The 77-year-old was due to travel to London this weekend for a dinner held in his honour by the Football Writers Association (FWA).

Pele – the only player to win three World Cups – withdrew and the FWA said he was being monitored by doctors.

But his spokesperson called reports of his hospitalisation “fake news”.

“He just didn’t want to make a long and stressful trip to London, in and out of who knows how many planes and airports,” said Jose Fornos Rodrigues. “That’s all.”

Pele has been taken to hospital for kidney and prostate problems in recent years.

Widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, he scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 appearances during his 21-year career, including 77 goals in 91 appearances for Brazil.

He helped his country win the 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups and was named Fifa’s Player of the Century.

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Source: BBC

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FIFA’s judicial bodies had banned Mr Lamptey for life for breaching art. 69 par 1 (unlawfully influencing match results) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia qualifying match between South Africa and Senegal on 12 November 2016.

In its ruling, CAS concluded that Mr Lamptey had intentionally taken two wrong decisions with the sole purpose of enabling a specific number of goals to be scored that would make pertinent bets successful.

CAS concluded that there was an obvious link between these intentionally wrong decisions and a deviation from an expected betting pattern, and consequently found Mr Lamptey guilty of having unlawfully influenced the result of the match.

This CAS decision underlines FIFA’s commitment to protecting the integrity of football and its zero-tolerance policy on match manipulation, while also highlighting the effectiveness of its current agreement with Sportradar that uses their Fraud Detection System, which played an important role in this case.

Credit: FIFA

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Nigeria were given a 3-0 walkover loss by FIFA on Tuesday for fielding an ineligible player in the game against Algeria in November which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Nigeria midfielder Shehu Abdullahi was to serve an automatic one match ban in the game against the Algerians after he picked up two yellow cards in the series, but ended up featuring in the said game.

The development, however, does not affect the Super Eagles’ qualification to the World Cup, but Amaju Pinnick took to Twitter on Wednesday to render an apology to the fans and accepted full responsibility for what he described as an oversight.

“I’ll start by tendering my wholehearted apology to Nigeria and Nigerians for the Shehu Abdullahi error. It is unforgivable and could have undone months of hard work. As head of the Federation, I take responsibility for this. It happened on my watch.

“While accepting the Federation’s fault here, let me quickly explain how this went by unnoticed. It doesn’t change the fact that we didn’t keep our eyes on the ball and will help us in our planned restructuring of the Technical & Competitions Department.

“Shehu Abdullahi got his first yellow card in our very first preliminary match against Swaziland away. When the draws for the Group Stages were made, the Technical staff made a grave error; assumption. They assumed the cards gotten prior would not count.

“To be fair to them, throughout the qualifying series, official match documents didn’t even show that Shehu Abdullahi was on a yellow card. For instance, when we played Cameroon, Mikel, Moses and Balogun were put on notice that they had yellow cards.

“Team meetings were even held about how to handle their cards so they wouldn’t miss crucial games. Shehu Abdullahi was never in the mix. Shehu then recieved a yellow against Zambia in our penultimate game, two years after the Swaziland match.

“Another grave mistake then occurred. Fifa sent an email to the technical officer in charge, that Shehu Abdullahi was suspended for the Algeria match. In a twist of fate, that officer was in hospital, with a severe heart condition, battling for his life.

“The biggest knock to our system is the fact that his official correspondences should have been forwarded to more than one person. It wasn’t. We went into our last match not knowing about Fifa’s notice. Not acceptable, I agree, but these are the facts of the matter.

“On the match day, we were unaware, the match officials were unaware and our opponents were unaware. It was a horrendous error and we at the Federation are truly apologetic. We thank God it did not undue years of hard work” he said.

It was a lack of due diligence in and by one of our departments and we are ensuring that errors like these never happen again. On behalf of all of us at the @thenff; I apologise, Nigeria. Our focus remains. We will soar higher.”

Nigeria will face Argentina , Croatia and Iceland in Group D of the 2-18 World Cup with Argentina, Croatia and Iceland.

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By: citi Sports/Ghana

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The striker, 33, tested positive for the stimulant after qualifier against Argentina on 5 October.

The ban will be dated from 3 November, when he was provisionally suspended.

