International Football
A COLOURFUL WORLD CUP FINAL DRAW CEREMONY ANTICIPATED
Friday’s Final Draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia is set to topple whatever has been done previously in the final draws for the past 20 championships.
To start with, the Draw Ceremony is being held inside the State Kremlin Palace – the Parliament of the Russian Federation, which served the same purpose when the country was a much bigger, more intimidating Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
It is a long way from 1934, when the Final Draw was held inside the Clock Room (Salon d’Horloge) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris, France and 1958, when the Final Draw took place inside a studio of the Swedish Television in Solna, and 1974, when the ceremony took place in the main hall of Radio Hessen in Frankfurt.
On Friday, Gary Lineker, who played in the 1986 and 1990 finals for England and scored in both competitions, will conduct the Draw alongside Russian star Maria Komandnaya, with Miroslav Klose, the World Cup’s highest scorer who netted across four finals in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014, to be the trophy bearer.
Draw assistants are Laurent Blanc (1998 World Cup winner with France); Gordon Banks (goalkeeper of England’s 1966 –winning squad); Cafu (two –time winner with Brazil, also involved in the Final Draw for 2014 competition); Fabio Cannavaro (Italy’s 2006 team –winning captain, also involved in the Final Draw for 2014 competition) and Diego Forlan (whose Uruguay won in 1930 and 1950).
Others are Diego Maradona (who led Argentina to victory in 1986, after they won at home in 1978); Carles Puyol (involved in Spain’s 2010 triumph in South Africa) and Nikita Simonyan (who played for 2018 hosts Russia in the 1958 finals in Sweden).
THE 32 TEAMS’ HANDLERS
- Russia (Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov)
- Nigeria (Coach: Gernot Rohr)
- Egypt (Coach: Hector Cuper)
- Iran (Coach: Carlos Queiroz)
- Japan (Coach: Vahid Halilhodzic)
- Korea Republic (Coach: Shin Tae-yong)
- Saudi Arabia (Coach: TBA)
- Tunisia (Coach: Nabil Maaloul)
- Morocco (Coach: Herve Renard)
- Senegal (Aliou Cisse)
- Belgium (Coach: Roberto Martinez)
- Iceland (Coach: Heimir Hallgrimsson)
- Serbia (Coach: Slavoljub Muslin)
- England (Coach: Gareth Southgate)
- Poland (Coach: Adam Nawalka)
- Spain (Coach: Julen Lopetegui)
- France (Coach: Didier Deschamps)
- Portugal (Coach: Fernando Santos)
- Germany (Coach: Joachim Low)
- Costa Rica (Coach: Oscar Ramirez)
- Mexico (Coach: Juan Carlos Osorio)
- Panama (Coach: Hernan Dario Gomez)
- Argentina (Coach: Jorge Sampaoli)
- Brazil (Coach: Tite)
- Colombia (Coach: Jose Pekerman)
- Uruguay (Coach: Oscar Tabarez)
- Peru (Coach: Ricardo Gareca)
- Australia (Coach: TBA)
- Croatia (Coach: Zlatko Dalic)
- Sweden (Coach: Janne Andersson)
- Denmark (Coach: Age Hareide)
- Switzerland (Coach: Vladimir Petkovic)
POT 1: Russia; Germany; Brazil; Portugal; Argentina; Belgium; Poland; France
POT 2: Spain; Peru; Switzerland; England; Colombia; Mexico; Uruguay; Croatia
POT 3: Denmark; Iceland; Costa Rica; Sweden; Tunisia; Egypt; Senegal; Iran
POT 4: Serbia; Nigeria; Australia; Japan; Morocco; Panama; Korea Republic; Saudi Arabia
Host Cities: Moscow; Ekaterinburg; Saransk; Rostov-On-Don; Kazan; Kaliningrad; Sochi; Samara; Saint Petersburg; Volgograd; Nizhny Novgorod
Official Mascot: Zabivaka
International Football
Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
Cameroon’s new coach Marc Brys penned a contract on Monday but the Belgian’s appointment by the government remains contentious as the football federation did not attend the signing ceremony.
Brys has been handed a 2-1/2-year contract by Cameroon’s sports ministry but the federation (FECAFOOT) was conspicuous by its absence at the event in Yaounde.
Last week, FECAFOOT criticised the unilateral decision of sports minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombito to appoint the 61-year-old Brys, who has no prior experience as a national team coach and has not previously worked on the African continent.
FECAFOOT president Samuel Eto’o issued a statement on Monday, excusing himself from the unveiling event.
“We thank you for inviting us to the ceremony. Following this, we inform you of the fact that we received the letter two hours before the said ceremony,” wrote Eto’o.
“Unfortunately, we are busy organising the funeral of our late Dad, and for this reason we will not be able to attend presence at the ceremony.”
His father’s funeral is to be held at the weekend.
Eto’o balked at Brys’ appointment and is now in a deepening standoff with the minister.
