The International Football Federations Thread

[Lineker]

In addition to snoods being banned from next season:

Fifa president Sepp Blatter says goal-line technology will be used at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil if a suitable system is approved in time.

Tests of various systems will continue for another year at the insistence of the game's lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (Ifab).

Blatter, speaking after Ifab's annual meeting in Wales said: "If it works there should be no problem for 2014.

"But the tests we have had so far are not conclusive."

Blatter changed his opinion on goal-line technology in the wake of Frank Lampard's disallowed goal for England against Germany at last summer's World Cup in South Africa, a decision he called a "blatant...and immense error".

Replays clearly showed Lampard's shot bouncing down behind the line off the crossbar but officials failed to award the goal that would have levelled the match at 2-2.

Germany went on to win the game 4-1.

However, 10 goal-line systems were judged inadequate after coming under Fifa scrutiny last month and Ifab said further tests would now take place during games.

"We will go on with the technical experiments and then bring back this item to the Ifab meeting next year in London and then a final decision will be taken," concluded Blatter who indicated that three of the systems, which worked using a magnetic field, had a good chance of passing the tests.

Hawk-Eye's system, which was not one of the 10 tested, will also be looked at.

Alex Horne, general secretary of England's Football Association, said he was "fairly satisfied" with the outcome of the meeting.

However, he added: "It's not perfect because we wanted to get the principle of goal-line technology adopted.

"Given where we were last year when it got thrown out that was my worst fear that it would happen again.

"My preferred position was we accept the principle and wait for the technology to prove itself.

"We are now in the position where they want to look at the technology in different environments and then we will make a decision in March next year."

Other rulings made at the meeting include the decision to use five officials for every match at the Euro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine.

The use of two extra assistant referees follows successful trials in the Europa League.

The officials will be behind the goal-line but on the side of the goal nearest to the assistant referee.

Meanwhile, players will be banned from wearing neck-warming snoods in games from 1 July.

Several Premier League players, including Manchester City quartet Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Mario Balotelli plus Arsenal duo Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh have all worn the scarf-like clothing over the winter months.

But Blatter believes they could be a safety risk if an opponent grabs at them when players are running at speed.

"It can also be dangerous, it can be like to hang somebody," he said.

"I was a football player in winter and summer and have never worn that and we must also pay attention to the law that says what the equipment is."

Any changes to football's rules must be made by the 125-year-old Ifab, which comprises officials from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, who each have one vote and world governing body Fifa, which has four.

Six votes are required for a law to be passed.

[angeluzcr]

On 04/03/2011 at 04:57, The Cool One said:

Shame it's women's football and you don't get to creep on them without feeling guilty because they'll be all 15 or 16. That's two massive negatives right there.

Yeah,shame  

Edited June 27, 2020 by angeluzcr

[Lineker]

With the election only three and a half weeks away, here's the topic for news and discussion.

Uefa's executive committee has given its "unanimous support" to Sepp Blatter in the upcoming Fifa presidential elections, BBC Sport can reveal.

And the committee, which includes former Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson, has urged its 53 member associations to back Blatter.

Seeking a fourth term as president, the 75-year-old is standing against Asian football president Mohamed Bin Hammam.

The Fifa election is being held on 1 June in Zurich, Switzerland.

Michel Platini, who served as one of Blatter's key aides before becoming Uefa president in 2007, was expected to support the Swiss who has pledged that, if re-elected, he would step down in 2015. .

Pesident of Fifa since 1998, Blatter has pledged wide-ranging reforms if he re-elected, including changes to how future World Cup hosts are chosen.

He has also proposed setting up a watchdog committee to supervise how the world governing body works, adding he already knew who he wanted to head the body, though he has not named him.

In terms of deciding where future World Cup finals will be staged, Blatter is considering allowing Fifa's 208 member associations to vote on host countries, a solution similar to the way the International Olympic Committee chooses Olympic venues.

Fifa was criticised for the voting process that led its 24-man executive committee - reduced to 22 after two members were suspended for corruption - to give Russia the 2018 World Cup and choose Qatar as host of the 2022 tournament.

Many figures at the FA are still furious at the world governing body's rejection of the England bid, which gained just two votes, but Fifa vice-president Thompson's signature appears on a statement issued by the Uefa Executive Committee.

Thompson joined a single Fifa executive member in voting for England in December.

