European club leaders demand a voice at the 2022 decision-making table

Karl Heinz Rummenigge

By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Geneva
September 10 – Europe’s leading clubs today urged FIFA not to rush into moving the 2022 Qatar World Cup to winter as debate intensified over Sepp Blatter’s support for an unprecedented switch. Twenty-four hours after the FIFA president re-iterated, an exclusive interview with Insideworldfootball, that he would seek approval in principle for a one-off winter World Cup from his executive committee next month, the European Club Association,

Read more …

FA spurred to issue warning over use of Yid term

Yid army flag

By Mark Baber
September 10 – The English FA are discouraging the use of the word ‘yid’ which derives from the Yiddish word for Jew, but which has been used in a derogatory and offensive way by anti-Semites. Despite the word’s origin and its use as a badge of honour by Tottenham fans, the FA has said it “is likely to be considered offensive by the reasonable observer.”

Read more …

Olympic blow out could put Turks in pole position for Euros hosting

uefa flag

By Andrew Warshaw
September 10 – Istanbul’s failure to land the 2020 summer Olympics could have a direct knock-on effect in terms of Turkey bidding for a slice of Euro 2020. UEFA president Michel Platini has long insisted that if the Turks staged the Games they would be ruled out of the selection process for the one-off pan-European Euros the same summer.

Read more …

Clubs head to Geneva for ECA meet and expected to back Winter 2022

Umberto Gandini

By Andrew Warshaw in Geneva
September 10 – Europe’s leading clubs are expected today (Tuesday) to back FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s call for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be switched to winter as a one-off. The formal part of the European Club Association’s annual general assembly in Geneva will focus on the election of a number of new executive board members but behind the scenes the discussions will be all about 2022.

Read more …

Matt Scott: Following the cash trails

From Abidjan to Zagreb this week, after the last of the FIFA World Cup group-stage qualifiers, football fans will have a pretty good idea about their nations’ chances of playing at the finals tournament in Brazil next year.

What awaits those who travel to Brazil might not be the samba and carnival that has been promised by organisers but instead a protest against the corruption and cynicism that a maturing nation’s growing middle class angrily rejects.

Read more …

[b]Exclusive with Sepp Blatter:[/b] Everyone complains about winter 2022, but what about discrimination

JSB interviewed

September 9 – The recent heated debate about potentially playing the FIFA World Cup 2022 in what would be the European winter (note European) has generated some agreement and considerable dissent among football pundits, administrators and politicians alike. Insideworldfootball’s Paul Nicholson spoke exclusively to FIFA’s President, Joseph S. Blatter, and asked him what repercussions he is expecting – if any – to his proposal to shift dates.

Read more …