Football’s rules body on Monday said that five substitutes would be permanently introduced for all top games and that an automatic offside detector is closer to being introduced for this year’s World Cup.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the substitute change, which was started after the coronavirus pandemic, followed “strong support from the entire football community”.

He said after the annual meeting of the International Football Associations Board that experts would decide on whether semi-automatic offside detection would be used for the World Cup that starts November 21.

FIFA’s referees chief Pierluigi Collina said he was “confident” that the system would be introduced in time for the 32-nation tournament.

The system monitors 29 data points on the limbs of players to create a skeletal, three-dimensional model that is reviewed pitchside by the referee.

It has been tested at the FIFA Arab Cup last year in Doha and the Club World Cup in February.

“We are very satisfied so far and our experts are looking into it before deciding whether it will be introduced for the World Cup,” Infantino told a press conference.

It is officially known as “semi-automatic” as it will still be the referee that makes a final decision on an offside ruling.

As well as making the five substitutes permanent, IFAB said that teams can now name 15 substitutes on a team sheet instead of 12.

IFAB said that trials with body cameras on referees may be started in a bid to counter a growing number of attacks on match officials.

“Lack of respect for referees and their safety were identified as global problems,” said an IFAB statement.

Source: AFP

Michel Platini “was worth his million” Swiss francs a year, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted Thursday, telling a Swiss court he could not understand why the pair were answering fraud charges.

The former world football chief and French football legend Platini are being tried at Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following an investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years.

The pair are being tried over a two million Swiss franc ($2.08 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

Blatter spoke for the first time in the two-week trial, which opened on Wednesday.

“I just had this man on my team and he was worth his million,” said the 86-year-old retired Swiss football administrator.

Platini was employed as an adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002. They signed a contract in 1999 for an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, which was paid in full by FIFA.

The men insist that they had, from the outset, orally agreed to an annual salary of one million francs.

Blatter joined FIFA in 1975 and became the president of world football’s governing body in 1998.

He told the court he turned to former France captain Platini for advice.

Platini is regarded among world football’s greatest-ever players. He won the Ballon d’Or, considered the most prestigious individual award, three times in the mid-1980s.

“When I was elected as president of FIFA, we had a bad record. But I thought that a man who had been in football could help us — FIFA and myself,” Blatter told the court.

Platini “told me: ‘I’m worth a million’. I told him: ‘So you’ll be with me for a million’,” he added.

‘Gentlemen’s agreement’

The prosecution accuses Blatter of having signed off an invoice for two million Swiss francs presented to FIFA by Platini in 2011, almost nine years after the end of his work as Blatter’s adviser.

But the two men had never signed a contract providing for such a salary.

Blatter insisted that he had agreed with Platini a “balance” to be settled “later” when FIFA’s finances would allow it, in a “gentlemen’s agreement” concluded orally and without witnesses.

“It’s a salary that was due,” he insisted.

“I don’t know why we are in a criminal hearing for an administrative procedure,” he said in a strained voice, repeating that the investigation had put him through “seven years of punishment — an eternity”.

Both are accused of fraud and forgery of a document. Blatter is accused of misappropriation and criminal mismanagement, while Platini, 66, is accused of participating in those offences.

The trial will conclude on June 22, with the three judges expected to deliver their verdict on July 8.

If convicted, the pair could face up to five years in jail or a fine.

Source: AFP

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, face trial on Wednesday over a suspected fraudulent payment that shook the sport and torpedoed their time at the top.

Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 66, start a two-week trial at Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following a mammoth investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years. The pair are being tried over a two million Swiss franc ($2.08 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

They are accused of having, to the detriment of FIFA, illegally obtained the payment, plus social security contributions of 229,126 francs, in favour of Platini. The former French football great “submitted to FIFA in 2011 an allegedly fictitious invoice for a (alleged) debt still existing for his activity as an adviser for FIFA in the years 1998 to 2002,” according to the court.

The defendants are both accused of fraud and forgery of a document. Blatter is accused of misappropriation and criminal mismanagement, while Platini is accused of participating in those offences. The indictment was filed by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG).

The trial will conclude on June 22, with the three judges delivering their verdict on July 8. The defendants could face up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine. Both FIFA and UEFA are headquartered in Switzerland, in Zurich and Nyon respectively.