Blatter met FA chairman David Bernstein at Wembley last month as part of his re-election campaign, though England's governing body is still to decide who to vote for.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all expected to support Blatter.

Fifa had set a deadline of 1 April for all candidate nominations and the winner will require a two-thirds majority of the votes cast in the first ballot, or a majority in the second.

With 208 votes in total, Blatter needs 138 to get through in the first round and with guarantees of support from South America (10 votes) , Oceania (11), and the expectation he will receive a majority of Concacaf's 35 votes, as well as Uefa's backing, the Swiss is the odds-on favourite.

The 61-year-old Bin Hammam is Blatter's first challenger since African confederation president Issa Hayatou took him on - and lost by 139 votes to 56 - in 2002.

The horrible sinking feeling that is a Blatter re-election is only a matter of time away sinks in...

[DJ Ice]

Sepp Blatter has the same last name as me in English!

Too bad the guy's a fucking tool. I don't see how Uefa think putting him back in will improve football in anyway. The guy hates English football and is completely opposed to Goal line technology. So yeah, like you said. The bastard seems to be getting back in

[METALMAN]

Sepp Blatter does seem better than that other chap though.

[gunnar hendershow]

How come there's no good, innovative people ever close to FIFA Presidency?

[METALMAN]

Say what you like about Blatter, but you can't say he's not innovative! Good is quite another matter however...

[Lineker]

Shame that American chap didn't get the backing needed. Grant Wahl, was it?

[Lineker]

Fifa has announced a £17.5m plan to crack down on match fixing and illegal betting working alongside Interpol.

The money will be go on a 10-year anti-corruption programme and will educate players, referees and officials.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter, who is up for re-election, said it was a response to match-fixing in Italy and the activities of Asian betting syndicates.

"The threat of match-fixing is a major one and we are committed to doing everything to tackle it," he said.

"In the fight against illegal betting and match-fixing, the preventive measures that can be taken and the protection of the players and the integrity of the game are of the utmost importance.

"Joint work with the authorities and with Interpol is crucial for success, and for this reason we are very pleased to announce this contribution."

The money will help create a Fifa anti-corruption training wing based at Interpol's global offices in Singapore.

Fifa believes that fixers with Singapore connections have recently organised international matches purely for betting scams, with Interpol estimating that illegal football gambling is worth hundreds of millions of pounds in Asia alone.

Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said: "By funding a long-term corruption prevention training programme to be designed and implemented by Interpol... Fifa has taken a significant step towards ensuring the integrity of football worldwide."

Blatter added: "Match-fixing shakes the very foundations of sport, namely fair play, respect and discipline. That's why Fifa employs a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to any infringement of these values."

Match fixing has also blighted European football in recent years with Uefa investigating seven games in 2009 involving the Champions League and the Europa League, previously known as the Uefa Cup.

The same year German prosecutors revealed they were probing possible match-fixing at about 200 games.

In 2006, Italian clubs Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio and AC Milan were all implicated in a match-fixing scandal. Juventus were relegated from Serie A while Fiorentina, Lazio and AC Milan had points deducted.

Fifa president Blatter is aiming to be re-elected for a fourth term in office on 1 June where he will be standing against Asian football president Mohamed Bin Hammam.

[Guest mr. potato head]

Is education really going to do anything?

[METALMAN]

yes

[Lineker]

Jérôme Valcke (the FIFA General Secretary) has written to the FA, requesting that Lord Triesman submit a full report to FIFA on the allegations he made in Parliament yesterday.

I really, really do hope that this leads to the end of Jack Warner. Cunt.

[therockbox]

I read an article the other day that had a bit on how Jack Warner likes to conduct his business. He's basically Clay Davis from The Wire.

[IAceI]

We're threatening to break away from FIFA. We won't.

Nothing will come of any look into corruption at the organisation. And we'll end up just towing the party line, and if, the time comes where a country fail to get the World Cup running on schedule, they'll come turning to us "You're infrastructure is near perfect already and you have all the stadiums, you must hold it for us."

And being the moral people we are. Having been subjected (amongst many other nations) to nothing but corrupt officials who only care about lining their pockets as opposed to improving the game for their respective continental regions, we'll turn and say "yeah, ok" and do it.

That said I prefer the Euros anyways. And probably prefered the U19 and U21 tournaments around the world moreso as well. Bring on 2012, to France!

Edited May 11, 2011 by IAceI

[Lineker]

Current president Sepp Blatter says Fifa will be plunged into "a black hole" if rival Mohamed Bin Hammam wins next month's leadership election.

