Governing Bodies
Infantino seeks for re-election as FIFA president
Gianni Infantino announced on Thursday that he will stand for re-election for a third term as president of FIFA.
“I want to tell you that I will be standing for re-election next year,” Infantino said at the congress of world football’s governing body in Doha.
Infantino, a 52-year-old Swiss-Italian lawyer, was the secretary general of European governing body UEFA before becoming FIFA president in 2016 in the wake of the corruption scandal that brought down predecessor Sepp Blatter.
He then won a second term when he stood unopposed for re-election at a congress in Paris in 2019.
His mandate then was for four years and the next congress will take place “some time at the beginning of next year”, Infantino said.
Delegates from across the football world were gathered in Doha ahead of today’s draw for the World Cup, which Qatar is holding in November and December of this year.
Meanwhile, Infantino tried to distance himself from a highly controversial project to hold the World Cup every two years as he suggested the plan had never actually been proposed by world football’s governing body.
“Let me be very clear that FIFA has not proposed a biennial World Cup,” Infantino said on the stage at the organisation’s congress in Doha on the eve of the draw for this year’s tournament.
Despite that, Infantino has pushed the project in recent months along with Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal manager who is now FIFA’s head of global development.
Infantino claimed at a virtual global summit to discuss the topic last December that playing the World Cup more regularly would offer enormous financial benefits for member federations.
Then, FIFA promised an extra $19 million every four years for each national federation, based on feasibility studies projecting major revenue increases.
Yet Infantino had to put off holding a vote on the subject due to vociferous opposition from all sides.
It had initially been thought the subject would feature prominently at Thursday’s congress in the Qatari capital, but the agenda was instead dominated by the fall-out from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as the build-up to the World Cup.
“Let’s get the process clear here –- the last FIFA Congress asked the FIFA administration… to start a feasibility study into holding the World Cup every two years,” Infantino added.
“The FIFA administration under the leadership of Arsene Wenger did exactly that.
“FIFA did not propose anything, but came to the conclusion that it is feasible, that it would have some repercussions and impact.”
He added: “We found it would be feasible and even positive for a big part of the world, but there is of course also big opposition to it and that is where the discussion has to start.”
The project has been lambasted by almost all sides, with UEFA and South American governing body CONMEBOL uniting in their opposition and even moving towards organising a transatlantic Nations League after 2024.
The European Club Association as well as leagues and players have voiced their disapproval too.
The Confederation of African Football did give its backing, but even the International Olympic Committee expressed concerns about more frequent World Cups drawing attention away from other sports.
However, Infantino later indicated that there was still some hope of eventually reviving the project.
“We are looking at all options. We will take the time it takes with the utmost understanding of all positions,” he said.
He also said that plans for an expanded, 24-team Club World Cup remain alive despite the pandemic forcing the indefinite postponement of the first edition.
Planned for June and July of 2021, it was put off in order to make way for the Copa America and Euro 2020, both postponed by a year because of Covid-19.
The Club World Cup in its existing guise features seven teams — the champions of each continental federation as well as the host nation — and Infantino admitted it is “not exciting or inclusive enough”.
“We took a decision to have a new Club World Cup with 24 teams. It should have been played in June 2021 and we agreed to postpone it,” Infantino said.
“That is still the plan. We did not yet fix a new date for that because there are more important things which we have to deal with, like the pandemic.
“In the meantime we have our current Club World Cup but we are still looking forward to a new version.”
Chelsea won this year’s Club World Cup, beating Palmeiras in the final in Abu Dhabi last month.
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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