Governing Bodies
FIFA postpones Ukraine’s World Cup qualification playoff against Scotland
FIFA has postponed Ukraine’s World Cup qualification playoff match against Scotland on March 24, world football’s governing body said in a statement on Tuesday.
The winners of the game at Hampden Park in Glasgow will take on Austria or Wales for a place in November’s World Cup finals in Qatar.
Ukraine’s Football Association had asked FIFA to postpone the qualifier following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Following consultation with UEFA and the four participating member associations in Path A of the European qualifying play-offs, it was unanimously agreed in the spirit of solidarity to accept,” FIFA said in a statement.
“The match between Scotland and Ukraine … will now be postponed to the existing June window, and consequently, the match between the winners of Scotland v Ukraine and Wales v Austria will also be postponed.
“The match between Wales and Austria (March 24) will remain as scheduled … owing to the need to limit the disruption to the competitive matches already scheduled for the June window.”
Russia, who have been suspended from international soccer by UEFA and FIFA, were scheduled to host Poland in a qualifying playoff match on March 24.
FIFA added that Poland would receive a bye to the next round, and play either Sweden or the Czech Republic for a spot at the World Cup, a decision that was sharply criticised by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF).
“FIFA finally made the right decision when it comes to Russia but this decision (to give Poland a bye) is unfortunately completely (crazy) from a sporting perspective,” Sweden boss Janne Andersson said in a statement.
SvFF general secretary Hakan Sjoestrand said that he understood the difficulties for FIFA but the Swedes had hoped that Poland would get a new opponent so that the circumstances would be the same for all teams.
The Russian Football Union has appealed against its suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which confirmed on Tuesday it had registered the case.
The draw for the World Cup finals is to be held in Doha on April 1
Ukraine began playing as an independent nation in 1992 and last qualified for the World Cup finals in 2006, reaching the quarter-finals. The country made the last eight at Euro 2020 which was held last year.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” designed not to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
-Reuters
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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