The expansion of the World Cup from thirty two to forty eight teams could be brought forward from 2026 to 2022, says FIFA president Gianni Infantino. The change would require Qatar to share 2022 hosting duties with other countries in the region. The decision has already been taken to expand the tournament in 2026, when it will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and Infantino is now considering doing the same for 2022. 'If it is possible, why not?' he said. 'We have to see if it is possible, if it is feasible. We are discussing with our Qatari friends, we are discussing with our many other friends in the region and we hope that this can happen. And, if not, we will have tried. We will have tried because we always have to try to do things in a better way.' Speaking at the opening of the Asian Football Confederation's new headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Infantino also reiterated his plans to expand the Club World Cup. He said that he wants to make it 'a real competition' that 'every club in the world can target.' And, of course, generates loads of filthy wonga so that football can continue to get it greed right on. The beautiful game, dear blog reader. Supported by The People, run by greedy bastards.
To further expand on the point, dear blog reader, at least one professional football club is reported to be 'under investigation' for alleged money laundering, security minister Ben Wallace has revealed. Wallace told MPs 'a club or clubs' were 'being looked into' when asked about the issue at a Treasury Select Committee meeting on Tuesday. 'I couldn't reveal how many and what they are, for that is an operational matter,' he added. He said that to reveal more details 'could threaten investigations.' But, he added: 'The sports industry is as susceptible as anything else to dirty money being invested or their organisations being used as a way to launder money.' Wallace was speaking after the Labour MP John Mann asked him: 'When it comes to money laundering, how many professional football clubs have been deemed as requiring investigation currently?' The minister also pointed out 'not enough' had come from football authorities to help tackle the issue. A National Crime Agency spokeswoman said that the body would neither 'confirm or deny the existence of investigations.' Although, unless she was suggesting that Wallace was lying to MPs, then that ship has pretty much already sailed. She added: 'We have not charged any professional football clubs with money laundering and there are none currently in the court process.' A 2009 report by the international Financial Action Task Force said football could be targeted by money launderers because it involves large sums of money crossing international borders. In 2016 police in Portugal, with help from European crime agency Europol, claimed to have broken up a Russian mafia money laundering ring which targeted struggling football clubs. The Operation Matrioskas team said it discovered links to the UK, as well as Austria, Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Moldova.
The former Juventus and Italy footballer Vincenzo Iaquinta has been sentenced to two years in The Big House for firearms offences as part of a large mafia trial. The thirty eight-year-old, who was part of Italy's winning World Cup team in 2006, was one of one hundred and forty eight people standing trial for alleged links to the 'Ndrangheta, a major Southern Italian mafia network. The judge dismissed those charges against him, but his father was found guilty and jailed for nineteen years for various nefarious skulduggery. More than one hundred and twenty others were found very guilty. The court ruled that Iaquinta had illegally passed two guns to his father - who at the time was under a court order banning him from keeping firearms. 'Ridiculous, shame,' Iaquinta and his father shouted as their sentences were announced. Under Italian law, defendants are allowed to appeal twice before a sentence is confirmed and even if that were to happen, it is unlikely that Iaquinta would have to serve any actual jail time, Reuters reports. Because, he's rich, obviously. The trial was the largest of its kind to take place in Italy. The 'Ndrangheta is claimed to have around six thousand members, according to FBI estimates and is active in Calabria one of Italy's poorest regions. The mafia is believed to control up to eighty per cent of Europe's cocaine trade.
Ten Benin youth players and former football federation president Anjorin Moucharafou have been handed prison sentences for age cheating. A Cotonou court found them extremely guilty of lying about their ages, which saw them failing MRI tests in Niger. September's failed tests saw Benin disqualified from last month's regional qualifying tournament in Niger for the 2019 Under-Seventeen Africa Cup of Nations. The players were given six-month prison sentences with five months suspended. Because the players have been held in prison since their return from Niamey in September, they do not face more time behind bars. Moucharafou, who was president of the Benin Football Federation until August, was also found guilty because of his administrative role that led to the failed MRI tests. He was handed a twelve-month prison sentence, including ten months suspended. The national under-seventeen team coach Lafiou Yessoufof and two other officials received similar sentences for their roles in cheating. The new president of the FBF, Mathurin de Chacus, declared in August when he was elected that he wanted to 'put an end to corruption, improvisation and amateurism' in the country's football. He had filed a complaint about the overage players scandal and promised 'very heavy' sanctions.
