The International Football Federations Thread

[Lineker]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sony will not renew its contract with Fifa, driven - in part - by their perceived negative association by backing football's world governing body.

[Rafael]

Don't you diss my Peruvian boys!

Peru is nothing without Nobby Solano!

[Lineker]

Germany's World Cup-winning captain and coach Franz Beckenbauer is being investigated over his part in picking Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts.

The 69-year-old was one of 22 men who voted in December 2010 on where the 2018 and 2022 events would be held.

Prospective Fifa presidential candidate Harold Mayne-Nicholls, who led Fifa's pre-decision inspection of the bidding nations, is also under investigation.

Ethics chief Michael Garcia is also investigating three Fifa executives.

All three are current members of the world governing body's executive committee - they are Spain's Angel Maria Villar Llona, Michel D'Hooghe from Belgium and Worawi Makudi from Thailand.

I for one am shocked

[Adam]

I thought that when I read it too - does this mean Beckenbauer is being investigated as part of voting for Russia and Qatar, or just voting generally on those World Cups?

I thought it perhaps too unbelievable that somebody who voted for them would ever be investigated by Fifa.

[The Lusophone]

Beckenbauer did have a public spat with Blatter a few years back...

[EddieG]

I heard the Belgium guy is being investigated because his son got a job at a top Dubai hospital not long after the vote.

[Lineker]

More allegations of corruption during the bidding process to stage the World Cups in 2018 and 2022 have been made.

The House of Commons Culture Media and Sport select committee has published previously unseen material submitted to it by the Sunday Times newspaper.

It draws on claims by senior sources that officials connected to England's bid for the 2018 World Cup ran an intelligence-gathering operation against rival nations.

Russia and Qatar won the bids.

This submission by the Sunday Times outlines how England 2018 executives compiled a database of rumours and intelligence - gathered by private companies and, significantly, British embassies.

There is, however, no clear evidence supplied by the paper.

Instead, its submission provides detailed accounts of how votes were allegedly bought and sold in the build-up to the December 2010 poll - and how Fifa's opaque rules for bidding nations were exploited.

The paper claims Russia's President Vladimir Putin played a major role in his country's winning bid, even, it says, enlisting Fifa's president Sepp Blatter to help lobby for votes.

Another claim suggests the Russia bid had lobbied for the support of Michel Platini - the Uefa president and voter - by giving him a painting believed to have been a Picasso.

There are also allegations about Qatar, and how its dominance in the natural gas industry helped it secure votes through bilateral trade deals.

Russia, the 2018 World Cup hosts, and Qatar, who will hold the 2022 tournament, have always denied any wrongdoing, and a recent, albeit disputed, summary of a Fifa inquiry cleared them.

The Football Association said in a statement: "The FA can confirm the England 2018 bid engaged with a number of parties around the world to provide general and background information on the progress of the bidding process within different countries and perspectives.

"These were media and corporate affairs consultants engaged on a confidential basis to gather intelligence.

"The fact the bid team had taken advice on intelligence gathering was referenced to Mr Garcia [Michael Garcia conducted a two-year inquiry into alleged corruption within Fifa] as part of the investigative process.

"The FA reiterates that it has fully complied with all disclosure requests made by Mr Garcia."

Culture Media and Sport select committee chairman John Whittingdale MP has told BBC Sport that, in light of the Sunday Times submission, he would like to hear from FA executives to ascertain if the 'database' exists and, if so, for them to outline its contents.

[Szumi]

Surely England obtained any incriminating evidence through corrupt and nefarious means. As such, any incriminating evidence is invalid, and England will now be investigated for further corruption.

That sounds like FIFA's ensuing reply.

[Lineker]

UEFA has approved the new Nations League, starting in 2018. It features promotion and relegation and will go on to replace most international friendlies.

[MDK]

What the hell is that

[stokeriño]

I get they're trying to inject 'purpose' into all the international matches that no one cares about...but I doubt it will do much given that no one is likely to give a shit about these leagues either.

It sounds like it might also rob national teams of about the only thing that I've ever acknowledged friendlies to be usual for - testing their team against others of specific types (e.g. "we've drawn X South American team in the upcoming World Cup, so we'll book a friendly match against Y South American team who play kind of similar", etc.).

[TCO]

It's a stupid idea. If they want to make them "interesting" just call them tests, it worked for rugby.

[Sweet Holy Moses]

Further, UEFA's also changed the qualifying format for the 2020 Euro Championships. One of the bottom 16 teams in Nations League will be guaranteed a spot. Northern Ireland finally has a chance!

[Colly]

What the hell is that

[The Lusophone]

Northern Ireland is the bit of Ireland that is still in the UK.

[King Ellis]

Can't wait until Platini takes over FIFA and they start handing out World Cup places to whoever has conceded the most goals in qualifying. San Marino and Gibraltar in a race to suck!

[MDK]

Can't wait until Platini takes over FIFA and they start handing out World Cup places to whoever has conceded the most goals in qualifying. San Marino and Gibraltar in a race to suck!

Scotland might even qualify!

[Matt]

Why not, you know, get rid of these bullshit friendlies then there won't be as many midweek games and players would get a full week between games and I wouldn't have to pretend to care about a friendly match with Sweden

[TCO]

Allowing a bottom 16 team in is stupid. Dilutes an already diluted Euros.

[MDK]

Why not, you know, get rid of these bullshit friendlies then there won't be as many midweek games and players would get a full week between games and I wouldn't have to pretend to care about a friendly match with Sweden

Like you have any internationals >_>