‘Oral contract’

Platini and retired Swiss football administrator Blatter were banned from the sport at the very moment when Platini seemed ideally-placed to succeed Blatter at the helm of world football’s governing body. The two allies became rivals as Platini grew impatient to take over, while Blatter’s tenure was brought to a swift end by a separate 2015 FIFA corruption scandal investigated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the Bellinzona trial, the defence and the prosecution agree on one point: Platini was employed as an adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002. They signed a contract in 1999 for an annual remuneration of 300,000 francs. “The compensation agreed in accordance with this contract was invoiced by Platini on each occasion and paid in full by FIFA,” said the OAG. However, more than eight years after the end of his advisory role, the former France captain “demanded a payment in the amount of two million francs”, the OAG alleged.

“With Blatter’s involvement, FIFA made a payment to Platini in said amount at the beginning of 2011. The evidence gathered by the OAG has corroborated that this payment to Platini was made without a legal basis. This payment damaged FIFA’s assets and unlawfully enriched Platini,” the federal prosecution alleges. The men insist that they had, from the outset, orally agreed to an annual salary of one million francs.

“It is outstanding salary, owed by FIFA, under oral contract and paid under conditions of the most perfect legality. Nothing else! I acted, as in all my life and career, with the utmost honesty,” Platini said in a statement sent to AFP. As a civil party, FIFA wants to be reimbursed the money paid in 2011 so that it is “returned to the one and only purpose for which it was intended: football”, its lawyer Catherine Hohl-Chirazi told AFP.

Ballon d’Or winner

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter joined FIFA in 1975, became its general secretary in 1981 and the president of world football’s governing body in 1998. He was forced to stand down in 2015 and was banned by FIFA for eight years, later reduced to six, over ethics breaches for authorising the payment to Platini, allegedly made in his own interests rather than FIFA’s.

Platini is regarded among world football’s greatest-ever players. He won the Ballon d’Or, considered the most prestigious individual award, three times — in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Only Lionel Messi (seven) and Cristiano Ronaldo (five) have won more Ballons d’Or than Platini. Platini was UEFA’s president from January 2007 to December 2015. Platini appealed against his initial eight-year suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which reduced it to four years.

Source: AFP

Coco Gauff will face world number one Iga Swiatek for the French Open title after the teenager eased into her maiden Grand Slam final with a straight-sets victory over Martina Trevisan on Thursday.

The 18-year-old American claimed a 6-3, 6-1 win in a nervous match which saw both players featuring in a major semi-final for the first time.

Gauff is the youngest Grand Slam finalist since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004.

“I think I’m a little bit in shock right now,” said Gauff. I didn’t know how to react after the match. I’m lost for words.”

The players made 37 unforced errors between them in a poor first set before Gauff upped her game in the second.

The 18th seed will be a heavy underdog against Swiatek, who is on a 34-match winning streak, in Saturday’s showpiece match.

But she will have nothing to lose as she bids to become the youngest Slam winner since Sharapova stunned Serena Williams in London 18 years ago.

“I’m just going to go into it like another match,” Gauff added.

“Yeah, it’s a Grand Slam final but there are so many things going on in the world right now, especially in the US, so I don’t think it’s worth stressing about it.”

Unseeded Italian Trevisan saw her fine tournament and 10-match unbeaten run end with a whimper, as she served four double faults and made 36 unforced errors.

Gauff made a fast start and broke in the third game for an early advantage.

She became rattled though after failing to persuade the umpire to overturn a controversial line call as errors flew off both players’ racquets.

But Gauff composed herself to take the set with a run of three straight games.

Trevisan was broken four times in a row, winning just three points in those games as her serve was taken apart.

The world number 59 took a medical timeout before the second set to have her thigh strapped, but Gauff took total control of the match when she won a 14-minute game with a backhand winner for a 3-1 lead.

She went on to secure a final berth in style, breaking yet again before a hold to love.

Source: AFP

The jersey worn by Argentina football legend Diego Maradona when scoring twice against England in the 1986 World Cup, including the infamous “hand of God” goal, was auctioned for $9.3 million, a record for any item of sports memorabilia, Sotheby’s said Wednesday.

Maradona, regarded by many as the greatest player of all time, died of a heart attack in November 2020, aged 60.

Seven bidders vied for his iconic World Cup jersey in an auction that began on April 20 and ended Wednesday morning, Sotheby’s said.

“This historic shirt is a tangible reminder of an important moment not only in the history of sports, but in the history of the 20th century,” Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles Brahm Wachter said in a statement after the sale.