Riot police had to protect referee Andres Cunha as River Plate beat Gremio with a late penalty in an incredible Copa Libertadores semi-final. Gonzalo Martinez scored the spot-kick, given via the video assistant referee, in the fifth of fourteen added minutes. Defender Bressan, who conceded the penalty for handball, was sent-off as he remonstrated with Cunha, with play held up as Gremio's players protested. River Plate won the second leg two-one and went through on the away goals rule. The Argentine side, beaten one-nil at home in the first leg, went further behind when Leo Gomes scored for the Brazilian holders after thirty five minutes in Porto Alegre. River Plate were still two goals behind on aggregate with nine minutes of normal time left, but then Rafael Borre scored. Uruguayan Cunha then sparked the penalty drama in the eighty sixth minute and was surrounded by Gremio players, with riot police entering the field to protect him from getting killed during the nine-minute delay which followed before the kick was taken. Victory for River Plate sets up the possibility of an all-Argentine final against Boca Juniors, who play Palmeiras in Sao Paulo on Wednesday, having won the home leg two-nil.
Former The Arse striker Nicklas Bendtner has been sentenced to fifty days in jail in Denmark for assaulting a taxi driver. But the thirty-year-old Rosenborg player has appealed and has been released until a hearing at a higher court. The incident took place in September, with the City Court of Copenhagen shown CCTV footage in which it appeared Bendtner struck the driver in the face. Really hard. The Denmark international admitted hitting the taxi driver but claimed that it was because he 'felt threatened.' Bendtner said the driver threw a bottle or a can towards him and his girlfriend when they left without paying. 'We think that it's not good for the club and not good for Nicklas, but he remains a player in the club. We are keeping him,' said Tove Moe Dyrhaug, the chief executive of Bendtner's Norwegian club, Rosenborg. Bendtner, who played for The Arse between 2005 and 2014, scoring forty five goals in one hundred and seventy one games, missed out on a place in Denmark's squad for the 2018 World Cup because of injury. He had loan spells at Blunderland, Birmingham City and Juventus while at The Arse before making a permanent move to German club Wolfsburg. He moved back to England to join Championship side Nottingham Forest in September 2016 before joining Rosenborg in March 2017.
One of the five people arrested at Wednesday's Edinburgh derby was identified to police by other fans, Hearts owner Ann Budge has revealed. Hibernian manager Neil Lennon was struck by a coin at Tynecastle, Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal claims he was punched by a fan, while both assistant referees were also targeted during a period of geet rive-on with kids gettin' sparked and aal sorts. In a joint statement, Hearts and Hibs condemned the 'unsavoury' incidents. The clubs say the culprits will 'face appropriate sanctions.' A twenty five-year-old man has been charged with assault after an assistant referee was attacked, while Police Scotland have confirmed investigations continue into incidents involving Lennon and Zlamal. Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster said the 'clubs are united' and called on fans to help identify those responsible 'for this kind of unacceptable and potentially dangerous behaviour.' Budge said Hearts will work with their city rivals and Police Scotland to identify those responsible and 'ensure they are banned from attending our two stadiums and are formally charged.' In the statement, she added: 'By working together in this manner, we will succeed in removing the tiny percentage of fans, whose behaviour spoils things for the majority.' Budge also said that the clubs must not 'fall into the trap of condemning the thousands of genuine football fans who do nothing more than passionately support their respective teams.' Dempster said they will 'learn any lessons that we can' and would 'not allow the mindless actions of a few foolish individuals to jeopardise' the enjoyment and safety of other fans. Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell said that he was 'sure no stone will be left unturned' by the two clubs and confirmed that both assistant referees were struck by missiles at Tynecastle. 'We cannot accept that two assistant referees simply carrying out their duties are put in that position,' he added. 'I would like to commend their commitment and professionalism in seeing the game through to its conclusion.'
Yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved (though sadly unsellable) Newcastle United skipper Jamaal Lascelles has claimed that the club's loathed owner, Mike Ashley, is 'a nice guy' - one or two people even believed him - and has called for 'togetherness' after signing a lucrative new six-year contract at the club. The twenty four-year-old has led Newcastle since 2016, when he was given the captaincy by manager Rafael Benitez. And, to be fair to the lad, he's done a pretty good job of it. Lascelles and his team-mates had dinner with Ashley last month to 'discuss matters' at St James' Park. 'I think it's important everyone is together,' said Lascelles. 'The meal was really positive, having a sit-down meeting for the first time, hearing [Ashley] speak and seeing what he's like as a man. He's a nice guy.' Newcastle finished an unexpected but impressive tenth in the Premiership last season but were yet to win a league game this term before Saturday's one-nil victory over Watford and are currently seventeenth in the table, with fans regularly protesting against the ownership of Ashley, who has been in charge since 2007 and presided over two relegations and more soap opera-style shenanigans than one can comfortably count. But Lascelles, who has made over one hundred appearances since joining The Magpies from Nottingham Forest in August 2014, says that the club must 'stay united.' Although, if Ashley reckons he could make more money by changing their name to Newcastle Sports Direct, one wouldn't put it past him. 'I know fingers are being pointed at [Ashley], but I think it was a positive meeting and if it could happen more, I don't think it would do any harm. If there are divides, I think it creates problems. If everyone in Newcastle stopped the negativity and tried to form a unity, that would help. It would help if everyone came together and put all that bad energy into positive energy, helping us get three points. That's what everybody wants.'
Leicester City staff, players and fans were in tears as they held a minute's silence for their late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, before their first match since his death last week in a helicopter crash. Supporters travelling to the game away at Cardiff City on Saturday started the day with a free breakfast and tribute t-shirt provided by the club, which many were seen wearing at the match. Fans unfurled a huge flag tribute to Srivaddhanaprabha, from Thailand, before kick-off and players wore their own t-shirt tributes to the man known affectionately as 'The Boss'. The Premier League match was The Foxes' first since Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people were killed in the crash outside King Power Stadium on 27 October. Manager Claude Puel said that the result in Cardiff was 'not important' but striker Jamie Vardy said the players wanted to play at Cardiff so they could 'honour' Srivaddhanaprabha. In the event, Leicester won the game one-nil thanks to Demarai Gray's fifty fifth minute strike.
The Football Association - a memorably awful bunch of hypocritical gangsters if ever there were some - has reportedly written to a number of non-league clubs warning they will be relegated if they do not make their dressing rooms larger. They currently need to be a minimum of twelve square metres in the seventh and eighth tiers, but that will increase to eighteen square metres by 31 March 2019. As if anyone is actually bothered about such crap. Clubs that fail to complete the work by the end of July will be automatically relegated. Larkhall Athletic of Southern League Division One West called the move 'disgraceful.' And, they're not alone. The FA says that notice of the change was given in 2014 and clubs can apply for up to seventy per cent of the funding for any necessary work. Southern League Premier Division side Frome Town, one of the clubs affected, said: 'Five months to get architect, planning permission, funding and probably try and complete it during the playing season - incredible decision.' Clubs must deliver planning permission, if required, proof of funding and a completed, enforceable contract to both the FA and their league by the end of March and would drop down to the ninth tier if they fail to comply. 'The change was to accommodate increased squad sizes, more medical equipment and an improved environment for players,' the FA claimed. 'This is a mandatory requirement from those leagues and the vast majority have already achieved this.' The Football Stadia Improvement Fund, managed by the Football Foundation, can offer partial funding for improvement work.
Usain Bolt's trial with Australian football club Central Coast Mariners has come to an end. The Jamaican eight-time Olympic sprint champion joined the A-League side for an 'indefinite training period' in August. He scored two goals in his first game for The Mariners in a friendly, but did not play in any first class matches when the season began. Efforts to secure 'a commercial solution' to keep Bolt at the club had failed, The Mariners said on Friday. Last month, The Mariners said that they had made a contract proposal broken down into 'football' and 'commercial' terms. However, it hinged on a contribution from 'a third party.' Despite meetings with 'several promising potential partners' no deal could be reached, the club said. Mariners owner Mike Charlesworth thanked Bolt for his eight-week trial, describing it as a success. 'He integrated very well into the team and made great strides as a footballer,' Charlesworth said. The one and two hundred metre world record holder has described it as his 'dream' to play professional football. 'I would like to thank the Central Coast Mariners owners, management, staff, players and fans for making me feel so welcome during my time there,' he said on Friday. Bolt, who retired from athletics in 2017, has previously trained with Borussia Dortmund, South African club Mamelodi Sundowns and Norway's Stromsgodset.