In Cameroon, the government has long paid the salary of the national team coach and therefore held powerful sway over FECAFOOT’s affairs, even if such state interference is frowned upon by world football’s governing body FIFA.
Any heightened dispute risks a potential ban from international competition for Cameroon, one of the heavyweights of African football.
FECAFOOT held an emergency meeting on Saturday and asked Eto’o to propose an alternative coach for the national team.
Earlier on the weekend, the minister had defended the appointment, saying he had acted in accordance with national and international regulations.
In a letter to FECAFOOT, Kombi said his ministry’s appointment of coaching staff “in no way affects the autonomy of FECAFOOT and does not violate any of the ‘supranational regulations”.
He said FECAFOOT had suggested three candidates to the ministry but their salary demands ranged between 1.5 million euros and 2.5 million euros ($1.63 million and $2.71 million) per year.
“These are excessive amounts never paid to any coach in the history of the Indomitable Lions,” Kombi said.
-Reuters
Cameroon’s football federation (FECAFOOT) held an emergency meeting on Saturday and asked its president to propose an alternative coach for the national team, deepening a standoff with the sports ministry.
FECAFOOT on Wednesday accused the ministry of unilaterally appointing Belgian Marc Brys as coach and other staff to manage the Indomitable Lions, who are five-times African champions.
The dispute risks a potential ban from international competition as world soccer’s governing body FIFA has strict rules against government interference in national federations.
In a statement, FECAFOOT said its emergency committee had met on Saturday and unanimously confirmed that the federation had not been involved in the appointments in alleged contravention of regulations.
As a result, it asked its president Samuel Eto’o to propose a national coach and other management staff for the national side within 72 hours.
Responding to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the ministry said the result of the FECAFOOT meeting was “an appeal. It is not yet a decision.”
On Friday, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi wrote to FECAFOOT to defend the coaching appointments, which he said were in accordance with national and international rules.
In a letter seen by Reuters, Kombi said the ministry’s move “in no way affects the autonomy of FECAFOOT and does not violate any of the ‘supranational regulations’.”
A spokesperson for the ministry confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
Kombi’s letter also said the salaries requested by three candidates earlier proposed by the federation for the position of coach ranged between 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) and 2.5 million euros per year.
“These are excessive amounts never paid to any coach in the history of the Indomitable Lions,” Kombi said.
FECAFOOT did not respond to a request for comment on the letter.
-Reuters
RELATED STORIES:
BREAKING! Turmoil in Cameroon federation over naming of new national coach Brys. https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2024/04/03/breaking-turmoil-in-cameroon-federation-over-naming-of-new-national-coach-brys/
Soccer Cameroon appoint Brys as new head coach https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/2024/04/03/soccer-cameroon-appoint-brys-as-new-head-coach/
International Football
National team and club-mate Owolabi commiserates with grief-stricken Odegbami –
Powerful left-wing back in his playing days, Felix Owolabi has expressed great grief over the loss of a son of former teammate, Segun Odegbami.
Both Felix Owolabi and Odegbami share common traits as the earliest tertiary institution footballers featuring for clubs and the national team.
While Odegbami was a mechanical engineering student at The Ibadan Polytechnic, Owolabi was an undergraduate at the University of Lagos.
Both were players of the then rampaging IICC Shooting Stars and the Africa Cup of Nations winning team of 1980. The crucial goals that won the cup for Nigeria were scored by the duo.
While Owolabi’s goal against Morocco sent Nigeria to the Africa Cup of Nations final match for the first time, Odegbami’s two goals in the final against Algeria put a stamp of definity to Nigeria’s victory before another club-mate Muda Lawal put in the third.
“We have come a long way”, remarked Owolabi in a message to the Sports Village Square Thursday morning.
“I have just arrived from Morocco on a national assignment trying to adjust and deal with the extreme and gruelling hot weather here in Nigeria when I got the sad news of the sudden death of the son of my dear brother and senior colleague Dr Olusegun Odegbami.
“Hearing the death of Oluwagbeminiyi Omo Odegbami, I paused for a moment and did not know what to say.
“All the media both print and electronics carried it as a breaking news.
“And that was when it dawned on me that I had to call ‘Big Sheg’ as he is fondly called by me.
“His authoritative confirmation about it dealt a blow on me and put me total darkness.What would have happened to this our vibrant and such an enterprising Oluwagbeminiyi?
“Why would death be so so wicked to suddenly take this gentleman away from us without notice. Going on a journey that he will need not to look at anybody, an eternal journey till Christ come.
“My heart and that of my entire family are with you and the rest of the family”, remarked Owolabi.
“It is well. I pray that God grant him eternal rest. I pray also that the almighty God grant you the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. Today the death of Oluwagbeminiyi has made me to believe and conclude that death is real and it is universal
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Apart from Okwaraji, Nigeria’s Other Field-Related Obituaries
Grudgingly, Eto’o accepts new Cameroon coach Brys, but fails to attend ceremony
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