Players’ union FIFPRO called for a review of governance in Gabonese soccer after welcoming on Wednesday a life ban handed by world body FIFA to a former youth coach found guilty of the sexual abuse of players.

The banned former under-17 coach, Patrick Assoumou Eyi, was also fined 1 million Swiss francs ($1.13 million).

FIFA’s independent ethics committee found Eyi guilty of “abusing his position and committing repeated acts of sexual abuse against multiple players” between 2006 and 2021.

FIFPRO said the ban was the result of “over three years of sustained pressure from civil society, FIFPRO and the media to ensure accountability” but there was more to be done.

“This case illustrates the systemic nature of this grave problem, where an individual may be sanctioned, but the same governance system that allowed it to occur in the first place remains,” it said.

Remy Ebanega, president of the Gabonese player union, said in the statement that the abuse had been widely known about within Gabonese football but “many of those in power chose to turn a blind eye”.

“Ignoring abuse is a clear breach of FIFA regulations, and we now expect a full review of the Gabonese FA’s suitability to govern football in Gabon,” he said.

Reuters has sought a comment from the Gabonese soccer body Fegafoot. There was no mention of FIFA’s action on their Facebook page or website.

-Reuters

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With the football law-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), getting ready to implement major changes next season, an explanation has been offered on how the eight-second rule for the goalkeeper will be affected.

The essence of penalising the goalkeeper is to make the game faster and fairer.

If a keeper holds the ball for more than eight seconds, the other team will get a corner kick instead of an indirect free kick.

This will be implemented by the referee counting down the seconds with their hands.

Also, the offside rule is still being reviewed, but VAR decisions will now be made public, meaning that fans and players will be able to see and hear the reasoning behind the referee’s decision.

A new rule will also stop players from crowding over the referees.

Only the team captain will be allowed to approach them in certain situations, in the hopes of improving communication and reducing arguments between players and officials.

The neutral drop ball rule is changing, too.If the play is stopped when the ball is outside the penalty area, the ball will be dropped for the team that had or would have had possession. If it’s not clear, it goes to the team that last touched it.

FIFA has also made a rule about when players off the pitch touch the ball. If a team official or player who’s not on the field touches the ball, the other team gets an indirect free kick.

There will be no red cards unless there was intent to interfere.

FIFA is also testing body cameras for referees. After good feedback from trials in some high-level matches, they’ll be used in the upcoming Club World Cup.

The cameras will help with training and could improve refereeing standards.

On “Wenger’s law,” IFAB also decided to look for competitions to conduct additional offside trials that encourage attacking football. Therefore, the law is still under study.

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Manchester United centre back Harry Maguire deserves to be recalled to the England squad and his leadership qualities can be an asset to the national team, the Premier League club’s head coach Ruben Amorim said.

The 31-year-old Maguire, capped 64 times, was among the high-profile names that missed out on a call-up to the 2024 European Championship in Germany, where England finished as runners-up after losing to Spain 2-1 in the final in July.

Maguire, who was stripped of the club captaincy by former manager Erik ten Hag in 2023, has produced much-improved performances for United this season and scored winners against Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round and Ipswich Town in the Premier League last month.

Former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel, who replaced Gareth Southgate in October after the Englishman left his role following their Euro final loss, is set to name his first England squad this month for the World Cup European qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.

“If it’s enough is with the national coach. I would be really happy for him, I think he deserves (it),” Amorim told reporters when asked if he thinks Maguire’s form is good enough to be considered by England.

“He is a great guy, I think he needs to still improve because when you are a player you can improve every time and improve a lot of things,” added Amorim, who was speaking ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup fifth round against Fulham at Old Trafford.

“But I think his performances in the moment are quite good and you feel he is more a leader now that can help a national team, so I hope he is in the national team in the next games.”

-Reuters

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