Warner vows to help rebuild Haitian football

February 2, 2010

CONCACAF President Jack Warner returned from a visit to earthquake ravaged Haiti Monday, vowing to rebuild the football federation’s devastated headquarters and get soccer in the country moving again.

“I have not seen it all, but I have seen enough to know that our family has suffered great losses,” Warner said.

Estimates range as high as 200,000 killed in the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck in on January 12, including nearly 30 people buried in the three-story Haitian Football Federations headquarters when it collapsed in the late afternoon.

Warner visited the rubble of the demolished building, meeting with numerous officials and family members, and hearing tales of survival.

“This site was once a hub of activity. It was our building, our colleagues, our friends,” Warner said. “Our family still lay buried here. But today I publicly say, like a phoenix, the FHF shall rise again. From these ashes, we shall grow stronger.

“We shall rebuild this building. We must never forget what has happened here but we will chart our future from today. ”

Haitian federation president Yves Jean Bart, one of the few to escape the rubble, has been conducting federation business solely through his Blackberry handheld wireless device.

“It is the only piece of equipment which remains from the Federation” Jean Bart said.

Warner proposed moving the federation headquarters to the country’s FIFA Goal Project offices in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Croix-des-Boquets, which was opened in 2002.

“Relocation is one step but we cannot wait,” Warner said. “We must resume operations. We must take hold of this situation and move forward. The office must resume operations. I will explore options to ensure that the staff resumes duties with compensation as soon as possible.” Warner said.

With FIFA already pledging $250,000 to the quake relief effort, Warner said he will personally embark on a food drive for Haiti while submitting a report to soccer’s world governing body on Wednesday.

Other initiatives Warner said that will be initiated include urging member nations of the Caribbean Football Union – which is to meet in Trinidad for its annual congress in late February — to house Haitian players for six months to a year so that they may continue their training until the federation is able to resume full operations.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

Concacaf

Tags: Bart, boquets, Caribbean, concacaf, congress, earthquake, equipment, federation headquarters, federation president, Federations, FHF, FIFA, food drive, football federation, friends warner, Haiti, jack warner, jean bart, late afternoon, magnitude quake, port au prince, president jack, President Jack Warner, quake relief, relief effort, rubble, tales of survival, Trinidad, world governing body, yves jean

Bayern chief slams FIFA over World Cup decision

January 27, 2010

Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness has criticised FIFA’s decision to award the hosting of the World Cup to South Africa and said he will not be going because of safety fears.

The World Cup will be held in the Republic, and on African soil, for the first time from June 11-July 11.

But Bayern president Hoeness told German agency SID: “I will not travel to South Africa.

“I was never a fan of the World Cup being held in South Africa, or anywhere on the African continent, as long as safety aspects are not clarified 100 per cent.”

Hoeness did not elaborate on which “safety aspects” he was concerned about, but added: “I have always thought it was wrong.

“Now it makes no sense to moan about it anymore, we simply have to try and do the best with it.”

BERLIN (AFP)

Tags: 11 july, african continent, african soil, Bayern, bayern munich, berlin, criticised, FIFA, german agency, Hoeness, June, Munich, safety fears, SID, South Africa, uli hoeness, world cup decision

Guardiola hails record-breaking Messi

January 17, 2010

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola praised Lionel Messi after the Argentina superstar became the youngest player to score a hundred goals for the Catalan club.

The FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or 2009 winner reached the milestone after scoring his side’s third goal as Barcelona clinched a 4-0 victory over Sevilla.

When asked about Messi after the conclusion of the match, Guardiola said, “I congratulate him. It’s outrageous to have done what he has at his age.

“It only depends on him to break all possible records. He has some very, very high numbers.

“What we like most is that his ambition has no limit. I feel that he wants more.

“He is a wonderful example to the future generations.”

