial World Cup.
But Ceferin said that he had not seen concrete proposals or details of the idea.
“I’m quite fed up of hearing proposals or reading about proposals in the media,” he said.
“I might be naive but I still hope that we will start speaking with some documentation, with some concrete proposals, with some serious ideas and not wait until the morning when the newspapers come to see what is the new proposal of some of our colleagues,” he added.
Ceferin said he hoped that FIFA and the confederations could begin to focus on the future shape of the international match calendar, which needs to be agreed upon for the post-2024 period.
“The problem is that everything is interconnected. We get proposals for different competitions and that’s why the discussions about the international match calendar are delayed all the time.
“We haven’t even started to discuss about the calendar because of all those ideas that happened. I hope that we start discussing about the international match calendar immediately after New Year,” he said.
-Reuters
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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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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