Governing Bodies
CAS DECISION TO LIFT MAN CITY BAN ‘NOT GOOD FOR FOOTBALL’, SAYS LIVERPOOL BOSS KLOPP
The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to overturn Manchester City’s two-year ban from European football was “not a good day for football”, said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in a virtual press conference on Tuesday (July 14).
Stating his support for UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP), Klopp said: “FFP is a good idea. It is there for protecting teams and the competition, so that nobody overspends and has to make sure the money they want to spend is based on the right sources.”
In February, Europe’s governing football body Uefa banned City from the Champions League for the next two seasons after they were said to have falsely inflated their sponsorship revenues to avoid falling foul of FFP regulations from 2012 to 2016.
But the CAS on Monday overturned the ban and reduced City’s fine from €30 million (S$47.6 million) to €10 million after it found the alleged breaches to be “not established”.
FFP was introduced by former UEFA president Michel Platini in 2009 to prevent clubs from spending beyond their means. Following CAS’ decision, UEFA said that FFP is likely to undergo changes, but did not provide more details.
Klopp hopes that it will stay, saying: “If the richest people or countries can do what they want to, that would make it really difficult and that would lead to a world super league with 10 clubs.”
City’s bid for the European title would at least benefit Liverpool as they try to retain their Premier League title, suggested Klopp.
“They won’t have 10 or 12 games less now – no other team would have had a chance in the (Premier) league,” he said.
The charismatic manager, who led the Reds to their first League title in three decades, also hailed striker Mohamed Salah for his contributions, calling his signing in 2007, “a good day for Liverpool”.
The Egyptian has formed a formidable partnership with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino as the trio amassed 250 goals under Klopp.
But the 53-year-old remained coy about the future of Croatian Dejan Lovren who has been linked with a move away from Anfield, saying that the centre-back is “always an important part of the squad”.
He also expressed regret at Liverpool not being able to tour internationally in this year’s pre-season owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The newly-crowned champions were initially scheduled to fly to Singapore this month for the International Champions Cup, but the tournament has been cancelled.
Klopp said: “Now we cannot go anywhere, we realise how nice it would be that we can start doing this again, the tours and all of this because it’s important for the club, it’s important for the fan base and it’s exciting as well.”
As the Reds ready for their title defence next season against the likes of City, Manchester United and Chelsea, Klopp has also added Arsenal to the mix, backing manager Mikel Arteta to lead them in the challenge for the top four.
Ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Arsenal on Thursday morning, Klopp said: “Arsenal are an exciting squad. They have offensive players with massive quality and they’re coming up with really good ones and it looks like Arsenal will be challengers again.”
-The Straits Times
The president of the Confédération of African Football, Dr. Patrice Motsepe, has announced five new CAF Vice Presidents. They are:
- CAF First Vice President: Mr Fouzi Lekjaa (Morocco)
- CAF Second Vice President: Mr Kurt Okraku (Ghana)
- CAF Third Vice President: Mr Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
- CAF Fourth Vice President: Ms Bestine Kazadi Ditabala (Democratic Republic of Congo)
- CAF Fifth Vice President: Mr Feizal Sidat (Mozambique)
In addition, the CAF President has co-opted Yacine Idriss Diallo, President of Fédération Ivoirienne de football, into the CAF Executive Committee.
The CAF Executive Committee also approved the names to fill vacant positions on several CAF Committees.
Organising Committee for the African Nations Championship (CHAN)
- President: Pierre-Alain Mounguengui (Gabon)
CAF Technical and Development Committee
- President: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Vice President: Malouche Belhassen (Tunisia)
CAF Medical Committee:
- President: Dr. Mohammed Bouya (Mauritania)
- Vice President: Dr. Thulani Ngwenya (South Africa)
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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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