FIFA Archives - Page 111 of 210 - Inside World Football

Now for football. Stage set for Russia’s Confederations Cup kick off amid human rights and ticketing concerns

By Samindra Kunti in St Petersburg, Russia

June 16 – With the Confederations Cup set to kick off tomorrow with hosts Russia facing New Zealand in the newly completed Kreztovsky stadium in St Petersburg, CEO of the Local Organising Committee Alexei Sorokin said they could not find corroboration of the “alarming” allegations made in the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report into construction workers’ conditions at World Cup stadium sites. Meanwhile, stadia are slowing filling though there are still 7,000 tickets for the opening game.

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FIFA urges refs to abandon Confed Cup games if racism runs out of control

Say no to racism

By Paul Nicholson

June 15 – FIFA has re-inforced a three-stage process that will ultimately give referees at the Confederations Cup in Russia the power to abandon games if discriminatory behaviour by fans gets out of control. This follows a procedure first encouraged by UEFA in 2009 and re-iterated in 2013 following incidents in Italy and the comments of then FIFA president Sepp Blatter that fines were not sufficient to combat the issues.

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FIFA to continue trials of VAR in Russia as quest for ‘honesty’ continues

June 15 – The Video Assistant Referee system (VAR) will be in use at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia as the trail of the system continues.

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Palestinians take FIFA to CAS for breaking its statutes, procedures and failing democracy

By Paul Nicholson

June 14 – The Palestine Football Association (PFA) is taking FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) claiming FIFA broke its own statutory rules and denied the PFA its rights over the decision taken by the FIFA Congress not to go to a vote on whether six Israeli teams playing league matches on occupied territory in Palestine should be allowed to continue.

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South Korea moots co-hosted 2030 World Cup as Infantino heads for China

By Samindra Kunti

June 13 – South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, has suggested North Korea could be part of a bid to co-host the 2030 World Cup. Moon (pictured) is trying to foster a dialogue with the isolated North Koreans.

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Aussies target hosting of 2023 World Cup, and winning it

June 13 – Australia is to launch a bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup after the country’s federal government has pledged its support to stage the tournament.

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Xi Jingping and Infantino meeting ignites more 2030 World Cup bid speculation

By Mark Baber

June 13 – As China continues to increase its investments in football, at home and abroad, Wednesday’s meeting between President Xi Jinping and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Beijing has ignited speculation on a potential Chinese World Cup bid for 2030.

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Infantino backs Qatar 2022 saying there is plenty of time for diplomacy to work

By Paul Nicholson

June 12 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has expressed confidence that the diplomatic crisis surrounding Qatar in the middle east will not threaten the 2022 World Cup, but that FIFA is monitoring the situation closely.

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England defeat Venezuela to claim U20 World Cup title in Korea

June 12 – England won their first FIFA world title for 51 years in Suwon, South Korea after their U20s overcame Venezuela in the final 1-0. Venezuela, in their first ever FIFA World Cup final, had a 75th minute penalty saved in the second half that would have levelled the game.

Africa

Samoura steps into Sudan FA row to protect local proxies

By Andrew Warshaw

June 9 – One month after suspending the elections of the Sudan Football Association (SFA) at the request of the incumbent SFA officals, FIFA have now threatened to throw out the African country altogether if a controversial government decree is not revoked within the next 24 hours.

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US corruption probe closes in Swiss bank Julius Baer, Swiss open banker case

Julius baer

June 9 – Executives of Swiss bank Julius Baer have told US prosecutors that a former employee acted alone when he allegedly helped funnel kickbacks and bribery payments to a soccer official in the Americas, according to Reuters.

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The Cameroon team at the Confederations Cup are imposters, says club letter to FIFA

By Paul Nicholson

June 8 – With the opening of the Confederations Cup tournament in Russia just nine days away, FIFA have received a letter from a Cameroon club claiming that the African team competing in Russia is not the country’s ‘legal’ representative at the tournament, and should not be recognised by the world governing body as such.

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Russian disappointment over weakened German team being sent to Confed Cup

June 8 – With Confederation Cup ticket sales slow to take off, Russia’s World Cup chief Alexei Sorokin has bemoaned Germany’s decision to send a weakened squad to the traditional warmup tournament which begins on June 17.

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Russia boosts Confederations Cup security but ticket sales fail to ignite

By Samindra Kunti

June 7 – Confederations Cup host Russia has boosted security ahead of the tournament’s kick-off on June 17. Russian president Vladimir Putin has approved legislation to curb violence and hooliganism at football games after violent clashes between Russian and English fans in Marseille at Euro 2016.

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U20 World Cup set for Europe vs South America showdown despite video ref failure

June 6 – The U20 World Cup progressed to the semi-final stages in South Korea with England, Italy, Uruguay and Venezuela ensuring that it will be a Europe vs South America final. But not before there was proof that video technology is still very much at the experimental stage and needs fine-tuning after an incident that saw Italy’s Giuseppe Pezzella shown his marching orders in controversial circumstances.