FIFA on Thursday officially brought forward the opening match of this year’s World Cup by one day to November 20 in a rare schedule change so that hosts Qatar feature in the gala game.

Football’s ruling executive universally approved the decision, FIFA said in a statement while Qatar said it would give unspecified help to fans affected by the change.

On the old schedule Qatar against Ecuador was to be the official inauguration match on November 21 but Senegal against Netherlands would be the first match of the day. England against Iran would have been second.

“Host country Qatar will now play Ecuador on Sunday 20 November as part of a stand-alone event,” said FIFA.

“The opening match and ceremony of this year’s tournament at Al Bayt Stadium have been brought forward one day following a unanimous decision taken by the bureau of the FIFA Council today.”

“The change ensures the continuity of a long-standing tradition of marking the start of the World Cup with an opening ceremony on the occasion of the first match featuring either the hosts or the defending champions,” added FIFA.

Under the new plan, the Group A game between Senegal and the Netherlands has been shifted from 1:00pm (1000 GMT) on November 21 to a 7:00pm start. There is no change to England’s opening Group B clash against Iran.

Qatari organisers, who have spent billions of dollars preparing for the event, immediately welcomed FIFA’s gesture.

“Opening the first FIFA World Cup to be held in the Middle East and Arab world is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Qatar,” said the organising committee in a statement.

“The world will be watching as our proud nation kicks-off the biggest sporting event in the world against Ecuador.

“The impact of this decision on fans was assessed by FIFA. We will work together to ensure a smooth tournament for the supporters affected by the change,” they added without giving details.

Official countdown clocks for the event were quickly changed. The 100 day countdown to the opening match will now start on Friday, instead of Saturday.

The decision was also announced as Qatar staged the first official match at the Lusail stadium which will host the December 18 World Cup final.

Before more than 10,000 fans, and with players engulfed in air conditioning to ward off stifling summer heat, Al Arabi beat Al Rayyan in the Qatar championship.

Source: AFP

Tiger Woods turned down an offer of about $700-800 million to take part in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series, the rebel circuit’s chief Greg Norman said.

Fifteen-time major champion Woods has always made clear his opposition to the series which is threatening to tear golf apart and triggered accusations of Saudi “sportswashing”.

Speaking in an interview on Fox News with Tucker Carlson, LIV chief executive Norman was asked if it was true that the American golf legend was offered “700, 800, a billion dollars” to join the breakaway circuit.

“That number was out there before I became CEO so that number’s been out there, yes,” Norman, a former world number one who is the public face of LIV Golf, said in the interview at Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey, where the third LIV Golf Invitational was held last weekend.

“And look, Tiger is a needle-mover, right? So of course you are going to look at the best of the best.

“They had originally approached Tiger before I became CEO, so yes, that number is somewhere in that neighbourhood.”

The 46-year-old Woods has consistently declared his loyalty to the PGA Tour and said he has no intention of following the likes of other major winners, such as Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Dustin Johnson in jumping ship to the upstart LIV.

“I disagree with it,” Woods said ahead of the British Open in St Andrews last month when asked about his fellow professionals who have been tempted to join the hugely lucrative but deeply controversial circuit.

“I think that what they’ve done is they’ve turned their back on what has allowed them to get to this position,” Woods said.

“And who knows what’s going to happen in the near future with world-ranking points, the criteria for entering major championships?

“Some of these players may not ever get a chance to play in major championships. That is a possibility. We don’t know that for sure yet.”

The LIV series, spearheaded by Norman and bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, offers record prize money of $25 million per 54-hole event with shotgun starts and no cut.

Source: AFP

Ons Jabeur can become Africa’s first Grand Slam women’s singles champion on Saturday, admitting the seeds of her history-making charge to the Wimbledon final were sown 12 months ago when she pledged: “I’m coming back for the title.”

Jabeur became the first African woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the modern era when she beat close friend Tatjana Maria in the semi-finals.

She will face Russian-born Elena Rybakina, now representing Kazakhstan, for the title.

Jabeur will seek to go one better than Irene Peacock (Roland Garros, 1927), Renee Schuurman (Australian Open, 1959) and Sandra Reynolds (1960, Wimbledon).

