FIFA president Gianni Infantino will “respect any decision by the ethics committee”, world football’s governing body said Monday after Swiss authorities opened criminal proceedings against him last week.

A Swiss special prosecutor has launched proceedings against Infantino, as part of an investigation into suspected collusion with the country’s attorney general, Michael Lauber. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

“I’ve no doubt that Gianni Infantino would respect any decision by the ethics commission,” FIFA deputy secretary general Alasdair Bell told a video news conference. “We don’t see any evidence of criminal or unethical behaviour,” he said.

FIFA on Sunday insisted Infantino would continue to fulfil his duties as president and blasted the Swiss probe.

It gave no indication on Monday whether or not its ethics committee had instigated proceedings against Infantino.

“The ethics committee will have to come to its own conclusion… In every case, it needs to be tested, if there’s something serious, there’s a case for suspension,” said Bell.

Questioned about Infantino’s absence during Monday’s video conference, Bell said the FIFA chief “will be available and will speak in order to clear his name.”

He added: “FIFA and Gianni Infantino have absolutely nothing to hide, we want to be transparent. There’s no factual basis for this criminal procedure.”

Infantino and Lauber are said to have held a series of meetings in 2016 and 2017.

Two such meetings were initially exposed in 2018 by “Football Leaks”, a cross-border investigation by several European news organisations.

In a statement Thursday, Swiss authorities said special prosecutor Stefan Keller “has reached the conclusion that…there are indications of criminal conduct” in relation to meetings between Infantino, Lauber and another official, Rinaldo Arnold.

“This concerns abuse of public office, breach of official secrecy, assisting offenders and incitement to these acts,” the authorities said.

Lauber, who offered his resignation on July 24, was in charge of Switzerland’s probe into the towering corruption scandal that exploded at the heart of Zurich-based FIFA in 2015.

But he was forced to recuse himself from the investigation in June 2019, following media revelations that he had held several undeclared meetings with Infantino during the probe.

Switzerland has pursued a number of cases since a raid on a luxury hotel in Zurich in May 2015 led to the arrests of a several FIFA executives and exposed an allegedly corrupt underbelly in world football.

In total, more than 20 FIFA proceedings have been opened in Switzerland over the past five years into allegations of corruption and vote-buying, and allegations over the awarding of television rights contracts.

Source: AFP

Lewis Hamilton smashed the track record twice on Saturday to grab a record seventh British Grand Prix pole position with a stunning performance in a tense qualifying session.

Hamilton, who on Sunday seeks a record-increasing seventh Silverstone victory, finished ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by more than three-tenths of a second after the Finn had been fastest in final practice and then again in both Q2 and Q3 when he also set lap records.

The defending six-time champion and current series leader bounced back from a ragged performance, including a spin, in the first parts of qualifying to claim his 65th pole with Mercedes and the record-increasing 91st of his career.

It was also a record eighth successive Mercedes pole success in Britain on a day when they were clear of their nearest rivals Red Bull by a full second, Max Verstappen taking third place on the grid ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Rising British star Lando Norris, 20, was fifth for McLaren ahead of Lance Stroll in Racing Point’s ‘pink Mercedes’, Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo and his Renault team-mate Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel, who was 10th for Ferrari.

“This track is awesome! But it is tough out there – with the winds, it is like juggling balls on a moving plate,” said a delighted Hamilton.

“I had a spin and as you know qualifying is all about confidence and I was struggling in the first sectors of every lap, but I took some deep breaths, composed myself and in Q3 I had a clear lap and the second one was even better!”

He added that it was strange to drive without any fans in the circuit. “Usually, it’s all sirens, flags and smoke and the atmosphere is buzzing – you get out of the car and have a different energy so I miss them, but I hope everyone is safe and happy at home.”

Source: AFP

Former Cameroon captain Stephen Tataw has died at the age of 57.

He was most famous for leading the Indomitable Lions to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

That run included wins over Argentina, Romania and Colombia, as Cameroon became the first African side to reach the last eight.

Four years later in the United States it was not such a fairytale as they were knocked out in the first round, including a 6-1 thrashing by Russia.

Tataw’s club career saw him play for Cameroonian sides Tonnerre Yaounde and Olympic Mvolye.