“This is arguably the most coveted football shirt to ever come to auction, and so it is fitting that it now holds the auction record for any object of its kind,” he said.

Shortly after scoring the opener with his hand – the “hand of God”, as he famously coined it – Maradona followed up with a legendary run past England’s hapless defenders to double Argentina’s lead. 

Maradona celebrates after scoring his second goal against England at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Maradona celebrates after scoring his second goal against England at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. © AP file photo

The outrageous one-two, which sealed Argentina’s quarter-final win over their bitter rivals, would define his career: the brilliance and the trickery, the prodigy and the myth.

The jersey had been owned since the end of the controversial encounter by England midfielder Steve Hodge, who swapped his jersey with Maradona after England lost 2-1 in Mexico City.

Maradona’s daughter cast doubt on the sale earlier this month when she claimed that the shirt put up for auction had been the one her father wore in the goalless first half, not the second when he scored his two goals.

Sotheby’s insisted they had the right shirt, though.

The previous record for a game-worn shirt from any sport was $5.6 million, set in 2019 for a jersey Babe Ruth wore while on the New York Yankees.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson repeatedly punched a passenger on a plane about to fly out of San Francisco after reportedly becoming irritated by the man’s attempts to talk to him.

Cell phone footage showed Tyson leaning over the back of his seat and delivering a flurry of blows to the man, who appeared to be left with bruises and some bleeding in the incident on Wednesday.

“Iron Mike” was initially friendly to the passenger and his friend when they boarded the flight but reacted after the man “wouldn’t stop provoking” him, the TMZ entertainment website said.

The man “kept trying to talk” to the 55-year-old fighter, it reported.

“Tyson had enough of the guy behind him talking in his ear… and told him to chill. When the guy didn’t, that’s when the witness says Tyson started to throw several punches at the man’s face.”

Tyson was reported to have walked off the plane before it took off for Florida.

US police, the JetBlue airline and Tyson’s representatives made no immediate comment on Thursday.

Considered one of the best heavyweights of all time, Tyson is also known for his erratic behavior — biting off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear in a 1997 bout — and brushes with the law, including a conviction for rape and a cocaine addiction.

Source: AFP

Diego Maradona’s eldest daughter claims that the Argentina shirt being auctioned is not the one her late father wore when he scored the infamous “Hand of God” goal against England.

Dalma Maradona said the shirt was actually worn by her father during the goalless first half of the 1986 World Cup quarter-final.

Steve Hodge, the former England player who says Maradona swapped shirts with him at the end of the game in Mexico City, is selling the shirt, which is set to fetch more than £4 million ($5.2 million).

Auctioneers Sotheby’s said they hired an external company that had provided a “conclusive photomatch” that proved it was authentic.

Dalma Maradona claimed the jersey her father wore in the second half, when he also scored one of the greatest goals in World Cup history, was in the hands of another owner, but she declined to name them.

“It’s not that one. I don’t want to say who has it because it’s crazy. He (Diego Maradona) said it. He said, ‘How am I going to give him the shirt of my life?'” she told reporters.

“This former player thinks he has my dad’s second-half jersey, but it’s a mix-up, he has the one from the first half.

“We wanted to clarify that so that people who want to buy it know the truth,” Dalma said in separate comments to Channel 13 television.

A Sotheby’s spokeswoman told AFP: “There was indeed a different shirt worn by Maradona in the first half, but there are clear differences between that and what was worn during the goals.

“And so, prior to putting this shirt for sale, we did extensive diligence and scientific research on the item to make sure it was the shirt worn by Maradona in the second half for the two goals.”

The photomatching process had involved matching the shirt “to both goals examining unique details on various elements of the item, including the patch, stripes, and numbering”.

It added that Maradona himself had acknowledged the provenance of the shirt himself, in his book “Touched by God”, and he recalls giving it to Hodge at the end of the match.

The online auction is scheduled for April 20 to May 4.

Source: AFP

The jersey worn by Diego Maradona when he scored twice against England in the 1986 World Cup, including the infamous “hand of God” goal, is to be auctioned off later this month, Sotheby’s announced Wednesday.

The blue number 10 shirt has been owned since the end of the controversial World Cup encounter by opposing midfielder Steve Hodge, who swapped his jersey with Maradona after England lost 2-1.