The trio of South Africans all reached Slam finals but missed out on the trophy.

Twelve months ago, Jabeur, 27, made the quarter-finals for the first time, losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

But on the way she knocked out five-time champion Venus Williams, 2017 winner Garbine Muguruza, as well as current number one Iga Swiatek.

Having never previously got past the second round at the All England Club, that run gave her the taste for more.

“Not to lie to you, the dream kind of started last year when I enjoyed playing here, enjoyed the crowd,” said the world number two.

“I didn’t play so many Wimbledons before. Usually it was the first and second round. It’s tricky on grass but I knew I was playing good on grass because of my game and everything.

“Melanie (Maillard), my mental coach, reminded me when I lost in the quarter-finals I told her like, ‘I’m coming back next year for the title’.”

‘One step away’

Maillard did not need convincing.

“She was like, ‘You will’. She knows that if I put something in my mind, I do it. I’m one step away from achieving it,” said Jabeur. “I hope it’s going to happen.”

Jabeur coasted through the first four rounds at Wimbledon this year before needing three sets to defeat Marie Bouzkova and then three more to see off Maria.

Her run to the final came after a dispiriting first-round exit at the French Open in May.

Jabeur had been one of the favourites for the title in Paris having won the Madrid clay court title followed by a runners-up spot finish to Swiatek in Rome.

But a quick reset after her disappointment in the French capital put her back on course.

“I have a great team behind me, even though sometimes — I’m not going to lie to you — I maybe thought I was never going to make it or never going to make a Grand Slam title or a Grand Slam final,” said Jabeur.

“I had to remind myself why did I start playing tennis, what kind of joy that tennis brings to me. As soon as I remind myself that, I get pumped, motivated to go.”

Jabeur, one of only three Tunisian women with a world ranking, has a 2-1 winning edge over Rybakina, with her most recent victory in Chicago last year.

Russian and Belarusian players are banned from Wimbledon this year following the invasion of Ukraine.

But there will be a Russian presence in the final after Rybakina, playing in her first Slam final, switched allegiance to Kazakhstan in 2018.

“I’m really happy representing Kazakhstan. They believed in me. There is no more question about how I feel,” said the 23-year-old.

“It’s already a long time my journey as a Kazakh player. I played Olympics, Fed Cup.”

Rybakina had never got past the quarter-finals of a Slam before this year’s Wimbledon.

But the grass courts of Wimbledon are the perfect platform for her game.

She has fired 49 aces so far and boasts the second-fastest serve in the women’s tournament at 122 miles (196 kilometres) per hour.

Saturday’s match throws up a radically different clash of tennis styles — Jabeur’s slice and change of rhythm facing down Rybakina’s raw power.

There could also a sharp contrast in celebration.

“She’s not someone who screams a lot every point. I respect that about her,” said Jabeur.

“I know she’s a very shy person even outside the court. Maybe I’ll be the one screaming on Saturday.”

Source: AFP

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and France footballing legend Michel Platini were both cleared of corruption charges by a Swiss court on Friday.

Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, was cleared of fraud by the Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona.

Platini, a former France national team captain and manager, was also acquitted of fraud.

The two, once among the most powerful figures in global soccer, had denied the charges against them.

Prosecutors had accused Blatter, a Swiss who led global soccer body FIFA for 17 years, and Platini, of unlawfully arranging for FIFA to pay the Frenchman two million Swiss francs ($2.06 million) in 2011.

The case meant Blatter ended his reign as FIFA president in disgrace and it wrecked Platini’s hopes of succeeding him after he was banned from football when the affair came to light.

Blatter, 86, had said the two-million franc payment followed a “gentlemen’s agreement” between the pair when he asked Platini to be his technical adviser in 1998.

Platini, 67, worked as a consultant between 1998 and 2002 with an annual salary of 300,000 Swiss francs – the most FIFA could afford because of money troubles the organisation had at the time, Blatter has told the court.

The rest of Platini’s one million per year salary was to be settled at a later date, Blatter said.

Motives for the payment were unclear, although the two men met in 2010 and discussed the upcoming elections for the FIFA presidency in 2011.

When Blatter approved the payment, he was campaigning for re-election against Mohamed bin Hammam of Qatar. Platini, then president of European soccer association UEFA, was seen as having sway with European members who could influence the vote.