Swiss Blatter is bidding for a fourth term at the helm, with Qatar football chief Bin Hammam standing in his way.

And with the days ticking down to the 1 June vote, Blatter said: "The ballot could lead to a seismic shift with irreversible damage.

"Quite simply, the survival of Fifa is at stake."

He added: "It is a question of whether the game's established world governing body will continue to exist after this date or whether it will disappear into a black hole.

"'Is it that dramatic?' you may ask. The answer is, theoretically, yes, it is."

Blatter is favourite to survive the challenge of Bin Hammam and has the support of European governing body Uefa's executive committee - a potentially decisive factor in the outcome of the vote for one of the most powerful positions in world sport.

And while confident he will retain his position, 75-year-old Blatter warned of what he believes the consequences are of a vote for Bin Hammam.

"What is actually at stake?" asked Blatter, who has been dealing with fresh claims this week about four Fifa executive committee members allegedly asking for favours in return for votes in last year's decision on hosting the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

"The Fifa presidential election is not about candidate A or candidate B, it is about whether there will be any candidates at all in future.

"I am confident that I will win the election with a clear two-thirds majority. South America, Central and North America, Europe, Oceania and a significant part of Africa and Asia will continue to support my ideas.

"Nevertheless, it is worthwhile outlining what the alternative would be, i.e. none at all.

"What applies for every carpenter also applies for us: the roof will only hold as long as the foundations are in place.

"If the ground beneath crumbles, the entire edifice will collapse. And that is precisely what is at stake on 1 June. All or nothing!"

Bin Hammam, meanwhile, this week insisted football's world governing body is not corrupt.

Earlier this week Lord Triesman, who ran England's failed 2018 World Cup bid, made allegations against several high-ranking Fifa officials.

But 62-year-old Bin Hammam said: "I will happily and unreservedly restate that I firmly believe Fifa, as a decision-making body and as an organisation, isn't corrupt."

However, Bin Hammam did say that Fifa needs a "new atmosphere" to dispel negative publicity surrounding the organisation.

"It is impossible to deny that its reputation has been sullied beyond compare," admitted Bin Hammam. "It's time for that to change."

Triesman levelled corruption allegations against a number of senior Fifa officials who were involved in the voting process for the next two World Cups.

Bin Hammam said that under the leadership of Blatter, Fifa had been "choosing to run football how it sees fit, rather than doing so in a manner that is consistent with the governing body's proper procedures".

That had made it "hard to get the public to believe in the organisation".

He added: "There needs to be an opportunity for new ideas to take hold and for the organisation to take a new direction."

Damian Collins, the MP who revealed the latest World Cup bribery scandal, said the Football Association should offer to abandon its historic Fifa privileges in return for reform of the world governing body.

Collins used Parliamentary privilege on Tuesday to allege that Fifa executive members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma had been paid $1.5m (£900,000) to vote for Qatar's successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

The FA and the governing bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the only individual national associations on the International Football Association Board, the game's law-making body.

Each of the UK associations has a vote and Fifa has four votes.

This situation has long caused resentment among some figures in world football and Collins said the FA could take the lead on reform by offering to give them up.

Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, said: "The FA should be at the vanguard of pushing for the reform of Fifa. We should be leading the call for change and should be prepared to ruffle a few feathers.

"We should be prepared to give concessions in order to achieve reform and be prepared to consider giving up the historic privileges."

Collins said the reforms should include the World Cup bidding process, that there should be strict rules governing contact between bidding nations and Fifa ExCo members, and that Fifa should consider restaging the 2022 vote if the allegations against Qatar are proved.

Bin Hammam, who did much to secure the 2022 World Cup for his country, has denied any bribes were paid.

"I can assure you nothing like this has happened from our side," he insisted.

"If someone wants to damage reputations like this then they have to provide the proof. You can't just accuse people just like that. It didn't happen."

[Lineker]

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has declared its support for Fifa President Sepp Blatter in his race to win re-election.

Blatter is being challenged by the head of the Asian confederation (AFC) Mohamed Bin Hammam in the campaign.

Caf does not have a vote, but the confederation's view will carry weight with the continent's 53 members.

Blatter received Caf's backing at an Executive Committee meeting in Cairo on Monday.

The Oceania, European and South American confederations have already declared their support for Blatter.

