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
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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