Governing Bodies
Spanish federation chief to quit over kiss scandal
Spanish football federation (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales plans to resign on Friday after FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against him over his unsolicited kiss on the mouth of player Jenni Hermoso during celebrations after Spain’s Women’s World Cup victory, Cadena Ser radio reported on Thursday.
Rubiales has been under fire after kissing Hermoso on the lips while handing the team their medals after they beat England 1-0 in the final in Sydney on Sunday.
The incident sparked outrage within and outside Spain, with many, including government ministers, demanding his resignation.
Pressure continued to mount during the week after FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against Rubiales and Hermoso said in statement that such acts “should never go unpunished”.
As the backlash grew, Rubiales, who initially called his critics “idiots”, issued a video apology late on Monday, but it failed to quell the uproar.
An RFEF spokesperson declined to comment.
Regional leaders of the RFEF held a crisis meeting in Madrid on Thursday to discuss Rubiales’s future and options for a potential successor, a source told Reuters.
The favourites to succeed Rubiales are Pedro Rocha, head of the Extremadura football federation, and Pablo Lozano, head of the Andalusia federation, the source said.
Rubiales, who played for several lower league clubs in Spain, finished his playing career in 2009 with Hamilton Academical in Scotland.
A year later he was named President of the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), a position he held until announcing his candidacy for the RFEF top job in 2017. He was elected in May 2018.
He promised to modernise the structure, increase turnover and make the federation more transparent, following the arrest of former president Angel Maria Villar on corruption charges.
However, Rubiales’ mandate was full of controversies, including the shocking decision to sack Spain manager Julen Lopetegui two days before their opening 2018 World Cup match and accusations of wrongdoing over a multimillion-euro deal to relocate the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
There was also a mutiny within the Spain women’s squad last September, when a large group of players demanded that long-standing coach Jorge Vilda be sacked. The RFEF backed Vilda and he cut 12 of the 15 players involved in the dispute from his World Cup squad.
-Reuters
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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The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
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