Tags: ambition, Argentina, ballon, Barcelona, catalan, coach, conclusion, FIFA, fifa world player, fifa world player of the year, future generations, lionel messi, match, milestone, pep guardiola, SEVILLA, Superstar, victory, world player of the year

U.S. selects 18 cities to win 2018, 2022 World Cups

January 13, 2010

The United States announced 18 cities Tuesday that it will submit to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, chosing stadia with an average capacity of 78,000 but only five locations that hosted games in 1994.

Twenty-one stadia were chosen from either in the city proper or the metropolitan areas of Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; Miami; Nashville, Tennessee; New York; Philadelphia; Phoenix; San Diego; Seattle; Tampa, Florida; and Washington. All the cities selected are different from when the United States attracted a total attendance of 3.6 million except Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Washington.

The bid will be submitted May 14 to FIFA’s Executive Committee, which will decide on December 2 which countries will host both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Besides the United States, Australia, England, Japan and Russia have formally declared an interest to host both tournaments. Netherlands and Belgium, and Portugal and Spain have have announced joint bids for both. Indonesia, Qatar and Korea Republic have announced they will bid for 2022 only.

Bid Executive Director David Downs said the decision as to which cities would eventually host games would come five years before the start of the event.

“We have always thought 12 (was a good number of cities to use),” U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. “FIFA has said 9-12. We want a national event. In order to truly build the game, the more venues the better.”

Of the more than 50 cities and 70 stadia with a capacity of 40,000 or more that initially expressed interest in April of hosting games, the USA Bid Committee whittled the field to 45 stadia in 38 cities by June after a detailed questionaire was completed.

More information and another review process further reduced the number to 27 cities that were considered for the final selection to meet FIFA’s demands of 12-18.

The USA Bid Committee said it selected the cities based on 21 criteria ranking from market size, geographical location, climate, hotels and transportation, soccer history and passion for the sport, attraction as a tourist destination and previous experience at hosting major sporting or cultural events.

“It’s been a dramatic change since 1994,” Downs said. “We have a problem (of too many cities to chose from), but it’s a good problem to have.”

Both Downs and Gulati noted the vast cultural shift from 1988, when the United States last was awarded the World Cup.

“People get it now; they understand the sport,” Gulati said explaining the American public’s knowledge of soccer. “We haven’t had to twist arms.”

Since then, the United States has twice staged the Women’s World Cup, launched a professional league that has grown to 16 teams, played in or qualified for every World Cup, and in June finished runner-up in the Confederations Cup.

Downs told a story of this past summer, when as a courtesy he alerted the office of then Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels that he would be in town for the July 4 Gold Cup doubleheader at Qwest Field involving the United States. Noting it was the American Independence Day holiday, he said he did not expect the mayor to join him at the game. Amazingly, Downs received a warm reception to his outreach and was invited to Nickels’ home for coffee.

“I don’t think that would have happened 20 years ago,” Downs said laughing.
Selected cities, stadia and estimated World Cup capacity

CITY	STADIUM	ESTIMATED WORLD CUP CAPACITY
Atlanta	Georgia Dome	70,868
Baltimore	M&T Bank Stadium	71,008
Boston	Gillette Stadium	73,393
Dallas	Cowboys Stadium	91,600
	Cotton Bowl	89,000
Denver	INVESCO Field	75,165
Houston	Reliant Stadium	76,000
Indianapolis	Lucas Oil Stadium	66,500
Kansas City, Missouri	Arrowhead Stadium	75,364
Los Angeles	Rose Bowl	89,109
	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	93,607
Miami	Dolphin Stadium	80,240
Nashville, Tennessee	LP Field	75,000
New York	New Meadowlands Stadium	84,046
Philadelphia	Lincoln Financial Field	69,111
Phoenix	University of Phoenix Stadium	71,362
San Diego	Qualcomm Stadium	67,700
Seattle	Qwest Field	68,056
	Husky Stadium	72,500
Tampa, Florida	Raymond James Stadium	75,000
Washington	FedEx Field	89,690

On the Web: www.gousabid.com

NEW YORK

Tags: bid committee, david downs, director david, executive committee, executive director, federation president, FIFA, final selection, host games, kansas city missouri, korea republic, metropolitan areas, nashville tennessee, questionaire, soccer federation, sunil gulati, tampa florida, World Cup, world cups

Ibra warns rivals of second Barca sweep

December 24, 2009

If Barcelona are going to decelerate the trophy sweeping pedal, as rivals would expect, the Catalan giants towering striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has fired a warning shot that the team can once again win everything next year.