He ended his playing time in Japan with Tosu Futures.

A cause of death has not yet been made public.

Source: BBC

The Ballon d’Or will not be awarded this year due to the extraordinary conditions created by the coronavirus pandemic, organisers France Football announced on Monday.

It will be the first time the trophy given for the world’s best men’s footballer has not been awarded since Englishman Stanley Matthews won the inaugural edition in 1956.

“There will be no edition in 2020, because it turns out, after thoughtful consideration, that all the conditions are not met,” said Pascal Ferre, the editor of the magazine.

The COVID-19 outbreak saw all major football leagues shut down in March, with the German Bundesliga the first to resume behind closed doors in May.

France Football said it would be unfair to vote on the world’s best player when some leagues, including the French Ligue 1, cancelled their seasons early.

Ferre also suggested that it would not be right to judge players based on games played without spectators present.

“We believe that such a singular year cannot… be treated as an ordinary year,” he added.

“Two months (January and February), out of the eleven generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge, without forgetting that the other games were played –- or will be played –- in unusual conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League’s Final 8 played in a single game).”

Lionel Messi won a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or last year.

The women’s Ballon d’Or, which was first awarded in 2018, has also been cancelled.

France Football added that it was looking forward to holding a ceremony in 2021, but that this year it would instead organise a vote for the all-time greatest men’s XI.

Source:  AFP

Few players or managers have enjoyed World Cup glory with two countries but Jack Charlton, who has died aged 85, was held in rare affection by English and Irish football supporters.

The World Cup may have brought the best remembered moments of his career but Charlton had no shortage of success at club level during nearly 45 years as a player and manager.

Charlton, a tall, no-nonsense central defender, was part of Alf Ramsey’s England team which won the World Cup in 1966, playing in the same side as his brother Bobby.

As a manager, he took Ireland to their first World Cup, in Italy in 1990 and led them to the quarter-finals of the tournament, which remains the country’s best performance.

Awarded an OBE in 1974 and given honorary Irish citizenship in 1996, after his death was announced in a family statement on Saturday, Charlton was described by the country’s former Prime Minister Leo Varadkar as “Ireland’s most loved Englishman”.

He was a proud Northumbrian, from the mining village of Ashington, but spent his entire club career with Leeds United.

Loyal to Leeds

Charlton was a central part of the Yorkshire club’s golden era in the 1960s and 70s under Don Revie, winning trophies at home and abroad and making a club record 773 appearances.

His popularity crossed generations and football loyalties, with many Northern English school kids in the 1970s enjoying his passionate and unscripted coaching in the Tyne-Tees television series “Play Soccer – Jack Charlton’s Way”.

After leaving school, Charlton had briefly worked, like his father, in the mines at Linton colliery but it was not for him and he was on the brink of joining the police force when he went to Leeds United in 1952.

Despite his boyhood affection for Newcastle United, Leeds was an obvious choice given his uncle Jimmy Milburn played for the club at the time and two other uncles, Jack and George Milburn, had also played for the club.

His early years, with Leeds in the second division and Charlton sometimes asked to play at centre-forward, offered little sign of the glory that was to come under Revie.

At one point Charlton met with Manchester United manager Matt Busby to discuss a transfer which would have seen him team up with his brother at Old Trafford.

But he stayed with Leeds until he retired from playing in 1973 and, with his rugged defending and leadership role on the field, was part of the team which won the English league title in 1969 and FA Cup in 1972.

He also enjoyed success in European football as Leeds won the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, later the UEFA Cup and now the Europa League, in 1968 and 1971.

England career

Charlton’s England career began relatively late. He was almost 30 when he made his debut against Scotland at Wembley in 1965 but, as with his tackling, the timing was perfect.

Just over a year later, playing alongside captain Bobby Moore and with his brother in midfield, Charlton became a World Cup winner as hosts England beat West Germany 4-2 in the final.

He retired from international duty after the 1970 World Cup and following three more seasons with Leeds he ended his playing career and moved into management with second division Middlesbrough.

In his first season in charge, ‘Boro won the title by 15 points earning promotion to the top flight where Charlton established them before leaving in 1977.

He applied for the England job after Revie’s departure but said he never received an answer to his application.