The payment emerged following a huge investigation launched by the U.S. Department of Justice into bribery, fraud and money-laundering at FIFA in 2015, which triggered Blatter’s resignation.

Both officials were banned in 2015 from soccer for eight years over the payment, although their bans were later reduced.

Platini, who also lost his job as UEFA president following the ban, said the affair was a deliberate attempt to thwart his attempt to become FIFA president in 2015.

Platini’s former general secretary at UEFA, Gianni Infantino, entered the FIFA race and won the election in 2016.

Source: Reuters

World heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk will defend his titles in a rematch with Britain’s Anthony Joshua in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on August 20, promoters announced Sunday.

Ukraine’s Usyk defeated then WBA, IBF and WBO champion Joshua by a unanimous decision in London in September last year.

“Champion Oleksandr Usyk will put his IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO world titles on the line against Anthony Joshua in the coastal city of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday August 20,” said a statement issued by promoters Matchroom Boxing.

No sooner had Usyk defeated Joshua 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards in London then a rematch clause was activated.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, however, placed a question mark over when former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk would be back in the ring.

The 35-year-old returned to Ukraine to fight for his country but was given special exemption from military duty in order to prepare for this bout.

“I have a goal, with the help of the Lord I will complete my mission!”, said Usyk in Sunday’s statement from Matchroom.

Joshua, 32, has made changes to his coaching staff as he bids to be crowned world heavyweight champion for a third time.

Rob McCracken, the trainer who oversaw 2012 Olympic champion Joshua’s rise from the amateur ranks, is no longer a member of the team, with Robert Garcia added to the corner to work alongside the already-installed Angel Fernandez.

August’s fight will be Joshua’s second bout in Saudi Arabia after he regained his world titles with a points win over Andy Ruiz Jr in Riyadh in December 2019.

Joshua labelled his recent career as a “roller-coaster”, adding: “Fighting championship level back to back has had its pros and cons, but I decide every day to get stronger, to learn from my experiences and grow.

“A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter and I am the happiest and most motivated I have been.”

Source: AFP

The Swiss prosecutor’s office on Wednesday demanded an 18-month suspended jail sentence for Michel Platini and ex-president of FIFA Sepp Blatter, accusing them of fraud.

Blatter and Platini are being tried over a two-million-Swiss-franc payment in 2011 to the former France captain, who by that time was in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

The trial, which opened last week in the southern city of Bellinzona, follows an investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years.

The Federal Criminal Court of Bellinzona will deliver its decision on July 8.

Platini was employed as an adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002. They signed a contract in 1999 for an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, which was paid in full by FIFA.

Platini, 66, is regarded among world football’s greatest-ever players. He won the Ballon d’Or, considered the most prestigious individual award, three times in the mid-1980s.

Blatter, now 86, joined FIFA in 1975 and became the president of world football’s governing body in 1998.

Source: AFP

Football’s rules body on Monday said that five substitutes would be permanently introduced for all top games and that an automatic offside detector is closer to being introduced for this year’s World Cup.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the substitute change, which was started after the coronavirus pandemic, followed “strong support from the entire football community”.

He said after the annual meeting of the International Football Associations Board that experts would decide on whether semi-automatic offside detection would be used for the World Cup that starts November 21.

FIFA’s referees chief Pierluigi Collina said he was “confident” that the system would be introduced in time for the 32-nation tournament.

The system monitors 29 data points on the limbs of players to create a skeletal, three-dimensional model that is reviewed pitchside by the referee.

It has been tested at the FIFA Arab Cup last year in Doha and the Club World Cup in February.

“We are very satisfied so far and our experts are looking into it before deciding whether it will be introduced for the World Cup,” Infantino told a press conference.

It is officially known as “semi-automatic” as it will still be the referee that makes a final decision on an offside ruling.

As well as making the five substitutes permanent, IFAB said that teams can now name 15 substitutes on a team sheet instead of 12.

IFAB said that trials with body cameras on referees may be started in a bid to counter a growing number of attacks on match officials.

“Lack of respect for referees and their safety were identified as global problems,” said an IFAB statement.