The quarter-final showdown, one of the most memorable in World Cup history, held particular significance for Argentina as it was played only four years after they lost the Falklands war.

The match became etched in football folklore for Maradona’s two goals — one notorious and one sublime — in Mexico City’s seething Aztec Stadium.

The first came shortly after half-time when Hodge, on the edge of the England penalty area, intercepted a pass and flicked the ball back towards goal.

England were incensed and complained to officials who, believing Maradona had headed the ball, allowed the goal to stand.

Maradona then stirred the controversy afterward by saying the goal had been scored “a little with the head of Maradona, a little with the hand of God.”

Four minutes later, Maradona struck again and this time there was no doubt.

Receiving the ball and turning inside his own half, Maradona left five English defenders in his wake before gliding past Shilton and slotting home for a strike that was voted “Goal of the Century” in a 2002 FIFA poll.

National hero

Argentina won the final to lift the World Cup for the second time in eight years and Maradona, already a superstar, became worshipped in his home country.

After his death from a heart attack in 2020, Argentina held three days of national mourning.

Hodge, whose autobiography is titled “The man with Maradona’s shirt,” has for the past 20 years loaned the jersey to be on public display at the National Football Museum in Manchester.

Sotheby’s said in a statement to AFP that it will hold its own public display for the jersey in London, during the online auction scheduled for April 20 to May 4.

The decision of whether to keep it accessible to the public will be up to the winning bidder.

Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear and modern collectibles, said “the list is long for the type of people or organisations that might want to own the item.”

“It could be an individual, it could be a museum, it could be just somebody who wants to own the best of the best, a football lover or a club.”

Bidding for the Maradona memorabilia will start at £4 million ($5.2 million), below the $5.6 million record for game-worn shirts, set in 2019 for a jersey Babe Ruth wore while on the New York Yankees.

Last year, a jersey worn in the 1950s by Brooklyn Dodgers star Jackie Robinson — the first Black player in Major League Baseball — sold for $4.2 million.

Source: AFP

The 2022 World Cup draw has Cameroon facing Brazil, England taking on the USA and reigning champions France meeting Denmark in the group stage as the focus turned to the football after a number of off-field issues dominated the leadup to the awarding of the tournament.

Here are the groups the teams have drawn:

Group A: Qatar (hosts), Netherlands, Senegal, Ecuador

Group B: England, United States, Iran, Wales or Scotland or Ukraine

Group C: Argentina, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia

Group D: France, Denmark, Tunisia, Peru or UAE or Australia

Group E: Spain, Germany, Japan, Costa Rica or New Zealand

Group F: Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, Canada

Group G: Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana

In a twist of fate, reigning champions France face a similar group to the one they played in during their sluggish start to a victorious 2018 World Cup campaign, in which they drew against Denmark and narrowly beat Peru.

The USA also have an interesting group, taking on England, their fellow Anglophones, the nation that invented football, and the Euro 2021 runners-up. Team USA also face geopolitical antagonists Iran in their first footballing clash since Iran beat them at France ’98.

The real group of death is Group E, featuring two of the strongest teams in national football, Spain and Germany.

Most controversial in history

Off the pitch, this is the most controversial World Cup in history, with Qatar dogged ever since it was named host in 2010 by accusations of vote-buying — which were hotly denied — and questions over the country’s suitability.

From human rights concerns to the ongoing war in Ukraine, it has been impossible to keep the spotlight solely on the sport, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino has repeated, as he did on Thursday, that it “will be a fantastic and unique World Cup”.

Concerns remain over the treatment of gay and transgender supporters coming to a country where homosexuality is illegal, as well as over the working conditions of hundreds of thousands of migrant labourers in the country, including those who built stadiums.

Thursday’s FIFA Congress in Doha saw Lise Klaveness, head of the Norwegian Football Federation, speak out to say that the 2018 and 2022 World Cups had been awarded “in unacceptable ways with unacceptable consequences.”

“Human rights, equality, democracy, the core interests of football were not in the starting XI until many years later,” she said.

“There is no room for employers who do not secure the freedom and safety of World Cup workers.”

The chief executive of Qatar’s World Cup Supreme Committee, Hassan al-Thawadi, countered by saying he was disappointed that Klaveness had made no attempt to talk to Qatari authorities before speaking out.

He said the first World Cup in the Middle East would leave “truly transformational social, human, economic and environmental legacies.”

Source: REUTERS