Governing Bodies
Greek Prime Minister at centre of controversy over proposed joint FIFA World Cup bid with Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered to fund stadium construction in Greece and Egypt if they allow the Gulf state to host three-quarters of the matches in a bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Opposition parties to Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ ruling New Democracy party in Greece have reacted furiously to the revelations first reported by Politico.
Citing a senior official familiar with the matter, Politico reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the officer with Mitsotakis in a private conversation last year.
Another source said that Saudi Arabia would “fully underwrite the costs” for Greece and Egypt of staging the World Cup in exchange for hosting 75 per cent of the fixtures.
Neither Greece nor Egypt have said whether such an offer was taken up, and Greek Deputy Sports Minister Lefteris Avgenakis claimed that the report was “full of inaccuracies” and the tri-continental bid is “still in the early stages”.
A Sports Ministry spokesperson disputed the claim that “the Crown Prince suggested to the PM that Saudi Arabia would bear the costs of the event”, as reported by Politico.
The left-wing opposition party Syriza has called for greater transparency, and pointed to its proposal for a bid with Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia when it was in Government until 2019.
“Let’s find out why Greece gives the strong brand name of a European country that is synonymous with freedom and democracy in this proposal with Saudi Arabia”, Syriza said.
Another left-wing party, MeRA25, admitted the report was “extremely worrying” and called for “no collusion with this murderous regime” nor “the dictatorial regime of Egypt”.
Mitsotakis’ conservative Government has established strong ties with Saudi Arabia.
Greece has provided arms and troops to Riyadh, the Prime Minister has travelled to the Saudi capital on multiple occasions, and Athens last year became the first European capital visited by bin Salman since the state-ordered assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
A Saudi-led tri-continental World Cup bid is expected to face competition from Spain, Portugal and Ukraine in Europe and Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile in South America, with a decision expected at the FIFA Congress next year.
FIFA reformed its procedure for awarding the World Cup process after the disputed and highly-controversial double award of the 2018 and 2022 editions to Russia and Qatar respectively, with the Congress now selecting a host.
The double award in 2010 is widely viewed as contributing to the fall of disgraced former FIFA President Sepp Blatter in 2015.
Qatar’s staging of the first Middle Eastern World Cup was overshadowed by criticism of its human rights record, and the host nation has been implicated in a high-profile bribery scandal at the European Parliament with it and Morocco accused of paying bribes to officials in exchange for influence.
Qatar has denied funnelling money to gain influence.
Last year’s World Cup was moved to the northern hemisphere’s winter for the first time because of Qatar’s heat and humidity, and a similar move would likely be necessary for a bid including Saudi Arabia.
Two of football’s all-time biggest stars in Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi are expected to boost the Saudi bid.
Ronaldo has recently signed for Saudi club Al Nassr on a deal reportedly worth £175 million ($212 million/€198 million) per year, while Messi was unveiled as a tourism ambassador or the country last year.
Saudi Arabia has proved a destination of note for numerous professional boxing fights, is a Formula One Grand Prix host and has been awarded several multi-sport events.
These include the 2034 Asian Games, this year’s World Combat Games, the 2025 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, and the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
The latter event in the yet-to-be-built resort of Trojena has proved particularly controversial given Saudi Arabia is the world leader in exports of crude oil, and has led to accusations of “greenwashing”.
The FIFA World Cup has long been mooted as a target for Saudi Arabia, although initial reports of a project with Italy failed to materialise.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino appears to enjoy a friendly relationship with bin Salman watching Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk defend his heavyweight boxing world titles against Briton Anthony Joshua in Jeddah last this year.
He also watched the opening match of the 2022 World Cup alongside the de facto Saudi leader for the second consecutive edition.
It was the Saudi Arabian Football Federation which formally proposed exploring the possibility for FIFA to stage its men’s and women’s World Cups every two years rather than every four in May 2021, although this idea has lost momentum in light of stiff European and South American opposition, and Infantino distanced himself from the proposal at this year’s Congress.
FIFA has sparked controversy over a rumoured sponsorship deal with Visit Saudi for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with Football Australia saying it was “very disappointed” having not been consulted.
Critics of the bin Salman regime have accused Saudi Arabia of sportswashing and seeking to distract from its record on human rights, including the assassination of Khashoggi, its role in the bombing in Yemen, harsh restrictions in place on women’s rights and its use of the death penalty.
None of Saudi Arabia, Greece and Egypt have previously staged the World Cup, although Athens held the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2004.
The men’s World Cup is set to expand from 32 to 48 teams from 2026.
-INSIDETHEGAMES
Kirsty Coventry became the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most powerful person in sport, on Monday in a handover ceremony with her predecessor Thomas Bach.
The Zimbabwean is the first woman and African to head the body, and at 41, the youngest since Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who is credited with founding the modern-day Olympics.
Coventry accepted the Olympic key from Bach, who, like her, is an Olympic champion — he won a team fencing gold in 1976 and she earned two swimming golds in 2004 and 2008.
Stepping down after a turbulent 12-year tenure, Bach expressed his confidence that the Olympic movement was “in the best of hands” and Coventry would bring “conviction, integrity and a dynamic perspective” to the role.
Coventry, who swept to a crushing first-round victory in the election in Greece in March, leans heavily on her family.
Aside from her parents, who were present at the ceremony in Lausanne, there is her husband Tyrone Seward, who was effectively her campaign manager, and two daughters, six-year-old Ella, who Bach addresses as “princess”, and Lily, just seven months old.
“Ella saw this spider web in the garden and I pointed out how it is made, and how strong and resilient it is to bad weather and little critters,” said Coventry, who takes over officially at midnight Swiss time Monday (2200 GMT).
