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Tag: Fifa

  • FIFA chief appeals for Russia, Ukraine ceasefire during World Cup

    FIFA chief appeals for Russia, Ukraine ceasefire during World Cup

    FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has called on Russia and Ukraine to enter into a one month ceasefire during the World Cup in Qatar.

    Infantino told leaders at a summit of the G20 group of major economies in Indonesia the World Cup provided a “unique platform” for peace and unity because the event would be watched by some five billion people on television.

    “So, my plea with all of you is to stay on a temporary ceasefire for one month for the duration of the World Cup,” he said at a lunch with G20 leaders on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

    As an alternative, he proposed some humanitarian corridors “or anything that could lead to the resumption of dialogue as the first step to peace. “You are the world leaders, you have the ability to influence the course of history.”

    The World Cup begins in Qatar on Sunday amid widespread criticism of the country’s human rights record, particularly regarding the workers who built the stadiums.

    Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, urged governments to send athletes to international events based on their sporting merit, not political affiliations.

    “International sports will fall apart if participation is decided on political grounds.

    “We need the participation of all athletes who accept rules even, especially if, their countries are in confrontation,” Bach told the same gathering in Bali.

    Various international sports organisations have imposed sanctions on Russia and its athletes following its invasion of Ukraine.

  • Mane’s injury: Bayern Munich coach reacts over ‘witch doctor’ option for Senegalese treatment

    Mane’s injury: Bayern Munich coach reacts over ‘witch doctor’ option for Senegalese treatment

    Senegal striker Sadio Mane will undergo medical checks in Munich in 10 days to monitor his recovery from an injury.

    It is an injury that can rule him out of the entire FIFA World Cup in Qatar, in spite of his being named in his country’s squad on Friday.

    Mane was named in Senegal’s squad for the World Cup starting on Nov. 20 in spite of suffering an injury playing for Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

    The 30-year-old striker’s decisive penalty kicks won both the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and World Cup qualification for his country this year.

    But he suffered an injury to his right fibula in Bayern Munich’s 6-1 win against Werder Bremen.

    “I don’t even know what a witch doctor is,” Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Friday.

    His comment was in response to FIFA General Secretary Fatma Samoura’s suggestion that compatriot Mane could be treated by ‘witch doctors’ to get him fit in time.

    “In 10 days we will do a check on him again to see how his recovery and progress has gone and we will take it from there,” Nagelsmann told a news conference.

    “Obviously (Senegal) really want him to play but we have to wait and see how the medical situation is. If he can’t play he can’t play, whether the FA wants him or not.

    “These are the types of situations that go beyond just the sporting aspect.”

    Senegal face Netherlands on Nov. 21 in their opening Group A match before taking on hosts Qatar and Ecuador.

    Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said earlier on Friday he was confident Mane could recover in time to play at the tournament.

  • World Cup-bound referee issues 10 red cards in fiery football match final

    World Cup-bound referee issues 10 red cards in fiery football match final

    Qatar World Cup-bound referee, Facundo Tello dished out 10 red cards in Argentina’s Champions Trophy final match on Sunday.

    This was after Racing Club midfielder Carlos Alcaraz sparked a melee in front of the Boca Juniors fans with his match-winning goal celebration.

    With the teams level at 1-1 in the final minutes of extra time, Alcaraz directed a header into the corner of the net to win it for Racing Club.

    However, his extended celebration in front of the opposition’s fans infuriated the Boca Juniors players, with video showing them grabbing Alcaraz by the ear and throwing a ball at him.

    Tello, who will be one of the officials at the World Cup in Qatar, sent Alcaraz off and dished out five red cards to Boca Juniors players after the scuffles.

    In all, seven red cards were shown to Boca Juniors players and three from Racing Club over the course of the match.

    Norberto Briasco had opened the scoring for Boca Juniors before Racing Club’s Matias Rojas equalised in the first half.

  • FIFA pleads with Qatar World Cup participants to “focus on football”

    FIFA pleads with Qatar World Cup participants to “focus on football”

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has written to 2022 World Cup participating teams urging them to focus on the football in Qatar and not let the sport be dragged into ideological or political “battles”.

    The letter from FIFA president Gianni Infantino and the governing body’s secretary general Fatma Samoura follows a number of protests made by World Cup teams.

    The protests were on issues ranging from LGBTIQ rights to concerns over the treatment of migrant workers.

    “Please, let’s now focus on the football!” Infantino and Samoura were quoted in the letter to the 32 countries contesting at the World Cup.

