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Tag FIFA

  • Mar, Sat, 2020
Sport

FIFA recommends March, April internationals be postponed

Recommendation
Zurich, March 14, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) FIFA has recommended that all international matches scheduled to be played in March and April be postponed because of the coronavirus.

The global football body also said, in a statement on Friday, that clubs would not be obliged to release players for any matches which were played.

“The general football rules which normally oblige clubs to release players for national team matches will not apply for the upcoming international windows in March and April,” it said.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Mar, Thu, 2020
Sport

FIFA postpones South American World Cup qualifiers over coronavirus

FIFA
Santiago, March 12, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) World football governing body FIFA has postponed South American qualifying matches for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

This was after a request from the region’s football federation amid concerns over the spread of coronavirus.

FIFA said in a letter to the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), which the federation tweeted, that it would seek to reschedule the 10 matches.

They were due to take place between March 23 and March 31.

A number of Latin America’s top football stars play for European teams in countries that have seen significant cases of the virus.

They would have faced quarantines on their return to their home countries.

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura told her counterpart at CONMEBOL, Jose Astigarraga, that the health and safety of those involved in the World Cup was her primary concern.

“We will continue to work with and consult you and your team to be able to find possible dates in which these matches can be played, something which will require… solutions that take into account the unique and fast-changing nature of this exceptional situation,” she wrote in the letter.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Wed, 2020
Sport

FIFA to launch global review of match calendar

Launching
Manchester (UK), Feb. 26, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) FIFA is to launch a major “once and for all” review of the international match calendar, which governs the dates of major competitions and tournaments, the body said on Wednesday.

FIFA also expressed concern at the gap between the top national teams and the rest, which it noted was getting bigger, and said it wants to make more use of technology.

There have been a number of complaints from coaches, such as Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, about the scheduling of games and concerns about the increasing number of commitments.

“The international match calendar plays a central role in the sustainable growth of football in all regions of the world and at all levels,” FIFA said in a new document `The Vision 2020-2023: Making Football Truly Global’.

“For this reason, the current system should, once and for all, be discussed thoroughly with all stakeholders and reviewed according to their needs in a collective effort to guarantee a truly global approach,” FIFA added.

The review is part of a list of `11 goals’ which FIFA president Gianni Infantino has outlined for the next three years.

Those goals include their ongoing attempt to reform the transfer system and expanding the use of technology, including the video assistant referee (VAR) system.

“The successful implementation of VAR in FIFA’s competitions provides a foundation for the continuous enhancement of VAR technology.

“This should focus particularly on improving communication around VAR incidents and making the technology accessible for all member-associations, regardless of their size and/or financial resources,” said FIFA.

FIFA was also concerned that very few teams from outside Europe and South America had reached the quarter-finals in any of the last three World Cups.

“This is directly linked to comparatively high levels of investment in Europe and low levels of investment everywhere else (with the limited exception of South America),” it said.

It said that FIFA, which will increase the number of teams at the World Cup to 48 from 2026, should “take steps to bridge this gap”.

This will be with the long term aim of bringing at least 50 sides to a “top competitive level.”

FIFA also proposed further changes to the laws of the game and that “the promotion of offensive tactics should guide this process.”

In spite of controversy over the implementation of the VAR system over the last two years, FIFA also proposed the use of new technologies.

“FIFA should explore emerging technologies which can positively impact the game, such as artificial intelligence and sensor technology, and assess their capabilities,” it said.

The world football court also wants to make VAR technology accessible for all member-associations “regardless of their size and/or financial resources.”(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Wed, 2020
Sport

FIFA’s Wenger wants offside law changed to reduce VAR criticism

VAR 
Zurich, Feb. 19, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) FIFA’s head of global development Arsene Wenger says he will attempt to make a major change to the offside law.

He disclosed that it would be a change which could end a run of contentious decisions in the game since the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Wenger wants a player to be deemed onside if any part of their body which can legitimately score a goal is level or behind the last defender.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Frenchman was manager of English Premier League club Arsenal for 22 years.

This will flip the current rule which states the player is in an offside position if any part of their body they can score with is beyond the line of the last defender.

Usage of video review has been a source of constant criticism since its recent introduction, including concern about the time to take decisions and the precision with which offsides are judged.

The system sparked another controversy last week in the Premier League when Wolverhampton Wanderers had a goal ruled out against Leicester City.

That was after Pedro Neto’s heel was adjudged to be fractionally offside in the build-up.

Wenger will recommend the change during the world football lawmaking body IFAB’s annual general meeting in Belfast on Feb. 29.

“You will be not offside if any part of the body that can score a goal is in line with the last defender, even if other parts of the attacker’s body are in front,” Wenger told the British media.

“That will sort it out and you will no longer have decisions about millimetres and a fraction of the attacker being in front of the defensive line.”

Each of the four Home Nations —- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland —- has one of the eight votes, with FIFA holding the other four.

NAN reports that any law change needs six votes in favour to go through.