“But if one little bit breaks it becomes weaker. That spider web is our movement, it is complex, beautiful and strong but it only works if we remain together and united.”
‘Pure passion’
Coventry said she could not believe how her life had evolved since she first dreamt of Olympic glory in 1992.
“How lucky are we creating a platform for generations to come to reach their dreams,” she said to a packed audience in a marquee in the Olympic House garden, which comprised IOC members, including those she defeated, and dignitaries.
“It is amazing and incredible, indeed I cannot believe that from my dream in 1992 of going to an Olympic Games and winning a medal I would be standing here with you to make dreams for more young children round the world.”
Coventry, who served in the Zimbabwean government as sports and arts Minister from 2019 to this year, said the Olympic movement was much more than a “multi-sport event platform.”
“We (IOC members) are guardians of this movement, which is also about inspiring and changing lives and bringing hope,” she said.
“These things are not to be taken lightly and I will be working with each and every one of you to continue to change lives and be a beacon of hope in a divided world.
“I am really honoured to walk this journey with you.”
Bach, who during his tenure had to grapple with Russian doping and their invasions of the Crimea and Ukraine as well as the Covid pandemic, said he was standing down filled with “gratitude, joy and confidence” in his successor.
“With her election it sends out a powerful message, that the IOC continues to evolve,” said the 71-year-old German, who was named honorary lifetime president in Greece in March.
“It has its first female and African to hold this position, and the youngest president since Pierre de Coubertin. She represents the truly global and youthful spirit of our community.”
Bach, who choked back tears at one point during his valedictory speech, was praised to the rafters by Coventry, who was widely seen as his preferred candidate of the seven vying for his post.
After a warm embrace, she credited him with teaching her to “listen to people and to respect them,” and praised him for leading the movement with “pure passion and purpose.”
“You have kept us united through the most turbulent times.
“You left us with many legacies and hope, thank you from the bottom of my heart for leading us with passion and never wavering from our values.”
-AFP
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Former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry took over the leadership of the International Olympic Committee from Thomas Bach in a ceremony on Monday with the 2028 Los Angeles Games already threatening to fill her in-tray to overflowing.
Coventry, who starts her eight-year spell officially on Tuesday as the most powerful sports administrator in the world, became the first woman and first African to be elected head of the Olympic ruling body in March.
Much of the discussion during campaigning focused on the IOC’s need for change in its marketing strategies with several top Olympic sponsors having left in the past 12 months.
However, with Los Angeles hit by protests against immigration raids, and relations tense between state and city officials, and the U.S. government, the 2028 Games have become the major talking point in the movement that would ordinarily be focusing on next year’s Milano-Cortina Winter Games.
Coventry has long-standing ties with the United States, dating back to her time as a leading swimmer at Auburn University in Alabama. That will prove useful ahead of LA 2028, and she has said she will seek to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Games.
Coventry will also need to find time to help secure the long-term finances of the movement. The IOC, which generates billions of dollars in revenues each year in sponsorship and broadcasting deals for the Olympics, has secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More contracts are expected for both periods.
COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Coventry is also expected to continue the IOC’s plans to expand commercial opportunities for sponsors at the Olympics with the organisation’s finances in a robust state and the privately-funded LA Olympics a good place to start.
Coventry needed only one round of voting to clinch the race to succeed Bach, beating six other candidates, making history for the African continent, with the IOC having been ruled for 131 years by European or North American men.
Her background and being the first female president will be assets in a diverse IOC membership and the international makeup of Olympic stakeholders.
On Monday she was handed the golden key to the IOC by Bach, who was the organisation’s president for 12 years.
“I am really honoured I get to walk this journey with you. I cannot wait for anything that lies ahead,” Coventry said in her address to IOC members and other Olympic stakeholders.
“I know I have the best team to support me and our movement over the next eight years.”
Coventry will hold a two-day workshop this week to get feedback from members on key IOC issues.
“Working together and consistently finding ways to strengthen and keep united our movement that will ensure that we wake up daily… to continue to inspire,” she said.
A seven-time Olympic medallist, Coventry won 200m backstroke gold at the 2004 Athens Games and in Beijing four years later.
“With her election, you have also sent a powerful message to the world: the IOC continues to evolve,” Bach said in his speech. “With Kirsty Coventry, the Olympic movement will be in the best of hands.”
-Reuters
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Penalties scored when a player accidentally touches the ball twice must be retaken, world soccer’s lawmaking body IFAB has said after Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez had his spot kick disallowed in a Champions League last-16 match.
During a tense shootout with Real Madrid in March, Argentine forward Alvarez slipped and the VAR spotted that his left foot touched the ball slightly before he kicked it with his right.
Although Alvarez converted the penalty, the goal was chalked off and Atletico went on to lose the shootout and were eliminated from the Champions League.
European soccer’s governing body UEFA said the correct decision was made under the current laws but IFAB (International Football Association Board) has said that in such cases the penalty must be retaken.
Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid – Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain – April 14, 2025 Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo
“(When) the penalty taker accidentally kicks the ball with both feet simultaneously or the ball touches their non-kicking foot or leg immediately after the kick: if the kick is successful, it is retaken,” IFAB said in a circular.
“If the kick is unsuccessful, an indirect free kick is awarded (unless the referee plays advantage when it clearly benefits the defending team). In the case of penalties (penalty shootout), the kick is recorded as missed.”
The decision to disallow Alvarez’s penalty left Atletico boss Diego Simeone livid and the club’s fans outraged.
IFAB added that if the penalty taker deliberately kicks the ball with both feet or deliberately touches it a second time, an indirect free kick is awarded or, in the case of shootouts, it is recorded as missed.
The new procedures are effective for competitions starting on or after July 1, but IFAB said it may be used in competitions that start this month.
-Reuters
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