Tag: fifa

The Bureau of the FIFA Council on Wednesday suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) with immediate effect due to third-party interference, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes.

This situation was prompted by the recent hostile takeover of the PFF headquarters in Lahore by a group of protestors and an alleged decision by certain individuals to remove the FIFA-appointed Normalisation Committee of the PFF led by Haroon Malik and to hand over the leadership of the PFF to Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah, the world game governing body said in a statement.

Earlier, FIFA had issued a letter warning that, should the illegitimate occupation of the PFF headquarters not be lifted and the office-bearers recognised by FIFA not be permitted free access to the building to carry out their mandate, the matter would be immediately submitted to the Bureau of the Council for decision. As the situation remains unchanged, the Bureau of the Council has decided to suspend the PFF. This suspension will only be lifted once FIFA has received confirmation from the normalisation committee of the PFF that the PFF’s premises, accounts, administration and communication channels are again under its full control and it can continue to carry out its mandate without further hindrance.

The Bureau of the FIFA Council also decided to suspend the Chadian Football Association (FTFA) with immediate effect due to government interference. The suspension was prompted by the recent decisions of Chadian government authorities to permanently withdraw the powers delegated to the FTFA, establish a national committee for the temporary management of football and seize control of the FTFA’s premises. The suspension will be lifted once the relevant government decisions have been repealed and the FTFA and its management, led by President Moctar Mahamoud Hamid, have confirmed to FIFA that the FTFA premises are again under its control.

FIFA, world football’s governing body, have issued a statement to condemn the rumoured European Super League, and say they will ban players involved in a breakaway league from participating in any of their competitions.

These of course include the World Cup and the European Championship, meaning if a player plays in a European Super League, they can’t go to the World Cup or the Euros.

The pinnacle of international football would be denied for anyone involved, and with many players dreaming of guiding their country to glory, it may put a halt in any plans to launch a league involving elite European clubs.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and several Premier League clubs had been reportedly keen on establishing a league spread across the continent with the richest and most famous clubs invited, but the letter published by FIFA may scupper these plans.

The letter has been signed by all six of FIFA’s continental confederations and states: “In light of recent media speculation about the creation of a closed European ‘Super League’ by some European clubs, FIFA and the six confederations once again would like to reiterate and strongly emphasise that such a competition would not be recognised by either FIFA or the respective confederation.

“Any club or player involved in such a competition would as a consequence not be allowed to participate in any competition organised by FIFA or their respective confederation.

“As per the FIFA and confederations statutes, all competitions should be organised or recognised by the relevant body at their respective level, by FIFA at the global level and by the confederations at the continental level.

“In this respect, the confederations recognise the FIFA Club World Cup, in its current and new format, as the only worldwide club competition while FIFA recognises the club competitions organised by the confederations as the only club continental competitions.

The universal principles of sporting merit, solidarity, promotion and relegation, and subsidiarity are the foundation of the football pyramid that ensures football’s global success and are, as such, enshrined in the FIFA and confederation statutes.

“Football has a long and successful history thanks to these principles. Participation in global and continental competitions should always be won on the pitch.”

The letter was signed by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and will throw the mooted idea of a European Super League into serious doubt.

France are the current reigning world champions, but with many of their players, such as Kylian Mbappe, Raphael Varane, and Paul Pogba, plying their trade for European superpowers, they may face the prospect of a severely weakened squad if their players are involved in a European Super League.

Football governing body, FIFA on Friday approved landmark measures to protect women footballers.

The FIFA Council approved new rules, including a minimum 14-week paternity leave for female players — with at least eight weeks after birth.

After the completion of a player’s maternity leave, her club will be under an “obligation to reintegrate her” into football activity and “provide adequate ongoing medical support”. “The players are the protagonist of the game, they are the most important part of the game and we have to make sure that we set the stage for them to shine.

When it comes to female players, we should bring more stability to their careers. For example, if they need to take a maternity leave, then they don’t have to worry,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a video tweeted on the governing body’s Twitter handle.

“If we are serious about boosting the women’s game, we have to look at all these aspects,” he added.

Without providing too many details, the FIFA president said new rules would also be introduced to give greater stability to coaches.

Coaches develop how we play and inspire the players, they too need job security and we have established minimum standards to protect them,” he said.

The mandatory 14-week maternity leave would see players guaranteed a minimum two-thirds of their contracted salary, while FIFA also made it harder for clubs to part company with pregnant players, saying “no female player should ever suffer a disadvantage of any sort on the basis of her pregnancy”.

The revamped FIFA Club World has been pushed back further. FIFA, in a media release, said that a Club World Cup, in the current format with seven teams, be organised for late 2021 and the hosting rights for this competition be awarded to Japan.

The next FIFA Council meeting is set to be held on March 19, 2021.

FIFA is set to introduce new regulations to protect the rights of women players, including mandatory maternity leave, world soccer’s governing body said on Thursday.

The reforms have been put forward by FIFA’s Football Stakeholders Committee (FSC) and will go to FIFA’s Council next month for approval.

While many players in Europe are already protected by employment law in their given countries, FIFA says its aim is to create “new global minimum standards” for female players all over the world, given the rapid emergence of new clubs and leagues globally.

The proposed rules include a mandatory maternity leave of 14 weeks, at a minimum of two thirds of the player’s contracted salary and a guarantee that “no female player should suffer a disadvantage as a result of becoming pregnant”.

The planned regulations also state that on their return to work after maternity leave, clubs must “reintegrate female players and provide adequate medical and physical support”.

Women players’ contractual rights were already covered by the existing regulations for all footballers but the changes are a bid to address specific concerns for female players and are viewed as a basic minimum that can be applied in all countries.

“As we try to accelerate the professionalisation of the women’s game, which is one of our strategic objectives, it is really important that we evolve and adapt the regulatory framework around the game at the same time. This is a very good example,” Sarai Bareman, FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer, told reporters.

“We want to see more women being able to earn a living playing football whilst at the same time being able to have a family life and being mothers. It is important that we provide the necessary regulatory framework to protect those women,” she added.

The new regulations also seek to address problems for coaches working internationally.

Until now coaches’ contracts have been subject to the same regulations as players but FIFA wants to introduce specific language to deal with the rights of coaches.

“The aim is to protect contractual stability, achieve greater transparency and make sure that coaches also get paid on time,” FIFA said in a statement.