FIFA president Sepp Blatter brokered a deal to allow Togo to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after the Sparrow Hawks were handed a two-tournament banafter they left the 2010 tournament in Angola when their team bus was attacked by gunmen. Blatter, acting as mediator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, persuaded CAF […]
fifa
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Big bucks for FIFA
FIFA President Sepp Blatter last month was able to brag that FIFA’s annual 2009 revenues passed the $1 billion level for the first time in its history, leaving the organizationwith a $196 million surplus. SportCal, a London-based tracker of sponsorship and marketing deals, says FIFA is on target to see total revenues of around $3.4 […]
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
FIFA's Feeble Case Against Technology
By Paul Gardner The April 2010 edition of FIFA World magazine features a significant document in which president Sepp Blatter makes the official FIFA “argumentagainst technology.” And what a flimsy, ill thought-out argument it is, full of ambiguity, obfuscation, irrelevance, contradictions, exaggerations, and plain distortion. The ambiguitybegins with the heading “Playing By The Same Rules.” […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter (sort of) softens stance against technology
FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who has been vehement against the use of technology to aid referees’ decisions, seems to have softened his stance. He told CNN that he would be infavor of introducing goal-line technology if the system used was “accurate and non-complicated.” “If we have an absolute and accurate, non-complicated system then I would […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Governing body rakes in the dough
[FIFA] How rich is FIFA? Despite a worldwide recession, soccer’s international governing body made a profit of $196 million on revenues of $1.059 billion in2009 and increased its reserves to more than $1 billion. FIFA made so much money it will distribute some of it to its confederations ($2.5 million apiece) and national federations ($250,000 […]