    “We know football does not live in a vacuum and we are equally aware that there are many challenges and difficulties of a political nature all around the world.

    “But please do not allow football to be dragged into every ideological or political battle that exists.”

    However, FIFA which is the sport’s world governing body was unable to provide immediate comment when contacted by Reuters.

    The World Cup, the first held in the Middle East, starts on Nov. 20.

    Australia’s football team last week spoke out against Qatar’s record on human rights and same-sex relationships.

    Denmark’s players will travel to the World Cup without their families as a protest against the country’s human rights record, the Danish FA (DBU) told local media last month.

    Football Australia confirmed the receipt of the letter from FIFA on Friday, but declined further comment.

    Reuters also contacted the DBU for comment.

    World Cup organisers have said that everyone, no matter their sexual orientation or background, is welcome, while also warning against public displays of affection.

    Qatar has acknowledged there are “gaps” in its labour system, but the World Cup has allowed the country to make progress on worker rights.

    “At FIFA, we try to respect all opinions and beliefs, without handing out moral lessons to the rest of the world,” Infantino said in the letter.

    “One of the great strengths of the world is indeed its very diversity, and if inclusion means anything, it means having respect for that diversity. No one people or culture or nation is ‘better’ than any other.

    “This principle is the very foundation stone of mutual respect and non-discrimination. And this is also one of the core values of football. So, please let’s all remember that and let football take centre stage.”

  • U.S. hopes to put World Cup demons behind in Qatar

    U.S. hopes to put World Cup demons behind in Qatar

    The U.S. Men’s National Team will look to silence the critics after a rocky run-up to Qatar when they return to the World Cup stage for the first time in eight years.

    Their failure to qualify for the finals four years ago prompted much soul-searching within the sport’s national governing body, even as the women’s side thrived.

    But they appeared to exorcise the demons of that failed attempt in March by securing one of CONCACAF’s three guaranteed World Cup spots.

    This was in spite of a tepid start to their campaign with draws against El Salvador and Canada.

    The achievement was met with relief in the U.S., which is set to host the 2026 finals along with Canada and Mexico.

    But if the old saying “You’re only as good as your last performance” is true, the Americans have plenty to worry about.

    They failed to record a shot on goal in their penultimate warm-up match, a grim 2-0 defeat by Japan in September.

    Days later Saudi Arabia, ranked 51st in the world, held the U.S. to a 0-0 draw as the Americans failed to find their rhythm.

    Overall this year against World Cup contenders, the U.S. record is worrying with one win, three draws and three losses.

    Coach Gregg Berhalter said his side were moving in the right direction after the Saudi friendly, telling reporters they could be “very dangerous” when they get their confidence up.

    “It comes down to a little bit of tightness, a little bit of a lack of confidence and anxiety,” he said.

    “Everyone’s fighting for roster spots. And, you know, instead of coming out and really performing like the team we know we are, we lacked a little confidence.”

    The U.S. World Cup squad will be announced on Nov. 9.

    The heart of the team will be Christian Pulisic, the charismatic forward the U.S. hope will drum up the sport’s popularity among fans usually more concerned with the NFL.

    Berhalter, the youngest coach to manage the U.S. since 1995 when he was appointed four years ago aged 45, knows all about the pressure of playing for the national team.

    He was in the squad the last time the U.S. reached the quarter-finals in 2002.

    “Confidence is a tricky thing,” he said.

    “We want them to just play and play with, you know, that aggression and that intensity and the speed that we know they can.”

    The 16th-ranked Americans will need every bit of talent available to them when they take on fifth-ranked England in Group B alongside Iran and Wales.

  • U17 Women’s World Cup: Nigeria’s Flamingos defeat Germany to win bronze after dramatic 3:3 draw

    U17 Women’s World Cup: Nigeria’s Flamingos defeat Germany to win bronze after dramatic 3:3 draw

    Nigeria won their first-ever FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup bronze medals on Sunday in Mumbai after a 3-2 penalty kicks shootout win over Germany.

    Both teams had started the competition against each other, with the Germans coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa.

    But, this time around, in spite of coming back from three goals down, they failed to clinch a winning goal and could not succeed at the shooting range.

    The Europeans, who lost through a late goal to Cup-holders Spain in Wednesday’s second semi-final, started the brighter side in this third-place match.

    They had the ball in the net through Marie Steiner in the fifth minute off a cross from Laura Gloning, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) ruled if offside.

