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
FIFA has started disciplinary proceedings against the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) over Islamophobic and xenophobic chants during a friendly between Spain and Egypt on March 31, the global soccer body said on Tuesday.
At the RCDE Stadium near Barcelona, the home ground of LaLiga club Espanyol, Spanish supporters chanted “who doesn’t jump is a Muslim” during the World Cup warm-up match, which ended in a goalless draw.
“FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings today against the Spanish FA for the incidents in the friendly against Egypt,” FIFA said in a statement.
Spanish police launched an investigation into the chants last week.
Spain winger Lamine Yamal condemned the chants as disrespectful and intolerable in an Instagram post.
The Egyptian Football Association also condemned the chants as an entirely unacceptable “repugnant act of racism,” and added that the acts of a small group of spectators would not affect the close relations between the Spanish and Egyptian federations.
-Reuters
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The newly appointed Acting General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football, Samson Adamu, has declared his ambition to leave a lasting legacy as he assumes one of the most influential administrative roles in African football.
Adamu was named to the position on Sunday, March 29, 2026, during a CAF Executive Committee meeting held at the Giza Palace Hotel in Cairo. His appointment, proposed by CAF President Patrice Motsepe, received unanimous ratification from the committee.
Speaking shortly after his elevation, Adamu expressed both gratitude and determination. “I am elated by this appointment. I am determined to serve African football with humility, integrity, and professionalism,” he said.
His emergence is historic, as he becomes the first Nigerian—and indeed the first West African—to occupy the position in the 69-year history of CAF, a development widely seen as a significant milestone for the region’s growing influence within continental football governance.
Adamu’s journey to the summit of African football administration reflects a career shaped by innovation, passion, and administrative excellence. Fifteen years ago, he initiated the globally acclaimed COPA Lagos Beach Soccer tournament in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. The event attracted top teams from around the world and set new benchmarks in organisation, marketing, officiating, and fan engagement.
The success of COPA Lagos played a pivotal role in Nigeria earning the hosting rights for the 2016 CAF Beach Soccer Cup of Nations, further cementing Adamu’s reputation as a forward-thinking sports administrator.
He later joined CAF in Cairo, rising through the ranks from Director of Competitions to Director of Tournaments and Events, positions in which he oversaw the planning and execution of several major continental championships.
Adamu also carries a rich administrative lineage. He is the son of Amos Adamu, a towering figure in Nigerian and international sports administration. Dr Adamu served as sole administrator of the then Nigeria Football Association in the early 1990s and later as Director of Sports Development in the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
He was also a central figure in Nigeria’s hosting of the 8th All-Africa Games in 2003, after securing a seat on the CAF Executive Committee in 2002 in Bamako, Mali, and earning re-election during the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. His influence extended globally when he was elected into the FIFA Executive Committee in 2006, alongside serving as Director General of the National Sports Commission.
With such a formidable background and personal track record, expectations are high that Samson Adamu will bring fresh ideas, administrative stability, and a renewed sense of purpose to CAF’s operations at a time when African football is seeking greater credibility, growth, and global competitiveness.
His tenure, though currently in an acting capacity, is already being closely watched as a potential turning point in the evolution of football governance on the continent.
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Canadian soccer took centre stage in a FIFA experiment on Saturday as the country’s top-flight league began testing a “daylight” offside rule aimed at speeding up play and encouraging attacking football.
The rule was introduced at the opening match of the Canadian Premier League season as part of efforts by global soccer authorities to cut delays caused by video reviews, reduce controversy over marginal offside decisions and shift the balance of the game in favour of attackers.
“I see this as an opportunity to grow as a coach. It’s going to give me more tools for the future,” Atletico Ottawa head coach Diego Mejia told reporters.
Under the rule, an attacker is deemed onside if any part of the body that can legally score is level with, or further away from, the goal line than the second-to-last defender. An offside offence is only given if there is visible space — the so‑called “daylight” — between the attacker and the defender.
The concept has been championed for years by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, now FIFA’s chief of global football development, as a way to ease frustration over marginal decisions and limit delays that have fueled debate long after matches have finished.
Wenger called the Canadian experience “an important pilot.”
Players from reigning champions Atletico Ottawa and Forge FC were involved in the first application of the new rule on Saturday, including a video review triggered after a penalty award was challenged by the defending side.
Under the revised Canadian system, head coaches are allowed two challenges per match for game‑changing decisions, with the referee reviewing each appeal using video assistance.
The initial review took more than five minutes but was not centred on an offside decision, as officials assessed two possible offsides, a potential foul in the buildup and a collision between the goalkeeper and the striker that led to the penalty.
The challenge was unsuccessful.
A later offside decision using the daylight rule did not interrupt the flow of the match.
Video assistance itself is also new to the Canadian league and was used for the first time on Saturday. Some commentators said officials would need time to adapt to both the revised offside interpretation and the new technology. The system in use is not full VAR, but FIFA’s lighter Football Video Support (FVS) model.
The Canadian league’s willingness to adopt the rule has given FIFA a professional testing ground, something European leagues have so far resisted.
Critics argue the change could push defenders, particularly centre-backs, to adopt more cautious positioning.
Others say it could open space in midfield, with defenders likely to hold deeper lines.
-Reuters
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