Peru beat New Zealand over two legs in a play-off in November to qualify for the World Cup in Russia, their first appearance at the event since 1982.

The former Bayern Munich striker, who plays for Brazilian club Flamengo, has 33 goals in 84 appearances for his country.

When news of his provisional suspension broke on 3 November, the Peruvian Football Federation thanked Guerrero for his “immense contribution” and said the country stood with him in “solidarity” during “difficult moments”.

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Source: BBC

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It is one of 33 recommendations in the first report of the governing body’s new Human Rights Advisory Board.

The panel, including representatives from the UN, trade unions and sponsors, was created to provide independent advice on Fifa’s responsibilities.

“Our first report sets a baseline,” the advisory board said.

“We recognise that Fifa has taken important steps, particularly by adopting a new Human Rights Policy, fighting discrimination connected to matches and integrating human rights requirements into the 2026 Fifa World Cup bidding documents.

“We also make 33 detailed recommendations on issues Fifa should focus on, including, as a priority, building on what has been done to date by continuing to strengthen efforts to address risks to workers’ rights on World Cup stadium construction sites in Russia and Qatar.

“We highlight the long-term commitment required from Fifa to build systems at the operational level that can proactively identify and respond to the most severe human rights risks.”

Fifa – along with other global sports institutions – has come under increasing pressure to make human rights more of a priority.

Last year it announced that for the first time it was organising a system, together with the Russian authorities, to monitor labour conditions at stadiums being built or renovated for the 2018 World Cup.

However, its effectiveness has been criticised by rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Meanwhile, Fifa president Gianni Infantino admitted in May there had been human rights abuses of North Korean workers involved in the construction of the Zenit Arena in St Petersburg.

In September, HWR warned that migrant construction workers in Qatar, including those building stadiums for the 2022 World Cup, were working in potentially life-threatening heat and humidity.

This week however, the International Labor Organization (ILO) ended a potential investigation of Qatar after it pledged to protect the rights of migrant workers.

Praising Qatar’s commitment “to ensuring fundamental principles and rights at work for all workers and the resulting breakthrough to end the ‘kafala’ sponsorship system,” the ILO’s governing body said it would monitor progress for three years.

Qatar relies heavily on a workforce of about two million migrant workers from Asia to expand its infrastructure. The gas-rich emirate has committed tens of billions of dollars to construction of stadiums, hotels and transport projects linked to the 2022 World Cup.

“This report shows that Fifa is making important progress in integrating respect for human rights throughout its wide range of activities,” Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura said.

“We are taking a pioneering role in that regard and feel privileged to be able to count on the outstanding support of the advisory board members. They validate the important progress that is taking place and challenge us where more is still to be done.”

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Source: BBC

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As it stands, the FIFA U-17 and U-20 competitions are played every 2 years with 24 teams for the men and 16 teams for the women’ editions.

FIFA will now consider merging the two competitions with the men’s tournament increased to 48 teams and the women’s to 24, to be played every year instead of biennially.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the idea will be debated and discussed further by FIFA and will come into effect from 2020 if approved.

“The idea would be to have an increased number of participants to 48 for the boys and 24 for the women. And instead of having an U-17 and an U-20, we would now have one age category competition which could be U-18 or an U-19 that will be played on an annual basis instead of every two years,” Gianni Infantino said at a press briefing after the FIFA Council meeting in Kolkata, India where the FIFA U-17 World Cup is currently taking place.

Infantino also revealed that FIFA will consider co-hosting for the proposed new format to give smaller associations the ability to still be able to bid for hosting rights.

“Of course with such high number of teams, we’re looking at co-hosting in order to give the possibility to smaller associations around the world to be able to host the competition together with others,” he said.

Spain and England are set to contest the FIFA U-17 World Cup final on Saturday.

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By: Fentuo Tahiru/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The figure is a 12% increase from the $380 million paid in 2014 in Brazil.

FIFA made the announcement after its Council meeting in Kolkata, India, where the FIFA U-17 World Cup is currently taking place.