Pep Guardiola’s men have completed a clean sweep of all six trophies they could have lifted this year after winning the FIFA Club World Cup last week to add to their previous successes in the Primera Division, Champions League, Copa del Rey, European Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup.

It has been a record-breaking year for Barca and one that has established them as arguably the greatest team ever.

While, Ibrahimovic has only been on hand for the last three trophies, after a summer move from Inter Milan, the Sweden striker believes he can fire Barca to even more success.

“Before this season nobody would have said that a team could be capable of winning it all,” he told El Mundo Deportivo.

“It’s something incredible and it would have been hard to think about it before it happened, but I think we can repeat it.

“I have had the luck to be here only half a year and in that time, achieved three trophies. In so few months I think it’s impossible to do better.”

Tags: barca, Barcelona, catalan, champions league, clean sweep, copa del rey, decelerate, division champions, everything, FIFA, fifa club world cup, giants, ibra, inter milan, Milan, pep guardiola, Primera Division, Rey, rivals, Spanish, successes, Sweden, trophy, warning shot, zlatan ibrahimovic

Britain backs England World Cup bid with guarantees

December 15, 2009

The British government confirmed Tuesday that it had signed off on financial guarantees of 300 million pounds (487 million dollars) required for FIFA to accept England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.

Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe also confirmed that other requisite commitments regarding security, visas and tax had been made, ahead of the May deadline set by world football’s governing body.

Sutcliffe said the move reflected the government’s desire to see the bid succeed — which had been questioned following a decision to provide only loan rather than grant finance for the bid itself.

“The Government is completely behind England’s bid to host the World Cup and getting these guarantees signed off well in advance underlines that continuing commitment, as does the availability of a loan to support the bid itself,” Sutcliffe said.

“A World Cup in England would be a fantastic event embraced by football fans from across the globe. We would deliver a superb legacy from the tournament to football worldwide.

“It would, of course, also bring huge economic benefits to this country.”

England 2018 is due to announce on Wednesday which cities will be put forward as potential match hosts as part of the bid.

FIFA will decide on the 2018 and 2022 hosts in December of next year. England is the favourite for the 2018 tournament but faces competition from Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia as well as from joint bids from Belgium and the Netherlands and Spain and Portugal.

LONDON (AFP)

Tags: Australia, Belgium, Britain, british government, commitments, cup sports, desire, economic benefits, england 2018, england world cup, FIFA, financial guarantees, football fans, globe, governing body, hosts, Indonesia, Japan, legacy, london, match, portugal, russia, sutcliffe, the Netherlands, visas, world football

France miss out on being World Cup seeds

December 3, 2009

France, winners in 1998 and finalists last time, will not be one of the eight top seeds at next June’s World Cup.

FIFA said the decision was based on world rankings and had nothing to do with Thierry Henry’s handball.

Just looking at the pots, a very weak-looking group could emerge from Friday’s draw.

South Africa, North Korea, Paraguay, Slovenia anyone?

Then again… Italy, USA, Ivory Coast, France could be a nightmare for all!

Source

Tags: africa north, FIFA, France, Italy, Ivory Coast, last time, nightmare, North Korea, paraguay, pots, seeds, South Africa, thierry henry, USA, World Cup, world rankings

Ireland calls for France World Cup replay

November 20, 2009

The Football Association of Ireland called on Thursday on FIFA to order the World Cup playoff with France to be replayed after France’s Thierry Henry helped knock out Ireland with a clear handball.

