Governing Bodies
FIFA BOSS, INFANTINO SET TO GET ON IOC BOARD AS ATHLETICS CHIEFTAIN, SEBASTIAN COE IS BLOCKED
BY LIAM MORGAN
FIFA President Gianni Infantino is in line to join the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after he was proposed for membership by the Executive Board, but World Athletics counterpart Sebastian Coe will have to wait because of a conflict of interest.
Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) head Yasuhiro Yamashita and International Tennis Federation (ITF) President David Haggerty have also been put forward.
All three are set to be elected during the IOC Session in Lausanne in January.
The wait goes on for Coe, after IOC counterpart Thomas Bach said the Briton was unable to address a conflict of interest owing to his position as chairman of CSM Sport & Entertainment.
Coe’s role with the global sports agency – which works with several organisations in the Olympic Movement, including the IOC – has long been a sticking point to the World Athletics head becoming a member and was identified as a conflict of interest by the IOC Ethics Commission.
The Ethics Commission said his position at CSM Sport & Entertainment was not in compliance with the criteria for new members.
Bach said Coe had informed the IOC he was hopeful of addressing the issue in the next couple of months and the door remained open for the double Olympic gold medallist to become part of the IOC before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
“We wanted him (Coe) to become an IOC member as President of one of our most important Olympic sports,” Bach said.
FIFA and World Athletics have not had a member since respective former Presidents Sepp Blatter and Lamine Diack left the IOC amid scandals which enveloped the organisations.
Infantino and Haggerty’s membership will be linked to their role as President of their respective International Federation.
Yamashita was elected JOC President in June to replace Tsunekazu Takeda, who resigned after he was implicated in an alleged bribery scandal connected to Tokyo’s successful bid for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The 62-year-old, winner of a gold medal in judo at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, also effectively takes Takeda’s place on the IOC – as expected – with his membership linked to his function as the head of a National Olympic Committee.
The IOC was believed to be waiting for Infantino, who became FIFA President in 2016, to be re-elected before proposing him as a member.
Infantino was given his first full four-year term at the helm of the global governing body in May.
The 49-year-old will be the third Swiss member of the IOC, joining Executive Board member Denis Oswald and International Ice Hockey Federation President René Fasel.
Haggerty was re-elected President of the ITF in September and joins IOC vice-president Anita DeFrantz and Athletes’ Commission member Kikkan Randall as the Americans who are part of the IOC.
“I am truly honoured to be nominated for IOC membership,” Haggerty said.
“This is an acknowledgement of the ITF Board, Committees and staff who work tirelessly to grow the game.”
The election of the three officials at the Session in Lausanne on January 10 will see the IOC electorate grow to 108 members.
–insidethegames
Governing Bodies
Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
Laurels on the courts and now glory in the boardroom sums up the mark that badminton is making in Nigeria.
The President, Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), Francis Orbih, has been elected as a council member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The election took place during the BWF Annual General Meeting on Saturday in Xiamen, China.
Orbih emerged victorious over top contenders from other African countries.
He will join Cameroon’s Odette Assembe Engoulou on the council, while Chipo Zumburani (Zimbabwe) and Hadia ElSaid (Egypt) missed out.
An elated Orbih expressed his gratitude to fellow badminton presidents across the globe for their trust and support.
He said, “I am deeply honoured by the trust placed in me by my peers across the badminton world.
“I look forward to quality representation, driving development initiatives, and strengthening badminton’s global reach over the next four years.”
Orbih also acknowledged the support of the Federal Government of Nigeria, particularly the National Sports Commission (NSC), which he said played a significant role in his successful bid.
“The Chairman and the Director General of the NSC monitored the entire process. I’m grateful for their involvement and confident Nigeria will benefit from this,” he stated.
He further appreciated the BFN board members and the Nigerian badminton community for their prayers and continued belief in his leadership.
“From the day I declared my intentions, the board members of BFN have been supportive, and I promise not to disappoint them,” Orbih concluded.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
A former member of the FIFA Council, Mamoutou Toure, has been released from jail in Mali after almost two years in detention for alleged corruption, Malian media reports said on Wednesday.
Toure, president of the Malian Football Federation since 2019, was released after 622 days in prison on Tuesday.
He served on the FIFA Council, world football’s all-powerful decision-making body, for four years until last month when he lost his seat after failing to contest new elections.
The 67-year-old was arrested in August 2023 on allegations of embezzling $28 million of public funds but was granted a provisional release order by the Malian courts, reports said.
He was accused of misconduct during his time as the National Assembly’s financial and administrative director from 2013-2019.
Toure denied all charges and, during his time in jail, was last August re-elected as Malian Football Federation president for a second consecutive term, with his supporters claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy fuelled by detractors.
While in jail, he received a letter of support from FIFA president Gianni Infantino. However, as of last month, Toure is no longer a member of the FIFA Council or the Confederation of African Football’s executive committee.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied reports of an outstanding debt to former captain Christian Chukwu and has challenged anyone with verifiable documents to prove otherwise.
Chukwu, a former national team captain and chief coach, died last Saturday.
The Nigeria Football Federation decried statements in a section of social media that the football-ruling body was indebted to the deceased.
Reacting to one statement on social media that claimed NFF owed the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team captain the sum of $128,000, NFF General Secretary, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, said: “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.
“During the first term of the Board headed by Amaju Pinnick, a committee was set up to diligently peruse the papers of coaches who were being owed, even from previous NFF administrations.
“That committee was given the clear mandate to verify all debts and ensure that the coaches being owed were paid immediately. I am aware that the ‘Chairman’ was in the employ of the NFF between 2002 and 2005, before he was relieved of the post following the 1-1 draw with Angola in a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Kano in August 2005. There is certainly no record of indebtedness to him in the NFF.”
Sanusi challenged anyone with genuine and verifiable documents of NFF indebtedness to any coach, who has worked with any of the National Teams over the past two decades, to come forward and tender those documents.
“As a credible organization that is very much alive to its responsibilities, if we are confronted with any genuine document of indebtedness to any coach, we will offset the debt immediately.”
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
The league title will be icing on Soname’s birthday cake on Sunday
As major global sporting events beckon, Morocco’s monarch launches the Kenitra-Marrakech High-Speed rail project
Nigeria Premier League attains a crescendo this weekend
- WOMEN'S FOOTBALL1 week ago
Naira rain falls on Nigeria’s Flamingos after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria
- OBITUARY4 days ago
NFF mourns the demise of former FIFA referee, Bosede Momoh
- Nigerian Football2 days ago
Financial rainfall awaits Nigeria’s Flamingos for every goal scored in Algeria
- U-17 AFCON1 week ago
Morocco crowned CAF U-17 AFCON champions after dramatic penalty shootout win over Mali
- U-20 FOOTBALL6 days ago
Nigeria begin CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations title chase with Tunisian clash
- Nigerian Football6 days ago
Remo Stars maintain ‘7Up’ lead over Rivers United
- feature4 days ago
Ghana’s Cardinal, Appiah Turkson, listed as a possible Pope
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Former WAFU President, Ogufere mourns Christian Chukwu