The meeting in Kolkata covered a wide array of topics including the adoption of the FIFA Transfer System for Women’s football, the merging of FIFA youth competitions and the approval of dates for upcoming tournaments as contained in this FIFA Statement below:

“The FIFA Council convened today in Kolkata, India, and decided on a few important elements related to the FIFA World Cup – for both next year’s edition in Russia and the future of football’s showpiece competition.

FIFA’s strategic body approved an increase in the prize money for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia to a total amount of USD 400 million — 12 per cent up from the USD 358 million awarded at the 2014 edition.

The FIFA Council also ratified the decision of the Bureau of the Council of 6 September 2017 to approve the enhanced Bidding Regulations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and appointed the members of the Bid Evaluation Task Force.

According to the Bidding Regulations, the Task Force must be composed of the chairpersons of the Audit & Compliance Committee and the Governance Committee – in this case, Tomaz Vesel and Mukul Mudgal respectively – as well as a member of the Organising Committee for Competitions (Ilco Gjorgioski was appointed), together with experts from the administration: Deputy Secretaries General Zvonimir Boban (football) and Marco Villiger (administration).

The meeting in Kolkata covered a wide array of topics and saw the FIFA Council passing a number of important decisions, including the following:

• Establishment of the FIFA Foundation, with the purpose of providing a solid legal and institutional basis for FIFA’s social development initiatives. One of the core intentions of the FIFA Foundation will be to institutionalise a commitment of the FIFA Legends to engage in such activities and act as promoters of FIFA’s aims and objectives related to social development.

The FIFA Foundation should be operational by the first quarter of 2018 and will initially comprise the FIFA President and two members of the FIFA Council, Sonia Bien-Aime and Kwesi Nyantakyi. Later in the year, the FIFA Council will appoint a selection of respected personalities – from football and other areas of society – as additional members of the Foundation Board.

• Decision to engage in a consultation phase to discuss a review of FIFA’s women’s, youth and club tournaments. A number of different draft formats will be submitted for discussion with the member associations at the FIFA Executive Football Summits, as well as with the confederations and other relevant stakeholders. Final concepts are planned to be submitted to the FIFA Council for approval during the body’s next meeting, on 15 and 16 March 2018 in Bogota, Colombia.
• Approval of the following FIFA tournament dates:

o FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018: 5 to 24 August 2018

o FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Uruguay 2018: 13 November to 1 December 2018

o FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018: 12 to 22 December 2018

o FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019: 7 June to 7 July 2019

• Adoption of the International Match Transfer System for professional women’s football as of 1 January 2018. The regulatory mechanism will enable FIFA to monitor the international movements and transfer market, bringing more transparency to the women’s game and enhancing its level of professionalism.
• Recognition of all European and South American teams that won the Intercontinental Cup – played between 1960 and 2004 – as club world champions.”

By: Citi Sports

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Gabon fielded an ineligible player – Merlin Tandjigora, who should have been suspended – in the 3-0 home defeat by Ivory Coast on 2 September.

The Panthers effectively escape with a fine as the main sanction for the error is to forfeit the match 3-0.

Several teams suffered similar sanctions in 2014 World Cup qualifying.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has been fined just over US$30,000 and issued with a warning after fans invaded the pitch when they beat Cameroon 4-0 on 1 September.

DR Congo were also given a warning and also handed a major fine, forced to pay Fifa around US$20,000, for incidents during their match against Tunisia on 5 September.

Fifa ruled that there had been “improper conduct among spectators – throwing objects [bottles] and letting off incendiary devices” at the match, which ended 2-2, in Kinshasa.

The Congolese federation was also sanctioned for failing to fly national flags at the stadium and for not displaying a mandatory “central advertising board”.

There was a US$15,000 fine and a warning for Mali after their home match against Morocco also suffered from “improper conduct among spectators – throwing objects [bottles and chairs]”.

Elsewhere, Zambia must pay US$7,000 after their fans threw objects when they played Algeria in Lusaka.

Morocco’s punishment of US$3,000 and a warning was given after spectators whistled during the national anthem ahead of their match against Mali in Rabat.

Both Burkina Faso and Senegal were issued warnings for delayed kick-offs in their matches against each other on 2 and 5 September respectively.

And South Africa’s Erick Mulomowandau Mathoho had his suspension for a straight red card against Cape Verde increased from one match to two and also fined US$5,000.