A football club has appealed for help to discover more about two 'illegal' women's football matches held in 1935. Luton Town's historian found a photo, thought to be one of the events, as he looked through archives for a project. Little is known about the games and the club's Community Trust wants to hear from anyone with information. The Football Association had banned women from playing matches at affiliated clubs from 1921 until 1971, calling the sport 'quite unsuitable for females.' The photo is believed to have been taken in 1935, but it is not dated more precisely. The club believes it could be related to a newspaper cutting, also recently rediscovered, advertising two women's games at its Kenilworth Road ground in April 1935 - the Bazaar Cup Final between Woolworth and Marks & Spencer, and a 'Widows versus Spinsters' match. The club said that it wanted to 'uncover the stories behind these illegal ladies football matches.' Community Engagement Officer Natasha Rolt said: 'We're really hoping members of the public can help shed some light on what we think is a remarkable and fascinating story. We're hoping to find out the experiences of people who went to the game or played in it, about the circumstances of the match and the reaction from supporters and others in the town.' The Luton Town Community Trust has been looking through archives after a ninety nine thousand knicker Heritage Lottery Fund grant to 'deliver a project to local schools that explores the history of the football club.' It will also build 'a comprehensive website' of match reports, programmes and photographs for every competitive game played by The Hatters, alongside player biographies and supporter memories, the club said.
The BBC and Sky have called on the European commission to take 'formal action' against Saudi Arabia over a pirate TV and streaming service which provides UK viewers with illegal access to content including Premier League football, Bodyguard and Game Of Thrones. BeoutQ, which started as a geo-blocked website available only in Saudi Arabia, has rapidly developed into a sophisticated international piracy operation. Set-top boxes are available internationally, including the UK, which also illegally allow streaming access to thousands of premium TV channels. The illegal service has had a surge in popularity after making global headlines for pirate broadcasting the entire World Cup. BeoutQ also provides access to other illegal streaming apps and its feed is now being pirated by other operations. The rapid growth of BeoutQ has prompted Sky, which operates in seven countries in Europe and the BBC to support the calls for the European commission to take action against the service. The broadcasters have sent letters to Anna Malmström, the European commissioner fortrade, outlining their 'concerns' and backing a formal EU protest, or démarche, to the Saudi government about BeoutQ. Which, of course, the Saudi government will ignore because they've got all the oil, they have President Rump in their back pockets because they own all the oil and they can murder their own journalists in full view of the rest of the world and not give a shit what anyone thinks. Again, because they've got all the oil. Sky's letter highlighted 'threats posed to European broadcasters and rights owners by a relatively new, but rapidly growing, source of audiovisual piracy, namely the BeoutQ service.' It added: '[Sky] understands that [the directorate general of trade] is planning imminently to launch a démarche towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia authorities regarding the issue. The purpose of this letter is to confirm Sky's full support for that démarche.' The BBC's letter, which also backs EU action, highlights the damage that making its content and channels available via the pirate service will do to its finances. 'The availability of the BBC channels and content via BeoutQ's pirate activity will adversely impact BBC Studios’ ability to license these channels to partners throughout Europe and also the ability of our European partners to sell subscriptions to their television services,' the letter says. A BBC spokesman said: 'The BBC group is committed to combating piracy of its channels and content worldwide and actively work with our media partners in fighting against piracy operating in the terrain which our partners hold exclusive licences.' The BeoutQ service is transmitted internationally on ten channels by the Saudi-headquartered satellite firm Arabsat, which counts the Saudi state as its largest shareholder and also offers streaming. It was set up last year, initially pirating the feed of Qatar's BeIN Media Group, the owner of beIN Sports and The English Patient film studio Miramax. BeIN Media, which has fifty five million pay-TV customers worldwide, has spent billions on the rights content including Premier League, Champions League, World Cup, NBA and NFL. The pirate service was launched when Saudi Arabia mounted an economic boycott of Qatar. This has led to widespread accusations, denied by Saudi Arabia, that it is a media weapon in its wider political dispute designed to weaken Qatar's economy. The UK broadcasters are the latest to turn up the pressure on Saudi Arabia to take action against the service. This month, BeIN Media launched a one billion dollar lawsuit against Saudi Arabia and the Premier League and FIFA have appointed legal counsel in the kingdom to try to prevent the theft of its intellectual property rights.