    Nigeria however took the lead in the 21st minute through Opeyemi Ajakaye, after she got the better of Eve Boettcher from a flowing move.

    Goalkeeper Faith Omilana saved from Gloning five minutes later, while Nigeria should have been 2-0 up in time-added-on in the first half after Chidera Okenwa missed a one-on-one with Boettcher.

    The Flamingos continued the second half from where they left off in the first period and were more fortunate this time.

    Aminat Bello headed powerfully into the net from defender Miracle Usani’s corner kick in the 48thminute, while Edidiong Etim extended their lead only four minutes after replacing Okenwa.

    But Germany fought back gamely and reduced the scoreline in the 73rd minute when Veit Jella pulled one back.

    Five minutes later, Ajakaye had an opportunity to make it 4-1 but faltered.

    Paulina Platiner made it 3-2 with five minutes to go and on the dot of 90 minutes, Loreen Bender tied the scoreline to compel a third penalty kicks shootout for the Flamingos.

    Substitutes Blessing Sunday and Etim, and Player-of-the-Match Ajakaye scored from the spot for Nigeria, while defender Tumininu Adeshina missed.

    But it did not matter as Pauliner Bartz missed a crucial kick for Germany.

    Flamingos’ coach Bankole Olowookere said afterwards: “I am a very happy man that we did not leave India empty-handed.

    “It has been a great tournament with a lot of lessons learnt. We give God the glory.”

  • U17 Women’s World Cup: What Flamingos need to beat Germany – Galadima

    U17 Women’s World Cup: What Flamingos need to beat Germany – Galadima

    Chairman of Kano State Sports Commission, Ibrahim Galadima has said the Flamingos need focus to excel in their third-place match against Germany on Sunday at the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.

    Galadima on Friday said that the team have done well though with their accomplishment so far in the competition in India.

    He said their performance was an acknowledgment of the fact that Nigeria’s female national teams at all levels have always been doing well in their competitions.

    “In a match, everything is not all about victory but about what a team has learnt during the match.

    “So, I must say these girls have done well with their performance so far, reaching the semi-finals where Colombia could only beat them through a penalty kicks shootout.

    “Victory is sweet though, but it is not every team that can record victory in any match.

    “Therefore, anything that happens in the third-place match must be acceptable to us because the Flamingos have done well so far in this competition,” Galadima, who is a former chairman of the former Nigeria Football Association (NFA), said.

    He however pointed out that the players should be exposed to international matches, going forward.

    “After the championship, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) should expose the players to a lot of international matches.

    “The senior team is no more doing well like they used to do before and this set of under-17 players are very promising for the future of our senior national team,” the Chairman of Kano Pillars Caretaker Committee said.

    The Flamingos will face Germany in the third-place and bronze medal match on Sunday at the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.

    The competition which started on Oct. 11 will end on Sunday.

  • Remove Iran from World Cup- Ukrainian club, Shakhtar Donetsk tells FIFA

    Remove Iran from World Cup- Ukrainian club, Shakhtar Donetsk tells FIFA

    Following Iran’s alleged military support to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the latter’s top football club, Shakhtar Donetsk, on Monday, urged FIFA to remove the former from the World Cup.

    Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive, Sergei Palkin, accused Iran of “direct participation in terrorist attacks on Ukrainians,” suggesting his own country’s team should play in Qatar instead as a replacement.

    “This will be a fair decision that should draw the attention of the whole world to a regime that kills its best people and helps kill Ukrainians,” Palkin said in a statement one day before his team plays at Celtic in the Champions League.

    The White House said Thursday that the U.S. has evidence that Iranian troops are “directly engaged on the ground” in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian population. And the head of Ukraine’s intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, said in a published interview on Monday that Russian forces had used about 330 Iranian-built “Shahed” drones as of Saturday — and that more had been ordered.

    Russia and Iran have both denied that the drones used were Iranian-built.

    Iran plays in the second game of the World Cup, on Nov. 21 against England, and then faces Wales and the United States in Group B. Wales qualified by beating Ukraine in the playoffs in June in a game that was delayed from March by the war.

    FIFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, if an Asian team was suspended there would be no precedent for FIFA to replace it with a European team at the World Cup.

    Soccer’s world body does not typically suspend member federations because of military decisions by a national government, though Yugoslavia was barred from trying to qualify for the 1994 World Cup after United Nations sanctions were imposed during the war in the Balkans.