Charlton dropped into the third division to manage Sheffield Wednesday and it was there that he adopted the direct, physical style that was to prove so effective later with Ireland.

The Owls won promotion in 1980 but, despite a run to the FA Cup semi-finals, he was unable to take them to the top flight and left in 1983 for a short spell at Newcastle.

Managing the Irish team

Taking over the Irish national side in 1986, Charlton secured qualification for the 1988 European Championship, the first time the country had reached an international tournament although they failed to get out of the group stage.

Then came their first World Cup in 1990, after Ireland had beaten Spain, Malta, Hungary and Northern Ireland to qualify for the biggest stage for the first time.

Despite drawing all their games in the group stage at the finals, Ireland went through to meet Romania in the last 16, beating them on penalties after a goalless draw before losing 1-0 to Italy in the quarter-finals.

The team – and their manager – captured the imagination of the Irish public and four years later, in the United States, they did so again, this time beating Italy in the group stage before losing 2-0 to the Netherlands in the last 16.

“He changed everything about Irish football… Jack came in and changed that mentality… His legacy within Ireland is absolutely huge,” said midfielder Ray Houghton.

Those who knew Charlton certainly have no shortage of stories about his humour and forthright opinions which made him one of the great characters of the game.

(REUTERS)

Neymar, the world’s most expensive footballer, was approved to receive a $120 welfare payment meant for low-paid Brazilian workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, in an apparent case of identity theft, a report said Thursday.

The Paris Saint-Germain star’s name, date of birth and Brazilian ID number were used to register for the 600-real stimulus payment from the federal government, news site UOL reported.

The emergency payments are meant to help Brazilians employed in the informal sector — such as cleaners or cooks — whose jobs and incomes have evaporated with stay-at-home measures to contain the virus.

With a contract at PSG, estimated earnings of $95.5 million this year and the record for most expensive football transfer in history, at 222 million euros, Neymar does not qualify.

Yet according to UOL, the application in his name “was initially approved and scheduled for payment… before being frozen and placed ‘under evaluation’ due to indications it failed to meet the requirements.”

The striker’s communications staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP.

UOL reported his staff said Neymar “obviously never applied for this benefit, and does not know who would have done so.”

Brazil is one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. It has the third-highest death toll globally, at more than 34,000, behind only the US and Britain.

Neymar, 28, is riding out the pandemic at his luxury villa in Mangaratiba, a resort town outside Rio de Janeiro.

Source:  AFP

Spain coach Luis Enrique says playing behind closed doors is “sadder than dancing with your own sister”, as football faces the prospect of games without supporters for the foreseeable future due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s Bundesliga became the first major European league to resume last weekend following the two-month shutdown, with strict hygiene measures enforced at all matches across the country.

“(Playing without fans) is sadder than dancing with your own sister. It’s not attractive,” Luis Enrique told the “Colgados del aro” (“Hanging from the hoop”) basketball show on Wednesday.

“I watched the German football and it’s a sad sight. You hear the voices, you even hear the insults… you lose the intimacy of the better moments.

“But you also have to understand it’s a business that generates lots of money, and even if the spectacle is a long way from that when there’s fans it can help in dealing with the confinement.

“Watching football again or any other sport, as a fan it’s interesting,” he added.

Luis Enrique returned to his job as Spain coach in November after resigning last June to take care of his daughter, Xana, who died in August of cancer.

“(As a player), I would have liked to get back playing as soon as possible. I have no fear,” he said.

“I was a bit scared at one moment for my parents, my in-laws and the elderly people I cherish and above all for the people who may suffer. But on a personal level, I have zero fear.”

Euro 2020 has been postponed by a year due to the health crisis and Luis Enrique admitted the uncertainty was affecting everyone involved.

“We’re going day by day. We’re waiting for football to return and later down the line we will restart with some friendlies.

“In theory, the national team should play friendly matches in September as usual. But there are more important things right now so we need to be patient.”

Source AFP

Gareth Bale has said he would be interested in playing in Major League Soccer in America if he leaves Real Madrid.

Bale has not been a regular in Zinedine Zidane’s team this season and the 30-year-old almost departed last summer, before a move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning fell through.

