Governing Bodies
ARSENAL AND ATLETICO TO BENEFIT FROM CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LOTTERY
Arsenal and Atletico Madrid would be the big winners if UEFA goes ahead to implement the controversial coefficient system to decide next season’s Champions League places.
According to Daily Mail reports, the system might spell doom for Chelsea and Inter Milan. The UEFA’s 55 member nations are braced for showdown talks on Thursday over the best ways to conclude the football season amid the coronavirus crisis and the temperature is already rising.
With serious doubts over whether the remaining fixtures in several countries will even be completed amid lockdowns and high death tolls, a consensus somehow needs to be found.
Some members, the Netherlands, are on the verge of cancelling the season, although that could have major legal implications. Belgium have already done so.
But others, like England and certainly Germany, where the Bundesliga could restart on May 9, are pushing forward on the assumption the season can and will be concluded.
Yet whatever happens, at some point a new season will have to start and that means deciding who qualifies for the Champions League and the Europa League in 2020 -21.
One proposal heard in a preliminary conference call on Tuesday was deciding each country’s participants based on the UEFA club coefficient system.
But with millions of pounds of Champions League cash at stake, those who miss out aren’t likely to be happy and a flurry of lawsuits could follow.
We take a closer look at the implications of this and some other potential methods to determine who plays in Europe next season.
THE COEFFICIENT PROPOSAL
This idea will be discussed between UEFA and the influential European Club Association on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s executive committee meeting.
If leagues across Europe can’t be completed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, then spots in next season’s Champions League and Europa League will be allocated using UEFA’s coefficient.
This system takes into account clubs’ performance in Europe over the past five seasons and the further they progress, the more points clubs accrue.
Naturally, more points are awarded for success in the more prestigious Champions League than the Europa League.
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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