If Wenger gets his three-quarter majority, the new law could come into effect on June 1 —- 12 days before the start of the European Championship.(Reuters/NAN)
IHA/JPE/OLAL
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Fri, 2020
Sport

Italy’s FA asks FIFA for “challenges’’ to VAR in Serie A

VAR
Rome, Feb. 14, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Italy’s football governing (FIGC) has asked FIFA’s rule-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), if it can make some changes to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

FIGC wants to introduce a system where Serie A teams can challenge referee’s decisions and ask for technology to intervene.

The Italian top-flight introduced the VAR system in 2017/2018.

But it has received criticism from Serie A managers who feel technology should take a second look at controversial decisions made by on-field referees.

Napoli and Parma fumed over VAR last weekend for wrong calls made by the referee after they were not awarded penalty kicks.

The FIGC believes managers should be allowed to challenge decisions, much like tennis players do with close line calls.

The FIGC said it received requests from a number of Serie A clubs and they informally took up the matter with FIFA.

It said it told FIFA they were ready to experiment with the use of challenges within a timeframe and process specified by IFAB.

IFAB will hold its Annual General Meeting in Belfast on Feb. 29 where subjects such as possible future developments on VAR use and concussion protocols will be discussed.

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina has also advised Serie A’s head of referees Nicola Rizzoli on this matter.

Rizzoli is to instruct referees to make more use of on-field reviews for controversial calls as the title race heats up in Italy.

Inter Milan and Juventus are tied at the top of the standings on 54 points while Lazio are third, one point behind.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

Greece confirms visit of UEFA president and FIFA officials to help end football turmoil

 

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin during the press conference. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

Confirmation
Athens, Feb. 11, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and FIFA vice president Greg Clarke are due in Athens on Feb. 25, a Greek government spokesman said on Tuesday.

The visit is to help Greece outline its action plan to overhaul the football game in the country.

Hobbled by dwindling attendances and the damaging effects of a debt crisis, Greek football has been beset by financial problems and frequent closed-door matches because of crowd violence.

Ceferin, the president of European football’s governing body, and Clarke are expected in Athens on Feb. 25, government spokesman Stelios Petsas told a weekly news briefing.

Both men are to sign a framework for the restructuring of Greek football.

State Minister George Gerapetritis met Ceferin and other officials in Geneva last week to discuss ways to crack down on match-fixing and football violence.

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also plans to meet Gianni Infantino, the president of world football governing body FIFA, this month, a government official had said last week.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara and Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

Nigeria still world’s 31st in FIFA Ranking

Ranking
By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
Ilorin, Dec. 19, 2019 (NAN) Nigeria’s Super Eagles retained their spot as the world’s 31st team in the World Football Ranking for the month of December.

In the ranking table on the website of world football governing body FIFA on Thursday, Nigeria have garnered 1,493 points, same as they had in the November ranking.

The ranking still helped the team retained the third spot on the continent, behind Senegal and Tunisia.

On the global scene, Belgium are the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking’s Team of the Year for the second successive time after a record-breaking year on the global ladder.

The Red Devils have held on to top spot in a December table barely impacted by just 19 friendlies towards the end of the year.

It was a year in which 1,082 international “A” matches have been played, and that is an all-time high since the ranking’s inception in 1993.

World champions France remain in second place ahead of Brazil in third, the positions they held in December 2018.

However, the make-up of the year-end top five has changed.

England have climbed one place in 2019 to end the year in fourth, with Uruguay moving up to fifth on the back of a two-spot rise.

Argentina (9th) and Colombia (10th) are also in the top 10 at the expense of Switzerland (12th) and Denmark (16th).

Both have slipped four and six places respectively over the course of the year.

The ranking’s Mover of the Year, meanwhile, are Qatar who gained an impressive 138 points over the course of the year.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 hosts won the AFC Asian Cup and made a strong start to the Asian Zone World Cup qualifiers.

Besides accumulating the biggest points haul, Qatar have also jumped a year-high 38 places, followed closely by fellow climbers Algeria (up 32 ranks) and Japan (up 22 ranks).

Given the teams who have made the most progress in 2019, it is no surprise to find that the regional composition of the top 50 has changed over the year.

Along with this is the fact that Europe’s dominance has diminished.

UEFA has lost three places in the top 50 compared to the end of 2018, and now has 28 teams.

Whereas, Concacaf (4), the AFC (4) and CAF (4) have all gained one spot apiece.

But in spite of all the changes witnessed over 2019, the year has ended on a quiet note.

It has witnessed only the most modest of movements due to the scarcity of fixtures since the ranking’s November edition.

Nonetheless, eight teams have all edged a single rung up the ladder, and will hope to continue that progress in 2020.