The election will take place on 1 June, with representatives of each of Fifa's 208 member associations taking part.

Blatter is the favourite to hold on to his crown and has warned that "the survival of Fifa is at stake".

But following recent allegations of corruption, Bin Hammam has declared "it's time for change" - although he has also said he does not believe Fifa is corrupt.

Bin Hammam, who is from 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, is Blatter's first challenger since Caf president Issa Hayatou took him on - and lost by 139 votes to 56 - in 2002.

At the same meeting, Suketu Patel of Seychelles and Almany Kabele Camara of Guinea were named as the new Caf vice-presidents.

They will take over from Togo's Seyi Memene and Molefi Oliphant of South Africa, who are retiring.

The Confederation of African Football has condemned what it called "unfounded accusations" made against its president Issa Hayatou and his fellow Fifa executive committee member Jacques Anouma.

A parliamentary enquiry heard claims they took money in return for backing Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.

Both men had already rejected the allegations.

The Caf executive committee has given them its "full support and solidarity".

Caf said the submission to the parliamentary committee, presented by Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, was "irresponsible" and made "without proof".

It said members of the Caf Executive Committee, which was meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo, had "rejected vigorously" the allegations.

[Lineker]

The Football Association has "no alternative" but to abstain from next month's Fifa presidential election, according to MP Damian Collins.

The FA's board meets on Thursday to discuss the candidacies of incumbent Sepp Blatter and Mohamed Bin Hammam, both hit by corruption allegations.

Collins sits on the panel of MPs that last week heard testimony about alleged bribes to win World Cup bids.

"I can't see how the FA can have confidence in either man," he said.

"I have never believed that abstaining is particularly courageous but I don't think the FA has an alternative, unless we hear more from one of the candidates about what they intend to do.

"Perhaps we should also look at whether the FA should have considered another candidate who could have been at the vanguard of this movement to reform Fifa in this vote or the next."

The vote to decide the next president of Fifa - with Blatter seeking a fourth term at the helm of football's world governing body - will take place on 1 June.

Collins added that Blatter had still not replied to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Commitee's invitation to come to Westminster to set out his "agenda for reform".

"The time has come to debate these extremely serious allegations properly, otherwise we will come to a point where governments will think twice about backing bids to stage World Cups," the Conservative member for Folkestone and Hythe said.

"Fifa needs to do a bit of soul-searching as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did a few years ago. But I don't get any impression that this is high on their agenda."

The IOC was forced to change the way bids for Olympic Games were assessed and voted upon after it emerged officials were bribed to choose Salt Lake City as the venue for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Last week, similar claims were made by former FA chairman Lord Triesman and The Sunday Times newspaper about six Fifa executive committee (ExCo) members in relation to last year's votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

These revelations came on top of the two ExCo members already suspended for selling their votes, meaning eight of the 24 most senior officials in world football have been implicated.

Collins, an influential voice on the Select Committee, said he was now talking to "parliamentarians" overseas about setting up an international forum to apply pressure on Fifa to address these issues.

He said the process was still at an early stage but he had received interest in the idea from Australia and the United States - two countries that, like England, suffered crushing defeats in the World Cup votes - as well as near-neighbours Germany and the Netherlands.

Having decided to ignore the "reform ticket" candidacies of American journalist Grant Wahl and former Chile star Elias Figueroa, the FA can now choose only between the unpopular Blatter and his controversial Qatari challenger Bin Hammam or else decide to spoil its ballot paper.

One unnamed FA board member told the Press Association on Wednesday that recent events had made it "very difficult" to back either man so abstention was "the most likely course".

In the meantime, Bin Hammam continues to deny all the allegations levelled at Qatar's bid and Blatter sticks to his "show me the evidence" line of defence, while calling for "evolution, not revolution".

EDIT: We are now abstaining, says the FA.

Edited May 19, 2011 by Lineker

[MDK]

More old, rich, white guys to decide on semi-important things in my life.

I swear, I'd go down the park and watch the kids play but... well, its hard to get off that register.

[Grounded Wingman]

Would it not have been a better alternative for the FA to put up a candidate, even a joke one if necessary?

I was going to say it would help show how useless FIFA are, but that's a magnifying glass that the FA doesn't want turned on itself.

Still, the "we are protesting by sitting with our thumbs up our ass and pouting" will impress the activists out there. Nothing motivates change like complete indifference.

[METALMAN]

You can only stand for election if you have the nomination of a federation.