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Sports Administrators React To Blatter, Platini’s Ban

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Some football adminis
trators yesterday expressed mixed reactions over the suspension of Sepp Blatter, FIFA President and Michel Platini, UEFA president for eight years each from all football-related activities.
Blatter and Platini, were on Monday suspended following FIFA Ethics Committee investigation of the “disloyal payment’’ in 2011.
The two were found guilty of breaches surrounding a 1.3 million pound ($2m) “disloyal payment’’ authorised by Blatter in favour of Platini in 2011.
The FIFA Ethics Committee which found Blatter and Platini guilty said they demonstrated an “abusive execution’’ of their positions.
Some of the football pundits who spoke to newsmen said that Nigerian sports administrators must learn from the incident.
They claimed that administrators must embrace transparency to avoid messy court cases.
Adegboye Onigbinde, a FIFA and CAF instructor urged Nigerian to learn from the Blatter/Platini saga and commended FIFA for taking the hard decision.
“I hope Nigerians will learn lessons from this; if FIFA can do that to a whole Blatter; it indicates that FIFA is a well-organised international body.
“Another lesson we have to learn is that for decades people have been saying that football matters cannot be taken to courts but we can see what is happening at the FIFA level now.
“When people have things to hide, they start threatening us. These are the lessons we have to learn that no matter how mighty you are, let us have the fear of God in us.
“Everyday for the thief one day for the owner,” he said.
Sani Toro, a former Secretary-General of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) said he was happy about the Blatter decision to fight FIFA for his innocence.
“I am not saying he is innocent but any African should not be happy at the developments because he has done so much for the continent.
“It was during his time that Africa was able to host a FIFA World Cup. Nobody wanted Africa to host the world cup but Blatter insisted.
“It was during his time that Africa saw many developments in the world of football and he also brought in money into football.
“He has fought for football for a very long time and I feel that such a thing should not be done to him, I hope they can review his case and give him a lesser punishment,’’ he said.
Sani Lulu, also a former NFA President said that this was part of the change that all football stakeholders had been calling for in FIFA.
“I know God is doing some work there. It is change all over the place, even in Nigeria, so let us believe that this change mantra is ordained by God. It is spreading to all over the world”.
Shehu Dikko, the Chairman of League Management Company (LMC) said he had yet to assess the situation critically to form an opinion.
“I am still studying the situation and the details before I can form an opinion about the whole issue,’’ Dikko said.

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Gyokeres Situation, Transfer Under Cloud At Sporting

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Sporting have not received an offer for striker Viktor Gyokeres and there is no gentleman’s agreement for him to leave for £59million, says club president Frederico Varandas.
Sweden international Gyokeres, 27, has been heavily linked with Manchester United and Arsenal after scoring 97 goals in 102 matches during two seasons in Portugal.
He has a 100m euro (£85m) release clause in his contract.
It has been widely reported that, after staying at Sporting last summer, Gyokeres and Sporting agreed he could leave for 70m euros (£59m) this summer.
However, Varandas said the club’s only promise to Gyokeres was that they would not demand his full release clause.
“I can guarantee that Viktor Gyokeres will not leave for 60m euros plus 10m euros because I never promised that,” Varandas said.
“To this day Sporting has not had an offer for Gyokeres, neither today nor last season.”
Gyokeres spent three seasons with Coventry City in the Championship before joining Sporting under Ruben Amorim.
Manchester City director of football Hugo Viana was sporting director at Sporting last summer, when Gyokeres’ agent sought assurances about his leaving if a suitable offer arrived.
“One of the agent’s biggest concerns was whether we would demand the termination clause,” said Varandas.
“He wanted to guarantee certain things. And what was agreed? That Sporting would not demand a release clause now.
“For one reason: he was going to be 27 years old and no player leaves Portugal at 27 for 100m eurors or 90m euros.
“In that same meeting the agent wanted to anchor the exit to a value. I said this sentence: ‘It’s not worth us setting a value because I don’t know what will happen in a year’s time. I don’t know if it will be 40m euros, 60m euros or 80m euros. What I can guarantee is that I will not demand 100 million euros.’”

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Concacaf Opposes 64-Team W’Cup Plans

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Concacaf President Victor Montagliani has criticised a proposal to expand the 2030 men’s World Cup to 64 teams.
The plans, put forward by South American governing body Conmebol, have also drawn opposition from Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
The tournament will be hosted by Spain, Morocco and Portugal, after the opening matches are held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Mexico and Canada, has already been expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
But Conmebol said it wanted to add more participants to mark the competition’s 100-year anniversary.
“I don’t believe expanding the men’s World Cup to 64 teams is the right move for the tournament itself and the broader football ecosystem, from national teams to club competitions, leagues, and players,” Montagliani told Tidesports source
“We haven’t even kicked off the new 48-team World Cup yet, so personally, I don’t think that expanding to 64 teams should even be on the table.”
Concacaf is the governing body of football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
The decision to expand the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams was taken in 2017 following a unanimous vote at a Fifa congress.
Fifa’s 75th congress will be held in Paraguay on 15 May, when Conmebol’s proposal could be discussed.
If the proposal is accepted, the 2030 edition would consist of 128 matches, double the number played under the 64-game format used from 1998 and 2022.
In March, Ceferin described the proposal as a “bad idea” while AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa said it would cause “chaos”.
“If the issue remains open to change, then the door will not only be open to expanding the tournament to 64 teams,” said Salman.
“But someone might come along and demand raising the number to 132 teams. Where would we end up then? It would become chaos.”

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Brazil Edge Paraguay, Book W’Cup Spot

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Brazil qualified for the 2026 World Cup this week with a 1-0 win against Paraguay in South American qualifying to give Carlo Ancelotti his first win as manager.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jnr scored from close range in the second half, finishing after fine work from Manchester United-bound playmaker Matheus Cunha.
The victory, Ancelotti’s first after a 0-0 draw against Ecuador on his debut last week, means Brazil has now qualified for every edition of the World Cup.
“We needed to win and qualify for the World Cup,” said Vinicius Jr.
“Now the coach will have more time to work. Of course today wasn’t one of our best performances, but the important thing is always to win.
“Now it’s time to celebrate qualifying.”
Elsewhere, World Cup holders Argentina played out an entertaining 1-1 draw with Colombia in Buenos Aires.
Liverpool winger Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a fine individual goal, dancing through three defenders before finishing past Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Argentina was reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining when Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez was sent off for a high-boot challenge on Colombia’s Kevin Castano.
But Lionel Messi’s side found an equaliser nine minutes from the end through Lyon’s Thiago Almada, leaving Colombia four points clear of seventh-placed Venezuela.
Ecuador, Argentina’s nearest challengers, booked their spot at next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States after a 0-0 draw away at Peru.

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