    FIFA has suspended Russian teams following its invasion of Ukraine, which barred Russia from playing in the World Cup qualifying playoffs in March. FIFA cited risks to the security and integrity of its competitions, and Russia’s scheduled opponent Poland had refused to play that game.

    FIFA is also resisting calls this month from Iranian fan groups to suspend the national team during a national crackdown on street protests in support of women’s rights and because of a long-time policy stopping women from freely attending games in soccer and other sports.

    FIFA normally only suspends national teams when the country’s government is judged to have interfered in the independent running of the national soccer federation.

    Five Asian confederation teams advanced to the World Cup to join host Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates was the next best in qualifying. The UAE lost a regional playoff in June to Australia ahead of the intercontinental playoffs.

  • FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup: Colombia to face Nigeria’s Flamingos

    FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup: Colombia to face Nigeria’s Flamingos

    Colombia on Saturday booked a semi-finals place against Nigeria’s Flamingos at the ongoing FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India.

    Colombia breezed past Tanzania 3-0 in the quarter-finals at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margoa.

    The result means the South Americans will now face the Flamingos in the first semi-final fixture at the same stadium on Wednesday.

    Nigeria reached the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup semi-finals for the first time on Friday when the Flamingos beat the U.S. in the quarter-finals.

    The Flamingos kept their nerves to defeat the U.S. 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in a pulsating quarter-final match in Navi Mumbai.

    Colombia on their part, have already had their best run in the tournament, making it past the group stage.

    With the win against Tanzania, their dream redemption in the tournament —- following four successive group stage exits, including that of 2018 —- continues.

    They started their quarter-finals match pressing very high and got the breakthrough within the first three minutes.

    Colombia’s counter-attack was finished with a goal by captain Linda Caicedo, who beat Zulfa Makau with ease.

    In spite of Tanzania playing a 4-1-4-1 shape, it could not stop the opposition from inflicting further blows when the second goal came 13 minutes later.

    Cristina Motta’s cross from the left was headed into the goal by Yesica Munoz.

    The match got bad to worse for the Serengeti girls when Zainabu Ally’s foul on Juana Ortegon saw her being sent off, following a VAR check by referee Ivana Martincic.

    Colombia piled on misery on Tanzania with a penalty kick in the 32nd minute.

    Though Bakari Shime (Tanzania’s head coach) changed the goalkeeper —- bringing on Husna Mtunda for Makau —- Gabriela Rodriguez scored with ease to continue building on the lead.

    In the second half, Tanzania looked defensively stronger in spite of having a player less.

    In the 80th minute, Colombia came close to scoring their fourth when Orianna Quintero beat Mtunda, but Tanzania’s captain Noela Luhala made a key clearance in the final moment.

    Luhala saw her relief turning into agony minutes later, when her foul on Ana Guzman was penalised with the second red card of the match.

    The incident reduced a hapless Tanzania to just nine players.

  • Super Falcons play Canada to begin FIFA World Cup 2023 campaign

    Super Falcons play Canada to begin FIFA World Cup 2023 campaign

    Nigeria’s Women’s Senior Football team, Super Falcons, and the best to come out of Africa, and would begin their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign against Canada.

    Super Falcons have been drawn in Group B against Canada, Republic of Ireland, and one of the host countries Australia.

    The draws were made earlier today (Saturday) in Auckland, New Zealand, one of the host cities of the competition.

    Nigeria would look at increasing their chances at the competition, having the highest records of African representative (nine times) in the competition, and never missed the world cup since the competition began.

    Other African teams in the competition are South Africa in group G, Zambia in Group C, Morocco in Group H while Senegal and Cameroon still have chances if they win their playoff games.

    The historic prestigious competition would kick off with New Zealand playing against Norway on July 20, 2023, while Australia, the other host country, play Republic of Ireland the next day.

    The FIFA World Women’s Football fiesta would, in this edition, witness 32 teams all grouped into eight groups competing for honours.

    The US national women’s team with the most title would be looking at winning their fifth title and their third straight when they begin their campaign against Vietnam.

    In another related competition, Nigeria’s Women Junior national team, Flamingoes, are through to the semifinals of the ongoing FIFA World Women’s Cup in India.

    Nigeria beat powerhouse US 4-3 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 in regulation time.

    The Flamingoes made history, becoming the first African team to reach the semifinals and have a chance to extend their heroics when they play the winner between Tanzania and Columbia.

    The semifinal match comes up on Wednesday.