Any MLS club keen to sign Bale would likely have to overcome the huge financial implications of a deal. Bale’s Madrid contract ends in 2022 and earns him close to 30 million euros ($33 million) a year before tax.

“I really like the league,” said Bale, speaking to the Hat-Trick podcast presented by the ICC, in an episode released on Thursday.

“I think it’s grown so much over the years. When we come over and play them in pre-season, the games are difficult, the standard is getting a lot better. The clubs are improving, the facilities are improving, the stadiums are improving.

“I think it’s a league that’s on the up and still rising. I think a lot more players want to come over to America now and play. I would definitely be interested in it.”

Bale was also asked about the banner he celebrated with after Wales qualified for Euro 2020 in November, which caused a stir in the Spanish press.

The banner taken from the crowd read, ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order’, as an indication of Bale’s priorities.

“We were just joking around,” said Bale. “A few of them were saying ‘if we do qualify, let’s try to find it and bring it out. I was like, ‘do what you want but I won’t be going to get it. They found it and brought it down.

“We were all celebrating as a team and I’m not not going to not jump around with my teammates. It was a bit of banter, a bit of fun.”

Bale is keeping fit at home as the coronavirus pandemic means players are waiting to see if La Liga can resume, with the plan to restart games behind closed doors in June.

“The club are sending us two weeks of programmes every two weeks,” Bale said. “We’re sticking to that, you can change it a bit if you want to do a bit more or a bit less depending on how your body is feeling. We have a guideline and we’re doing the best we can to tick over for the time being.”

Source: AFP

The Wimbledon championships were cancelled for the first time since World War Two on Wednesday as the coronavirus pandemic struck another blue-ribbon sports event off the calendar and wiped out the entire tennis grasscourt season.

While the decision had looked inevitable for some time, since the virtual shutdown of world sport and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, Wimbledon had been one of the few events not to have been officially cancelled or postponed.

But after emergency talks between the various stakeholders over the last few days, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced that it was impossible for the grasscourt Grand Slam, scheduled for June 29-July 12, to take place.

“It is with great regret that the main board of the All England Club and the committee of management of the championships have today decided that The Championships 2020 will be cancelled due to public health concerns linked to the coronavirus epidemic,” the AELTC said in a statement.

“The 134th Championships will instead be staged from June 28 to July 11, 2021.”

Following the cancellation of the grasscourt major, and with the pandemic worsening in Europe and the U.S., the men’s ATP Tour, women’s WTA Tour and the International Tennis Federation extended the suspension of professional tennis for another five weeks to July 13.

“At this time, tournaments taking place from July 13, 2020 onwards are still planning to proceed as per the published schedule,” a joint statement from the three governing bodies said.

Britain’s death toll from the virus reached 2,352 on Wednesday, according to NHS figures.

The French Open, originally due to be held from May 24-June 7 has been postponed and controversially rescheduled by the French tennis federation for Sept. 20-Oct. 4, shortly after the end of the U.S. Open.

‘No vaccine = no tennis’

Former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo doubts whether either tournament will be played though.

“I think we’re going to have to draw a line under the 2020 tennis season,” Mauresmo said on Twitter this week.

“International circuit = players of all nationalities plus management, spectators and people from the 4 corners of the world who bring these events to life. No vaccine = no tennis.”

Unlike the French Open which is played on clay, Wimbledon’s scope for re-arranging the start date was extremely limited.

While Centre Court and Court One boast a roof, playing elite level tennis outside on grass would have been extremely challenging in late summer or autumn with a lack of light and problems caused by dew forming on the surface late in the day.

Shortening the format of the tournament, or playing behind closed doors, would also have proved extremely unpopular with the players.

“While in some ways this has been a challenging decision, we strongly believe it is not only in the best interests of society at this time, but also provides certainty to our colleagues in international tennis given the impact on the grass court events in the UK and in Europe and the broader tennis calendar,” AELTC chief executive Richard Lewis said.

Tickets holders will be offered the chance to purchase tickets for the same day and court for 2021 championships as well as being issued with a refund for this year’s event, organisers added.

Wimbledon has been held every year since 1946 after a six-year hiatus because the country was at war.

(REUTERS)