Video replays showed Henry used his hand to stop the ball going out of play in extra-time of Wednesday’s playoff in Paris, before passing to William Gallas to head the goal which gave France a 2-1 win on aggregate.

The FAI said in a statement: “The blatantly incorrect decision by the referee to award the goal has damaged the integrity of the sport and we now call on FIFA, as the world governing body for our sport, to organise for this match to be replayed.”

The Irish football authorities said there was a precedent for such cases, pointing to a FIFA decision in 2005 to invalidate the result of a World Cup qualification match between Ukbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of “a technical error by the referee of the match”.

The FAI said it hoped “FIFA and its Disciplinary Committee will, on behalf of football fans worldwide, act in a similar fashion so that the standards of fair play and integrity can be protected.”

However, Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni told a press conference minutes before the statement was released that he did not believe that FIFA would grant a replay.

A FIFA spokesman told AFP that they had yet to not receive anything from the Irish FA. They had only just received the official match reports and were currently reading them.

DUBLIN (AFP)

Tags: conference minutes, disciplinary committee, extra time, fair play, FIFA, football association of ireland, football fans, france world cup, giovanni trapattoni, incorrect decision, irish football, knock out, referee, replays, thierry henry, William Gallas, world cup qualification, world cup replay, world governing body

Keane, Doyle hit out at Platini and Blatter

November 19, 2009

Ireland will be absolutely mad for a few days considering the way they were dumped out of the World Cup. William Gallas’ decisive goal was set up by Thierry Henry who handled the ball twice before crossing it to Gallas. The Irish players were devastated, with Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle blasting the Fifa and Uefa presidents claiming they would be “delighted” with France reaching the World Cup.

“They’re all probably clapping hands, Platini sitting up there on the phone to Sepp Blatter, probably texting each other, delighted with the result,” Keane told BBC Radio Five Live.

His teammate Doyle agreed with the Tottenham Hotspur striker. “It was clearly a handball. If we would’ve handled the ball, I’m sure it would have been seen by the referee or the linesman. It is difficult. We are playing in Paris in front of a big French crowd. The president of Uefa (Michel Platini) is here and it is just difficult for us to get. ”

Keane also criticised the late decision to seed the play-off ties when it emerged that established football powers such as France, Portugal and at one stage Germany could be involved.

“Germany had a chance of being in the (play-offs) as well. With two massive countries there’s no way in a million years that there’s going to be a fair draw.”

Paul Haring

Tags: clapping hands, decisive goal, FIFA, football powers, handball, irish players, kevin doyle, linesman, michel platini, million years, play offs, presidents, radio five, referee, Robbie Keane, teammate, thierry henry, tottenham hotspur, uefa

International federations discuss H1N1 pandemic

November 10, 2009

The medical leaders of the international team sport federations (FIFA, IIHF, IHF, FIBA, FINA, IBAF, ICC, IRB, FIVB) conducted a meeting on 1 November 2009 in Lausanne at the headquarters of FIVB.

Along with a number of other medical issues, the group of physicians discussed the planning for the H1N1 pandemic at international and national sporting events.
Recommendations following consultation with World Health Organization (WHO):

• Players diagnosed with H1N1, by laboratory confirmation, should refrain from any sporting activities for a minimum of 7 days after the appearance of the first symptoms.

• Single dose vaccination against the pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus is recommended, as a preventive measure. Players should not have symptoms of the flu at the time of vaccination. Players who have an allergy to the egg protein should consult their physician before getting the vaccine.

• Education for all players and their entourage of the strict rules of prevention such as hand washing, use of individual water bottles &towels ,coughing etiquette and avoidance of contact with infected people.

• All players diagnosed with the H1N1 virus should be removed from competition and be isolated from the team until the player is no longer contagious to prevent further spread of the virus.

• Concerning the potential for postponement of competitions and sporting events, the medical representatives of team sports do not advise cancellation or postponement of national and international competitions in the current situation. However, should global public health conditions relating to the pandemic deteriorate this position would be reconsidered.

LAUSANNE, Switerland

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