Governing Bodies
PREMIER LEAGUE HOLDS NO-CONTACT CRUCIAL MEETING ON OPTIONS WHEN EPL RESUMES
England’s Premier League clubs will hold a video conference call between themselves on Thursday (March 18) as they begin to sketch out a way to complete the suspended season and tackle the financial damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
While some clubs are reported to be urging a quick return and games being played behind closed doors, there have also been talks of cutting the season short, or even declaring it “null and void”.
However, there are also powerful motives for completing the season in full.
“They want to get the games played if that is at all possible,” said one football industry source.
Last week all elite soccer matches in England, including the Premier League, Football League (EFL) and Women’s Super League (WSL), were suspended until April 4.
With non-league, youth and amateur football having also subsequently suspended play, the English game is now in a state of total shutdown.
On Tuesday, Uefa opted to postpone the scheduled Euro 2020 tournament by a year, creating a space for the club seasons across the continent to play on during the summer – if the situation with the virus allows.
A large question mark remains on when the season can resume but that will not stop clubs and officials from trying to come up with a plan for a best-case scenario.
Across Europe, other leagues are in the same process. The Italian league was saying on Wednesday that it is targeting a possible return in May, with the season running into June and possibly July.
The Premier League would likely also aim to for such a completion, allowing them to resolve the issues of promotion and relegation and European qualification without any wrangles.
It would also ensure they provided their broadcast partners, domestically and internationally, with a full and complete season in line with their contracts.
Player contracts, some of which end in June, could be an issue although world governing body Fifa has said it is looking into possible “dispensations”.
The problems facing Premier League clubs, who are among the rich elite of the world game, are minor compared to those facing lower division England Football League teams. They now face cash-flow problems with no ticket revenue.
On Wednesday, the EFL, representing the three divisions below the Premier League, said it is aiming to complete the current season and has put in place a £50 million (S$80 million) fund to help with the impact of the coronavirus on clubs.
“Premier League clubs should be able sustain the drop in match-day revenue the but impact will be felt at the bottom end,” said football finance expert Rob Wilson of Sheffield Hallam University.
“For those clubs, 20 per cent of which are very hand-to-mouth, playing behind closed-doors would be really damaging”.
-Reuters
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria is set to host the 48th Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), marking the third time the country will stage the continent’s top football gathering.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), which disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, approved Nigeria’s proposal to host the event.
The approval followed a meeting between President Tinubu and CAF President Patrice Motsepe, attended by Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau, former NFF President and Special Adviser to the CAF President Amaju Melvin Pinnick, as well as CAF Acting General Secretary Samson Adamu.
Sports Villages Square affirms that Nigeria previously hosted the CAF Congress at the National Theatre in Lagos in March 1980 and again in February 2009, when the late CAF President Issa Hayatou secured another four-year term in office.
In addition to this year’s 48th Ordinary General Assembly, scheduled for October, Nigeria also secured the hosting rights of the CAF Awards ceremony. The annual awards gala, which celebrates Africa’s top football performers, has been staged in Morocco over the past three years.
Nigeria had earlier hosted the CAF Awards when telecom firm, Globacom, was the headline sponsor. This year’s event will be the seventh to be held in Nigeria after those of 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014 and 2016.
The CAF Ordinary General Assembly traditionally attracts key football stakeholders from across the continent, including presidents of CAF’s 54 member associations, representatives of the six zonal unions and senior football administrators.
The CAF Awards ceremony is regarded as one of African football’s flagship events, honouring outstanding players, coaches, clubs and officials in a glamorous setting that showcases the continent’s football excellence.
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FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee has banned former Guyana Football Federation (GFF) General Secretary Ian Alves from all football-related activities for five years after finding he sexually harassed female staff members.
FIFA also fined Alves 20,000 Swiss francs ($22,000) after determining that he had breached provisions of the FIFA Code of Ethics relating to the protection of physical and mental integrity, abuse of position and general duties.
“FIFA has a strict stance against all forms of abuse in football,” the organisation said on Monday.
The decision followed a review of written statements from the victims, documents provided by the GFF, submissions from Alves, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.
Alves stepped down from his position in 2024.
The ban came into force on Monday, when the terms of the decision were notified to Alves, and the full grounds for the ruling will be communicated within 60 days in accordance with the Code of Ethics, FIFA added.
The GFF did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Alves could not immediately be reached for comment.
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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday that he planned to seek re-election for a fourth term in a bid to continue to lead the governing body of world soccer.
Infantino confirmed he would run for the 2027–2031 term in the closing moments of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, which comes less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
The election will be held on March 18 in Morocco, which is set to co-host the 2030 World Cup.
Infantino said he was “honoured and humbled” to have the chance to run for a fourth term.
The Italian-Swiss took office in 2016, replacing Sepp Blatter, and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 and 2023.
Infantino has pushed for the expansion of FIFA competitions during his tenure, with this year’s World Cup in North America the first to feature 48 teams, while the women’s tournament in 2023 has been expanded to 32 teams.
Infantino’s tenure has also drawn some criticism over issues such as high World Cup ticket prices and the decision to award the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump at the World Cup draw in December.
Earlier this month, the council of South American football’s governing body (CONMEBOL) said in a statement it would unanimously support the 56-year-old if he decided to seek another term.
-Reuters
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