He was dismissed in Praia for kicking out at an opponent after the ball had already gone into touch and missed the return match a few days later through suspension.

The increased ban means Bafana Bafana coach Stuart Baxter had to drop him from his squad to face visiting Burkina Faso on Saturday.

He has been replaced by Cape Town City captain Robyn Johannes, who has earned his first call-up since 2008.

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Source: BBC

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Last year, football’s world governing body fined England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for their use of the poppy to commemorate Armistice day, deeming it to be a political symbol.

England and Scotland wore the emblem on black armbands during their World Cup qualifier at Wembley last November.

Wales and Northern Ireland were fined for displaying it in their stadiums.

The ensuing row drew criticism from the Prime Minister, with Theresa May calling Fifa’s stance “utterly outrageous”.

“Our football players want to recognise and respect those who have given their lives for our safety and security,” she said. “I think it is absolutely right that they should be able to do so.”

Last week Fifa is understood to have sent out a draft proposal to its member nations with revised provisions that could see the poppy permitted if opposing teams and the competition organiser for the relevant match both accept its use in advance.

The new law is expected to be passed in time for November’s international games, which are to be played between 6 and 14 November – a period that incorporates Remembrance weekend.

England are set to play Germany in a friendly at Wembley during this time and it is understood the German FA has no objections over the use of the poppy.

England players are now expected to either wear armbands with a poppy on them or have the poppy embroidered on their shirts in the same way as Premier League teams.

The match will be given the go-ahead provided both countries avoid the World Cup play-offs. To do so, England need to beat Slovenia at Wembley next month to secure automatic promotion while a draw is enough for Germany against Northern Ireland at Windsor Park.

The FA declined to comment until the decision to change the game’s laws has been fully ratified.

Last year, England and Scotland displayed the poppy on a black armband in an unsuccessful attempt to circumvent the regulations.

That echoed similar actions in 2011 when, under now-departed leadership, Fifa permitted England, Scotland and Wales to use armbands.

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Source: BBC

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Abo Rida beat Cameroon’s Zelkifli Ngoufonja by 50 votes to 4 in a poll organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

“(Ngoufonja) alleged that (Abo Rida) threw a party and flew in other delegations from the other federations,” said Miguel Maduro.

“If that is true, that would be a violation of the principles under which elections should take place.”

Portuguese Maduro, who was ousted as chair of Fifa’s Governance Committee in May, made the claims when addressing a British parliamentary committee on Wednesday.

On 4 May, the Egyptian FA, which Abo Rida chairs, hosted a party – described as a ‘celebration ceremony’ to welcome then recently-elected Caf President Ahmad to Cairo – in the Egyptian capital, where African football’s body is based.

The gathering was attended by several African football association presidents and Arab Football Union members as well, with an arranged visit to the pyramids of Giza the following day.

The event was organised by the Egyptian FA’s main sponsor, who then flew the African and Arab delegates to Bahraini on a private jet.

Abo Rida was elected on 8 May in the Bahraini capital Manama, which staged a Fifa Congress between 10-11 May (whereupon Maduro was dismissed from his position).

A former Senior Development Manager for Africa at Fifa, Ngoufonja had complained to Maduro’s team prior to the vote that he was being denied a chance to address delegates.

“Normally, confederations don’t allow different candidates to speak at a congress, which can be understandable if there are many positions and many candidates,” said Maduro.

“But this candidate’s admissibility had initially been excluded without even being communicated to our governance committee.

“Our committee recommended – and said this to (Fifa) Secretary General (Fatma Samoura) who then communicated this to Caf – that he be given the opportunity to speak, which did not happen.

“So we intended to investigate the matter.”

Ngoufounja says he only received official confirmation that he could stand in the elections just three days before the vote.

“On election day, delegates were told that I was admitted only provisionally – pending an eligibility check – and that even if I won, I might still fail an eligibility check,” Ngoufounja told BBC Sport.

“Some delegates later told me – how could they have voted for me knowing I could be out later on?”

Denied the opportunity, the Cameroonian says he resorted to contacting delegates via the messaging service Whatsapp instead.

The BBC has approached Abo Rida for comment but had received no response at the time of writing.
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Source: BBC

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