Governing Bodies
DECISION ON 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP STADIUMS TO BE DELAYED BY COVID-19 PANDEMIC
BY ALI IVESON
The decision on which venes in the United States will host FIFA World Cup matches in 2026 looks set to be pushed back as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The United Bid – a joint bid of the US, Mexico and Canada – listed 24 potential venues in its winning proposal, with eight of those set to be cut, leaving 16.
Three in Mexico and three in Canada are confirmed already, leaving 17 American cities to battle it out for the right to host matches.
Two stadiums were put forward for Los Angeles – the Rose Bowl and the under-construction SoFi Stadium.
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) President Victor Montagliani said that a final decision on host cities was likely to be made later than early 2021, which has been planned, because meetings and site inspections have had to be cancelled in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The deadline, I think, will likely be pushed back, because I think the cities are going to probably ask for it,” Montagliani said, per The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Canadian was on the bid’s Board of Directors and is also a FIFA vice-president.
“A lot of cities have other things on their hands that they have to deal with right now.
“So I think for now, until we get out of this, in all likelihood it won’t be towards the end of the year when that file is kind of picked up again.”
Only two of the proposed venues in the US are not home to National Football League (NFL) American football teams – Orlando’s Camping World Stadium and the Rose Bowl.
Both regularly host college football games and were used for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
None of the other potential venues were used in 1994, with most built since.
Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, Levi’s Stadium near San Francisco, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Houston’s NRG Stadium, Mercedes-Benz Stadium of Atlanta, Gillette Stadium not far from Boston and Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium were all built since the US last hosted the FIFA World Cup.
Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, FedExField on the outskirts of the capital Washington D.C., Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, Denver’s Mile High, Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium and Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia are the other options.
Away from the 2026 jamboree, Montagliani said there was a “need to be realistic in terms of when football will come back” due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic.
Men’s CONCACAF qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were due to take place in March and April but were postponed.
They will be rescheduled for “likely the same time of the year, but who knows, that might change too,” according to Montagliani.
The President also added CONCACAF was “100 per cent” committed to completing its inaugural Nations League, scheduled to have been played in Texas this June.
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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.
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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
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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.”
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Nigeria becoming an epicentre of global badminton as Francis Orbih enters the Badminton World Federation Council
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