International Football
FIFA DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL QUITS
BY DANIEL ETCHELLS
FIFA deputy secretary general Zvonimir Boban has decided to join AC Milan as the club’s chief football officer and is leaving the world governing body, it has been announced.
The 50-year-old Croatian has been working as FIFA’s deputy secretary general and as an adviser to FIFA President Gianni Infantino on strategic football matters since 2016.
He is set to team up again with AC Milan icon Paolo Maldini, the club’s newly-appointed technical director with whom he won four Serie A titles and the UEFA Champions League in 1994.
“I will always be grateful to FIFA President Gianni Infantino for the opportunity he gave me after his election in 2016,” Boban said.
“True
to his manifesto pledge to bring football back to FIFA and FIFA back to
football, he had the courage to entrust a former footballer with such a far‑reaching
role within the organisation.”
During his spell at FIFA, Boban has been involved in many reforms that FIFA claim are set to leave a mark on football history and that have helped to restore the organisation’s image.
“I feel really honoured and privileged to have worked on such important projects to take FIFA back to its rightful place, far away from past scandals and a tarnished image,” he said.
“Looking back, I feel a real sense of accomplishment about my contribution to these big changes over the last three years.
“I have been entrusted with leading important projects such as the revamp of the FIFA Club World Cup and the successful bidding process for the FIFA World Cup 2026, as well as the revolutionary VAR (Video Assistant Referee) project, which has managed to make the beautiful game fairer and protect its integrity.
“None of this could have been achieved without the support of the President and amazing colleagues who are dedicated to serving the game of football across the globe.
“There may have been some debates along the way, but we have always upheld our motto of ‘Living Football’ and I will be eternally thankful to everyone.”
Following three years in Zurich, Boban is returning to Milan and the club where he spent 10 years from 1991 to 2001 after playing for Dinamo Zagreb.
“It is extremely difficult to leave FIFA, but I followed my heart and my passion when making this decision, as was the case when I accepted the challenge of joining FIFA,” he said.
“The people at AC Milan are my family and the city of Milan and Italy are my home.
“I have a burning desire to help this glorious club, which means so much to me, to return where it belongs.
“Zurich now also has a special place in my heart after three wonderful years in Switzerland.”
Infantino paid tribute to Boban as a person and professional, noting that his departure represents a great loss.
“I cannot thank Zvonimir enough for everything he has done for FIFA and football over the last three years by our side,” he said.
“His dedication to football and enthusiasm are incredible and he has been an invaluable asset for FIFA – nobody embodies football better than he does and he has always worked for the good of the game.
“Many of the positive changes that we have made over the last three years could not have been achieved without Zvone.
“He has shown the same commitment, heart and passion at FIFA that characterised his attitude on the pitch.
“We will miss him a lot at FIFA, but I wish him the same success in his new challenge at his beloved club.”
Boban and Infantino attended the FIFA Under-20 World Cup final in Poland on Saturday (June 15), when Ukraine beat South Korea 3-1.
As an 18-year-old, Boban won the FIFA World Youth Championship – the predecessor to the current tournament – with the former Yugoslavian national team in 1987.
He had a decisive role in the victory over Germany in the final, scoring with an unstoppable shot from the edge of the box in the 85th minute and then converting the winning penalty in the subsequent shoot-out.
Boban leaves FIFA less than two weeks after Infantino was re-elected as President.
Infantino stood unopposed and will serve his first full four-year term through until 2023.
He took over in 2016 after disgraced predecessor Sepp Blatter resigned amid the corruption scandal which plunged FIFA into crisis.
The former UEFA general secretary secured a further four years at the helm by applause after members of the Congress approved a statute change to elect a President by acclamation if there is only one candidate.
Infantino claimed during his opening speech to the Congress that he had turned the organisation from being “toxic, almost criminal” to “what it should be – an organisation that develops football, an organisation that cares about football”.
He insisted FIFA had moved on from its scandal-tainted past, despite a spate of officials being banned, including Council members, since he replaced Blatter.
Boban and Maldini rejoin Milan at a low point for the seven-time European champions, who finished sixth in Serie A last season and extended their failure to qualify for the Champions League to six years.
UEFA is investigating Milan’s finances and has threatened the club with a one-season ban from European competitions if it fails to meet targets by June 2021.
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International Football
Former Brazil coach Tite taking break to take care of mental, physical health
Former Brazil coach Tite said he is taking an indefinite career break in order to take care of his mental and physical health.
The 63-year-old, who led Brazil to the 2019 Copa America title, was hospitalised due to a heart issue last August. He was sacked by Flamengo the following month and had most recently been linked with the Corinthians job.
“I realised that there are times when you have to understand that, as a human being, I can be vulnerable and admitting that will certainly make me stronger,” Tite said in a statement posted on his son Matheus Bachi’s Instagram on Tuesday.
“I’m passionate about what I do and I’ll continue to be so, but after talking to my family and observing the signals my body was giving off, I decided that the best thing to do now is to take a break from my career to look after myself for as long as it takes.
“As has become public, there was a conversation in progress with Corinthians, but it will have to be paralysed by a difficult but necessary decision.”
Tite, who stepped down as Brazil coach after their quarter-final exit from the 2022 World Cup, has previously coached a string of Brazilian sides including Gremio, Atletico Mineiro and Palmeiras.
-Reuters
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Brazil have sacked head coach Dorival Jr, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday after the five-time world champions were thrashed 4-1 away to fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating qualifying loss in Buenos Aires.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to lure Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.
“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement.
“The management thanks (Dorival) and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement,” it added.
Dorival was handed the job after his success with Flamengo in 2022 where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with Sao Paulo.
However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge.
Sources told Reuters the CBF was not confident in Dorival’s work, considering there had been little to no progress since a lacklustre Copa America campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year.
Still, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the U.S. in June and July.
But after Brazil slumped to their heaviest-ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina this week, CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues decided to pull the trigger.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
Sources told Reuters Ancelotti was still the ideal candidate but he is under contract with Real until July 2026 and there is no indication he would leave the European and Spanish champions.
Brazilian media have reported that Al Hilal’s Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus is the favourite to replace Dorival.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, a heartbreaking elimination that led to the exit of long-time manager Tite.
Their humbling defeat in Buenos Aires was the latest of a series of negative records Brazil have set under caretakers Ramon Menezes and Fernando Diniz and with Dorival in charge. They had never conceded four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
Brazil are in the midst of their worst-ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth.
Never have Brazil lost so many games, conceded so many goals or set so many negative records in the qualifying competition. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracana late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil.
They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.
-Reuters
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International Football
England’s German manager Tuchel will not sing the English anthem in his first game
England manager Thomas Tuchel said he would have to “earn the right” to sing the national anthem, God Save the King, after announcing his 26-man squad on Friday ahead of the team’s World Cup qualifiers.
Tuchel, who was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor in October and named his first squad to face Albania and Latvia this month, said he would not sing the anthem in his first games in charge.
“It means a lot to me, I can assure you, but I can feel that because it is so meaningful and it is so emotional and it is so powerful, the national anthem, that I have to earn my right to sing it,” the 51-year-old German told a news conference.
Former caretaker manager Lee Carsley was criticised last year for not singing the anthem during his tenure.
However, Tuchel added that while he is proud to be in charge of the team and knows the words to the anthem, he plans to earn the right with results.
“Maybe I have to dive more into the culture and earn my right from you, from the players, from the supporters, so everyone feels like ‘he should sing it now, he’s one of our own, he’s the English manager, he should sing it’,” he said.
-Reuters
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