The International Football Federations Thread

[The Lusophone]

Please do.

[Lineker]

A report into alleged corruption at Fifa, football's world governing body, could lead to criminal charges, a Conservative MP believes.

Damian Collins has asked the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to request a copy of the report into the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

American lawyer Michael Garcia filed his report this month, but Fifa says its contents will not be made public.

Collins believes it may provide evidence of criminal activity.

"Fifa seems to believe it is a self-governing body that operates outside the jurisdiction of international and national law-enforcement agencies," writes Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe.

"I do not believe this is the case and that if it holds information that indicates that offences may have been committed, this must be shared with the relevant law-enforcement agencies."

[The Lusophone]

Who would even have jurisdiction over Fifa? CAS is used because Fifa agrees to use it, but CAS doesn't have an investigative or even judicial role...

The Swiss authorities perhaps?

[stokeriño]

I suspect that the MP for Folkestone and Hythe is being a touch optimistic.

The fact that they're publishing a report but won't tell anyone what's in it is 'so FIFA' that I cannot help but laugh.

[Lineker]

UEFA President Michel Platini will not oppose any calls to disclose investigator Michael Garcia's secret report into the 2018/22 World Cup bidding process when it is discussed at FIFA's executive committee meeting tomorrow morning. He is the latest senior FIFA figure to break ranks after Garcia himself called for greater transparency earlier this week.

[Lineker]

Gibraltar's football association will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) after Fifa rejected its bid to become a member.

The president of football's governing body, Sepp Blatter, said Gibraltar contravened statutes regarding independent territories, given that it is a British overseas territory. The decision comes just weeks after they played their first European qualifying fixture - a 7-0 defeat to Poland - after being accepted into Uefa after an earlier Cas appeal.

"We are an UEFA member nation now and we will take it to the next stage - if you look at the history of our UEFA membership that's the way it went as well," said a spokesman for the Gibraltar FA.

[Colly]

He doesn't want Greenland either.

[stokeriño]

Half of CONCACAF contravenes that rule, for fuck's sake. :-/

[Gazz]

Half of CONCACAF contravenes that rule, for fuck's sake. :-/

But Sepp hasn't had chance to bribe / accept bribes from the head of the Gilbraltan FA yet...

[stokeriño]

Either that or Spain are paying more to keep Gibraltar out than Gibraltar themselves could ever afford.

[Lineker]

Fifa has agreed to ban the third-party ownership (TPO) of players.

Already banned in Britain, TPO is common in Europe and South America, where investment companies take a stake in the economic rights of players.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said there will be a "transitional period" before the ban comes into effect.

Manchester City's £32m purchase of Eliaquim Mangala from Porto was one of four major deals that went through in England this past summer involving TPO.

English clubs who wish to buy players co-owned by an investor and a team are already required to buy out the contract rights from all parties retaining a financial interest.

Fifa says TPO threatens the integrity of the sport and creates conflicts of interest.

Supporters of the practice argue it allows clubs to buy players they could not otherwise afford.

Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke said a working group set up to implement the ban would decide how long the transitional period would be - which could be up to four years.

The working group will submit a proposal to the next Fifa executive committee meeting in December.

"The ban cannot be implemented immediately and we are discussing the number of transfer windows we have to wait for this ban to come in," Valcke said.

"It's a matter of whether we are talking about six transfer windows, meaning three years, or eight, meaning four years, this is what we will be discussing in this working group."

Fifa's decision comes after pressure from Uefa, who want to introduce new rules to clamp down on TPO from as early as next season.

Earlier this year Uefa's general secretary Gianni Infantino warned that they would take action on the issue if Fifa failed to act.

A decision to ban the practice could have far-reaching consequences for many leagues where TPO is rife and clubs rely heavily on outside investors to assist them in purchasing players.

[EddieG]

Sepp Blatter talking sense for once () as he wants to abolish the away goals rule in extra time.

[stokeriño]

Fifa says TPO threatens the integrity of the sport and creates conflicts of interest.

:lol:

[Lineker]

Qatar World Cup games could finish as late as 3:30am under one proposal made by a senior football official. Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who is considering challenging Sepp Blatter for the Fifa presidency, said the event could still be staged in the summer. But the ex-Chilean football chief said some games would have to start as late as 1am to avoid the worst of the heat. "You could play the first games at 7pm, the second games at 10pm and the third matches at 1am," he told BBC Sport.

Uefa has fined the Football Association of Wales (FAW) £3,960 (5,000 euros) for the pitch invasion following Gareth Bale's late winner against Andorra last month. The Andorran Football Federation has also been fined £7,920 (10,000 euros) for insufficient organisation inside the Estadi Nacional on 9 September.

Football Association general secretary Alex Horne is to leave the organisation in January after 11 years.

[Colly]

They should play all the games on floating platforms several thousand feet in the air, it'd be cool enough then.

[Lineker]

Rankings!

The big climber this month is Northern Ireland who are up 28 places to 43 in the world on the back of Euro 2016 qualifying wins over Hungary, Faroe Islands and Greece. Elsewhere, England slide two place to 20th while Wales and Scotland have both fallen, despite strong starts to their Euro 2016 campaigns. Both are below the Cape Verde Islands.

[Lineker]

Influential football figures have backed proposals that could see the Qatar 2022 World Cup clash with the Winter Olympics. Talks at Fifa headquarters in Zurich resulted in support for a tournament held in either January and February or November and December. No final decision was taken and, in theory, all options remain open.

The Confederation of African Football has reiterated it will not move the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations from January and has given Morocco until Saturday to decide if they will host as scheduled. Morocco want a postponement because of fears over the Ebola outbreak.

[Lineker]

Ghana has ruled itself out as a potential host for the 2015 African Cup of Nations, after original hosts Morocco failed to meet a deadline to confirm it would stage the event. Morocco wants the tournament postponed due to fears over the Ebola outbreak, while the Confederation of African Football insists it must be played in January - raising the prospect that the event could be moved. Ghanaian sports minister Mahama Ayariga said his country was "not in position" to host. South Africa, Sudan and Egypt have also declined to stage the 16-team tournament.

[Baddar]

London will take it.

[Lineker]

CAF have confirmed that Morocco will not be hosting the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and they have also been expelled from the tournament.