These are Bahrain (99th), Bolivia (75th), Korea Republic (40th), Lesotho (139th), the Solomon Islands (141st), South Africa (71st), St Kitts and Nevis (139th) and Suriname (141st).(NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Germany’s Koch won’t bid for FIFA post out of respect for French rival

Bid
Frankfurt, Dec. 12, 2019 (dpa/NAN) German football federation (DFB) vice-president Rainer Koch on Thursday said he would not seek a place on the FIFA Council because French federation president Noel Le-Graet is bidding as well.

According to him, the DFB and the French federation are very close.

“Looking at the German-French friendship, and out of respect for Le-Graet and his merits in football, it was clear for me to renounce my candidature.”

However, the move has made Le-Graet the only candidate for the FIFA Council seat for the European body UEFA, with the election slated for March 3 at the UEFA Congress in Amsterdam.

DFB president Fritz Keller, however, said the world’s biggest single sport federation with more than six million members would be out to have a place in the FIFA Council in the future.

The DFB also said Koch would run as planned on March 3 for a place on UEFA’s executive committee.

Germany is without representation in the two bodies since Reinhard Grindel resigned as DFB president in 2019 and Le-Graet took his place in the FIFA council.(dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Yahaya Isah/Ali Baba-Inuwa

Sport

FIFA Ranking: Nigeria drops by one spot, now world 35th

FIFA Ranking: Nigeria drops by one spot, now world 35th

By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
Ranking
Ilorin, Oct. 24, 2019 (NAN) Nigeria’s Super Eagles have dropped by one spot in the FIFA World ranking for the month of October to now place as world 35th country.
In the ranking table from the world football governing body, FIFA on Thursday, Nigeria garnered 1,481 points as against 1482 recorded in September.
However, in spite of the drop, Nigeria still occupy the third spot in Africa behind Senegal and Tunisia who are placed 20th and 29th with 1,546 and 1,495 points, respectively.
On the global scene, although, 184 recent international matches have left their mark on the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, those at the very top remain unaffected by the movement around them.
Belgium (1st, unchanged) still leads the way from France (2nd, unchanged) and Brazil (3rd, unchanged), although top-ten rivals Uruguay (5th, up 1), Croatia (7th, up 1), Argentina (9th, up 1) have at least edged closer to the summit.
But the most significant rises are to be found further down the Ranking, where the in-form quartet of Ukraine (22nd, up 3), Japan (28th, up 3), Turkey (32nd, up 4) and Russia (37th, up 5) are among the more notable climbers.
Jumps of 10 or more places have also been made by a clutch of teams outside the top 50, namely Nicaragua (137th, up 11), South Sudan (162nd, up 11), Barbados (160th, up 10) and São Tomé and Príncipe (180th, up 10).
And there is fresh celebrate, too, for Kosovo (114th, up 5), who can again reflect with pride on their best Ranking position to date. (NAN)
BAY/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

WHO, FIFA collaborate to promote healthy lifestyles through football

WHO, FIFA collaborate to promote healthy lifestyles through football

By Vivian Ihechu
Health
Lagos, Oct. 4, 2019 (NAN) The World Health Organisation (WHO) and football’s world governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), on Friday agreed on a four-year collaboration to promote healthy lifestyles through football globally.
The WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, and FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, signed the Memorandum of Understanding at WHO’s Geneva-based headquarters.
“WHO is excited to be working with FIFA.
“Half the world watched the 2018 World Cup. This means there’s huge potential for us to team up to reach billions of people with information to help them live longer healthier lives,” said Ghebreyesus.
Infantino said: “I am extremely happy to announce this collaboration with WHO.
“ Football is a unique, universal language and we want to use our platform and network to support health initiatives and promote healthy lifestyles all around the world.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the agreement, which can be found on https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/documents/who-fifa-mou.pdf, includes four areas of collaboration.
The areas include Advocacy to promote a healthy lifestyle through football.
Also, Policy alignment to ensure tobacco-free environments at FIFA events; to encourage national football federations to adopt tobacco-free policies, including at stadiums; and to enable WHO to provide technical advice to FIFA on health matters.
There is agreement on building on FIFA events to institute lasting improvements in health and safety.
Also, joint programmes and initiatives to increase participation in physical activity through football in line with WHO guidance, as well as working with national associations and networks of WHO goodwill ambassadors, football players, coaches and volunteers to increase physical activity through football was agreed.
WHO will provide technical advice to FIFA on a variety of health matters, such as ensuring tobacco-free environments at FIFA events and encouraging national football federations to adopt tobacco-free policies, including at stadiums.
WHO and FIFA had already cooperated to ban tobacco at football tournaments, including the 2018 World Cup.
They will build on efforts made to safeguard health at FIFA events and to institute lasting improvements in health and safety, for example around hygiene and disease prevention.
According to the parties, joint programmes and initiatives with national associations and networks of footballers, coaches and volunteers will increase participation in physical activity in line with WHO guidance, and help to increase physical activity through football.
The collaboration will leverage the two organisations’ respective strengths to ensure health messages and activity-related programmes can have a major positive impact on the lives of people all around the world. (NAN)
VIV/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola