Page 3 - Fifa

Euro 2024 Final: Spain, England clash more than just a football game

Football is seldom ever just about sports, and that's especially the case in this tournament

'Oblivious' of Lineker's four-letter criticism of England, says Southgate

Gary Lineker's stinging criticism of England created waves at the European Championship. Gareth Southgate, however, said he was oblivious to the four-letter assessment delivered by one of England's greatest players and one of Britain's biggest television stars. It is not important to me at all, he said on Monday. If you don't open yourself to it, it can't affect you. England's preparations for its final Group C game against Slovenia on Tuesday have been conducted against the backdrop of media and public criticism after the team's 1-1 draw with Denmark. We have to reflect the mood of the nation, Lineker, the former England captain, said on his podcast, The Rest is Football. I can't imagine anybody, who is English, that would have enjoyed England's performance because it was lethargic, it was dour ... You can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, he added, before using a four-letter word of his own. His comments made headlines in the English media and earned rebuk

Mbappe due for tests on his broken nose as France gets 'positive' news

Kylian Mbapp was due to have tests on his broken nose on Wednesday as France tried to assess what part he could play in the European Championship. The World Cup winner sustained the injury during his team's 1-0 win against Austria on Monday and will have to wear a face mask if he plays on at the tournament. There will be more tests tomorrow to see how things are developing. Obviously it was a big collision," France coach Didier Deschamps said Tuesday. "The medical staff have done what they needed to reduce it as much as possible. This morning he was a bit better, so we will see that and we will follow it closely each day. France plays the Netherlands in its second game of Euro 2024 on Friday. It was not known if Mbapp would be able to play after his face collided with the shoulder Austria's Kevin Danso as he attempted a header late in the Group D match at Dusseldorf Arena. The French Football Federation said it had received positive news about Mbapp's chances of continuing at the .

Days after World Cup qualifier loss, AIFFS sacks head coach Igor Stimac

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Monday sacked Igor Stimac as the head coach of the country's senior's men's team following a disappointing campaign in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Stimac, who was appointed as the head coach in 2019, was given an extension last year by the sport's apex body. India could not make the third round of the World Cup qualifier following a 1-2 defeat against Qatar in their final second round match. "Noting the disappointing outcome of the Senior Men's National Team's FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification campaign, the members unanimously agreed that a new Head Coach would be best placed to take the team forward," the AIFF said in a statement. "A notice of termination has been issued to Mr. Stimac by the AIFF Secretariat, and he stands relieved of his obligations with immediate effect." The 56-year-old Stimac, who was part of the Croatia team that made the semifinals of the 1998 World Cup, had taken charge of the Blue Tigers in 2019, after t

FIFA adopts protocols to support players during pregnancy, after birth

Soccer's international governing body is implementing new measures designed to further support the well-being of players and coaches during pregnancy and after the birth of their children. The FIFA protocols give both players and coaches a minimum of 14 weeks of paid maternity leave, and a minimum of eight weeks paid leave for those who adopt a child younger than 2. There is also a minimum eight weeks paid for women who are non-biological parents of newborns. While the players' maternity leave was previously adopted in 2020, the new rules extend it to coaches, non-biological and adoptive mothers. The protocol goes into effect on Saturday. It was approved last month by the FIFA Council. I think it's a big statement, former U.S. coach Jill Ellis said in a statement Friday. These are big steps and big strides to really normalize the life that we go through as women that's what we want to provide now at every level, the club level, the national team level the opportunity for pro play

Fifa moves towards letting league games to be staged in other countries

FIFA moved Wednesday toward ending decades of soccer tradition by reviewing the rules that currently block domestic league games being played in other countries. Fans are likely to object to their teams' home matches potentially being moved thousands of miles (kilometers) away. The United States and Saudi Arabia are expected to be willing hosts to lure competitive games from top European countries, and FIFA recently agreed to withdraw from an ongoing court case in New York filed by promoter Relevent to challenge the policy. The new FIFA policy will likely be attractive to the growing number of international owners of European clubs, including the wave of U.S. investors in the English Premier League, Italy's Serie A and France's Ligue 1, and state-backed teams like Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City, Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain and Saudi-owned Newcastle. FIFA is now creating a panel of 10-15 people representing soccer stakeholders to advise within months on amending the rules on ..

Stimac announces 2nd list for Fifa qualifiers, injured Jhingan misses out

Injured central defender Sandesh Jhingan missed out as Indian senior men's team head coach Igor Stimac on Tuesday announced his second list of 15 probables for the Bhubaneswar camp ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 preliminary joint qualification round 2 matches against Kuwait and Qatar. The first list of probables was announced on Saturday. Key defender Jhingan, who sustained a right knee injury during India's Asian Cup group match against Syria in January, missed out of the list. The 26 players from the first list will begin training in the Odisha capital on May 10. The 15 players from the second list, comprising players from Mumbai City FC and Mohun Bagan SG, who contested the ISL Cup final, will join the camp on May 15. A total of 41 players will take part in the national camp. The Blue Tigers will face Kuwait in Kolkata on June 6 before travelling away to take on Qatar on June 11 in their last two matches of Group A. India are currently placed second in the group, with four po

Apple close to finalizing deal with FIFA over TV rights, says report

The tournament will be held in the United States for the first time next summer, the report said, adding that a deal could be announced as soon as this month

Assam's Nehru Stadium to be rebuilt into world-class football venue: AFA

The Nehru Stadium here will be rebuilt and transformed into a 30,000 seater exclusive football venue with world-class facilities, a top official of Assam Football Association (AFA) said on Sunday. AFA's general secretary Sangrang Brahma said this ahead of the India-Aghanistan 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier to be played in the city on Tuesday. "Nehru Stadium will be demolished and rebuilt into a football exclusive stadium which would be of international standard. It would be an exclusive football stadium of international standard in India. Work on it would start soon," Brahma told PTI Videos. Brahma informed that the AFA also plans to set up 10 football academies in the state for developing grassroots level talent besides a dedicated centre of excellence in the capital. "We are planning to establish at least 10 academies in Assam in various locations. We also have a plan to establish a high-performance training centre that would be based in Guwahati." India and Afghanistan settled f

Nike deal ends German soccer's 70-year long relationship with Adidas

German soccer and Adidas are breaking up. American sportswear giant Nike will supply all of Germany's national teams with its apparel and equipment from 2027, the German soccer federation (DFB) surprisingly announced Thursday. The new deal extends to 2034 and ends Germany's long-standing relationship with Adidas, which goes back some 70 years and had appeared unshakeable. Germany's men's team is using Adidas' headquarters in Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, as its team base for the European Championship, which Germany is hosting this summer. Adidas appeared to be surprised by the DFB's decision to switch to its biggest rival, only confirming in a brief statement: We were informed by the DFB today that the association will have a new supplier from 2027. German teams wore Adidas gear for all four of the men's World Cup titles, their three European titles, and the women's two World Cup and eight European titles. The DFB later defended its switch to the American kit supplier. We unde

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: India, Afghanistan play out goalless draw

India and Afghanistan settled for a 0-0 draw after failing to turn their opportunities into goals in a Group A fixture of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers here on Thursday. It was end-to-end stuff in the first half with India coming very close to scoring through Manvir Singh on two occasions and the hosts too having their share of chances. However, most of them were half chances and goalkeepers of both teams were not tested enough. With India and Afghanistan resorting to open football, the first half (45+3) saw a wave of attacking moves but the strikers were not able to come alive in the final third, leaving both gaffers Igor Stimac and Ashley Westwood a bit frustrated as they shouted instructions from the touchline. India were on the offensive from the word go and caused some anxious moments in the Afghanistan defence and had Manvir not spurned a great chance on the 17th minute, the visitors would have taken an early lead in their away leg of the second round of 2026 World Cup a

FIFA gives president Infantino 33% raise in pay deal worth USD 4.6 million

FIFA raised president Gianni Infantino's base salary 33% last year to lift his total pay package to more than 4.13 million Swiss francs (USD 4.67 million), soccer's governing body said in its financial report. Infantino was re-elected unopposed in 2023 to extend his presidency to 11 years before FIFA staged the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and picked preferred candidates to host two future men's World Cups, including the 2034 edition in Saudi Arabia. Infantino's pre-tax base salary payment rose by more than 500,000 Swiss francs (USD 565,000) last year to reach more than 2.46 million Swiss francs (USD 2.78 million). His annual bonus was 1.65 million Swiss francs (USD 1.87 million), the same as in 2022 when the men's World Cup was played in Qatar. The previous FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, had a contracted bonus of USD 12 million for the 2014 World Cup on top of a USD 3 million basic salary and annual bonuses. Infantino had a home in Qatar to oversee preparations fo

'Sin bin': FIFA rules panel scraps plan for blue cards in football

There will be no blue cards shown in soccer, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Saturday ahead of the annual meeting of the sport's rule-making panel. The rules panel known as IFAB is due to look at extending trials of sin bins at low-level games. But beyond that, the idea aired a month ago of adding blue cards to referees' pockets with their red and yellow to remove players from the field for several minutes has been scrapped. Let me be clear it's a red card to the idea of blue' cards, Infantino told reporters in a video clip posted overnight on his Instagram account. There will not be any blue cards used at elite level. This is a topic that is non-existent for us and FIFA is completely opposed to blue cards, Infantino said at a lakeside hotel that will host the meeting near Glasgow. Sin bins were introduced in grassroots soccer in the 2019-20 season to try to reduce dissent and increase fair play. The idea has been unpopular with English Premier League coaches who believe tea

FIFA chief refloats idea of using algorithm to set player transfer fees

FIFA wants to open debate on setting soccer transfer fees by algorithm instead of the historic way of two clubs negotiating a market value price for contracted players. FIFA president Gianni Infantino used his address to its annual law conference that closed Friday in Tokyo to refloat an idea that has circulated for several years about reforms in the global transfer market that is now worth more than $10 billion annually. Now more than ever it is fundamental for us to talk about these and other topics, Infantino told soccer lawyers. For example, to discuss about the possibility to use an algorithm to estimate the fair value of transfer fees in order to increase transparency in the transfer system and help the football stakeholders, the FIFA leader said. It is unclear how a FIFA-approved method of setting fees would be accepted by clubs who would have their selling options limited, or how it would comply with competition law in the European Union. A ruling from the EU's court of ..

Messi edges Haaland in tiebreaker for FIFA's best men's player award

Lionel Messi landed another prestigious award in soccer barely. The Argentina star needed a tiebreaker with Erling Haaland to win FIFA's best men's player prize on Monday. He has national team captains to thank. The voting breakdown showed Messi and Haaland with 48 points each after voting by a global panel of national team coaches and captains, selected journalists, plus fans online. The tiebreaker was whoever had more first-place or 5-point scores from the votes of national team captains. That category was 107 to 64 for the Inter Miami forward. Neither player showed up at the awards ceremony at Hammersmith Apollo theater in west London. Kylian Mbapp, the third finalist, skipped it too. Messi had moved from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami and led the David Beckham-owned team to a little-known Leagues Cup title all while single-handedly elevating soccer's relevance in the United States. The 36-year-old Argentina star also topped Haaland and Mbapp for his eighth Ballon d'Or a

Mario Zagallo, World Cup winning player, coach for Brazil, dies at age 92

Mario Zagallo, who won two World Cups as a player, one as a coach and another as an assistant coach for Brazil, has died. He was 92. The first person to win the World Cup both as a player and a manager, Zagallo is for many Brazilian soccer fans synonymous with patriotism, grit and glory. Brazilian soccer confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said in a statement in the early hours of Saturday confirming Zagallo's death that Zagallo is one of the biggest legends of the sport. No cause of death was released by the federation or his family. We offer solidarity to his family members and fans in this moment of grief for the departure of this great hero of our soccer, Rodrigues said. Several Brazilian clubs where Zagallo played and coached also expressed their sorrow for his death. Zagallo's social media channels called him a dedicated father, a loving grandfather, a caring father-in-law, a loyal friend, a victorious professional and a great human being. A gigantic hero. A patriot t

FIFA threatens to suspend Brazil over CBF president's removal by court

FIFA warned Brazil it could suspend its national teams and clubs from international competitions if an intervention by its soccer body leads to the election of a new president in January. FIFA said in a letter to a Brazilian soccer executive that the country's soccer body CBF could face suspension if it does not heed its call to wait and instead holds a swift election to replace Ednaldo Rodrigues as president regardless. The document was obtained by The Associated Press. A Rio de Janeiro court removed Rodrigues and all his appointees at CBF from office on Dec. 7 due to irregularities in his election last year. Brazil's two highest courts upheld that ruling last week. Soccer's governing body FIFA historically rejects government and third-party interference in its member associations, which ultimately could leave five-time World Cup winners Brazil out of major competitions until the crisis is solved. The Rio court ruling also named Jos Perdiz, the head of Brazil's top sports court, a

FIFA's 32-team World Cup for clubs could change the face of football

A 32-team World Cup for clubs is FIFA's big play to change the face of soccer. If successful, it could follow the English Premier League and Champions League as one of the most popular and lucrative sports competitions in the world, generating billions of euros (dollars). Conversely, it could spark a backlash from players and coaches, who already complain about the congested match calendar. "I am not against new competitions, I am against the lack of time to recover year by year. This should change, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Monday, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where they aim to win the last Club World Cup before it is radically rebooted. World players' union FIFPRO went further after FIFA announced the dates of the first edition of the expanded tournament, which will be hosted by the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025. The extreme mental and physical pressures at the pinnacle of the game is the principal concern of players with multiple club and national

Set of 6 Messi World Cup shirts sells for $7.8 mn at auction in New York

Six jerseys worn by soccer superstar Lionel Messi during Argentina's winning run at last year's World Cup sold for USD 7.8 million, the auction house Sotheby's announced. The final price for the shirts, each worn during the first half of one of Argentina's games at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, is the highest price for an item of sports memorabilia this year, Sotheby's said. Argentina defeated France in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw in the World Cup final, winning its third World Cup. The victory, in which Messi scored two of Argentina's three goals, represented a crowning moment for one of the sport's greatest-ever players. These historic shirts are not only a tangible reminder of one of the most important moments in the history of sports, but are principally connected to the pinnacle moment in the career of the most decorated football player in history, Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of modern collectibles, said in a statement. The shirts were on display at Sotheby's Ne

We are at right stage: Chhetri ahead of India's FIFA WC qualifier match

The 39-year-old footballer also accepted that they are in a strong group in the World Cup qualifiers