[AWARDS] Argentina’s Lionel Messi collected the FIFA Ballon d’Or, his second consecutive title, ahead ofBarcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi, at ceremonies Monday at the Zurich Kongresshaus. This thefirst time is FIFA Ballon d’Or has been awarded since the merger of France Football’s Ballon d’Or and FIFA Player of the Year. Members of the international […]
fifa
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
German judge quits FIFA ethics committee
Guenter Hirsch, the former president of Germany’s Federal Court of Justice, resigned as a member of the FIFA tthics committee to protest what he said was thelack of effort to investigate alleged corruption within FIFA’s ranks. Hirsch said that after the selection of Russia and Qatar as the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Barca hits jackpot
[2010 WORLD CUP] For the first time, FIFA reimbursed clubs for the use of their players during the World Cup, handing out $40 million to clubs whose playerstook part in last year’s World Cup. The biggest payout of $866,267 went to Barcelona, followed by Bayern Munich ($778,667) Chelsea ($762,667), Liverpool ($695,600) and Real Madrid($678,133). European […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Blatter winner in Asian election
[FIFA] Chung Mong-Joon, one of FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s biggestcritics, has lost his position as Asia’s vice president of FIFA’s executive committee, falling to 35-year-old Crown Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, 25-20,in a vote of Asian members at the Asian Football Confederation’s congress in Doha on Thursday. In a bizarre twist, Qatari Mohamed […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chung faces battle for FIFA seat
[ASIA] An election with potential repercussions for FIFA’s future will take place Thursday in Doha, Qatar, when the Asian Football Confederation holds itscongress. Korean Chung Mong Joon, a FIFA vice president since 1994, will attempt to hold off a challenge from Prince Ali bin AlHussein of Jordan and win a fifth term on the executive […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bin Hammam supports winter World Cup
[WORLD CUP 2022] Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam, the president of the Asian Football Confederation and a key member of theFIFA executive committee that picked Qatar over the USA to host the 2022 World Cup, became the latest person to back moving the 2022 World Cup to the winter months to avoid Qatar’s desert heat insummer. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Grondona says he voted for … USA
Argentine Julio Grondona, the senior vice president on the FIFA executive committee, told Fox Sports Argentina he voted for Spain/Portugal to host the 2018World Cup and — surprise — the United States, not Qatar, to host the 2022 World Cup. It’s been assumed Grondona voted for Qatar as part of a pact Qatar struck with […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Nigerian anti-corruption unit grills Adamu
Suspended FIFA executive member, Amos Adamu is being questioned by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency on allegations of corruption on a variety of fronts. “We invitedAdamu after he finally arrived in the country on Friday and he has been at our office in Abuja since Wednesday morning,” disclosed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spokesman Femi Babafemi. […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
First winter World Cup to be studied
[QATAR 2022] Air-conditioning all or part of Qatar for the 2022 World Cup may not be necessary as FIFA seems to be seriously considering the idea of playing thefinals for the first time in winter. “FIFA’s job is to have a World Cup that protects the players so we take note of the recommendations and […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Shootout tiebreaker even more absurd than previously thought
By Paul Gardner Statistics and soccer are never a happy mix — amusing, yes, they can be that (in the sense that they can be maneuvered into proving or disprovingalmost anything you wish). Therefore, they can be misleading, and therefore they are not to be trusted. Usually, that is. But what’s this news from the […]