Source: AFP

Michel Platini “was worth his million” Swiss francs a year, former FIFA president Sepp Blatter insisted Thursday, telling a Swiss court he could not understand why the pair were answering fraud charges.

The former world football chief and French football legend Platini are being tried at Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following an investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years.

The pair are being tried over a two million Swiss franc ($2.08 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

Blatter spoke for the first time in the two-week trial, which opened on Wednesday.

“I just had this man on my team and he was worth his million,” said the 86-year-old retired Swiss football administrator.

Platini was employed as an adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002. They signed a contract in 1999 for an annual remuneration of 300,000 Swiss francs, which was paid in full by FIFA.

The men insist that they had, from the outset, orally agreed to an annual salary of one million francs.

Blatter joined FIFA in 1975 and became the president of world football’s governing body in 1998.

He told the court he turned to former France captain Platini for advice.

Platini is regarded among world football’s greatest-ever players. He won the Ballon d’Or, considered the most prestigious individual award, three times in the mid-1980s.

“When I was elected as president of FIFA, we had a bad record. But I thought that a man who had been in football could help us — FIFA and myself,” Blatter told the court.

Platini “told me: ‘I’m worth a million’. I told him: ‘So you’ll be with me for a million’,” he added.

‘Gentlemen’s agreement’

The prosecution accuses Blatter of having signed off an invoice for two million Swiss francs presented to FIFA by Platini in 2011, almost nine years after the end of his work as Blatter’s adviser.

But the two men had never signed a contract providing for such a salary.

Blatter insisted that he had agreed with Platini a “balance” to be settled “later” when FIFA’s finances would allow it, in a “gentlemen’s agreement” concluded orally and without witnesses.

“It’s a salary that was due,” he insisted.

“I don’t know why we are in a criminal hearing for an administrative procedure,” he said in a strained voice, repeating that the investigation had put him through “seven years of punishment — an eternity”.

Both are accused of fraud and forgery of a document. Blatter is accused of misappropriation and criminal mismanagement, while Platini, 66, is accused of participating in those offences.

The trial will conclude on June 22, with the three judges expected to deliver their verdict on July 8.

If convicted, the pair could face up to five years in jail or a fine.

Source: AFP

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, once the chiefs of world and European football, face trial on Wednesday over a suspected fraudulent payment that shook the sport and torpedoed their time at the top.

Former FIFA president Blatter, 86, and Platini, 66, start a two-week trial at Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona, following a mammoth investigation that began in 2015 and lasted six years. The pair are being tried over a two million Swiss franc ($2.08 million) payment in 2011 to Platini, who was then in charge of European football’s governing body UEFA.

They are accused of having, to the detriment of FIFA, illegally obtained the payment, plus social security contributions of 229,126 francs, in favour of Platini. The former French football great “submitted to FIFA in 2011 an allegedly fictitious invoice for a (alleged) debt still existing for his activity as an adviser for FIFA in the years 1998 to 2002,” according to the court.

The defendants are both accused of fraud and forgery of a document. Blatter is accused of misappropriation and criminal mismanagement, while Platini is accused of participating in those offences. The indictment was filed by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG).

The trial will conclude on June 22, with the three judges delivering their verdict on July 8. The defendants could face up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine. Both FIFA and UEFA are headquartered in Switzerland, in Zurich and Nyon respectively.

‘Oral contract’

Platini and retired Swiss football administrator Blatter were banned from the sport at the very moment when Platini seemed ideally-placed to succeed Blatter at the helm of world football’s governing body. The two allies became rivals as Platini grew impatient to take over, while Blatter’s tenure was brought to a swift end by a separate 2015 FIFA corruption scandal investigated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the Bellinzona trial, the defence and the prosecution agree on one point: Platini was employed as an adviser to Blatter between 1998 and 2002. They signed a contract in 1999 for an annual remuneration of 300,000 francs. “The compensation agreed in accordance with this contract was invoiced by Platini on each occasion and paid in full by FIFA,” said the OAG. However, more than eight years after the end of his advisory role, the former France captain “demanded a payment in the amount of two million francs”, the OAG alleged.

“With Blatter’s involvement, FIFA made a payment to Platini in said amount at the beginning of 2011. The evidence gathered by the OAG has corroborated that this payment to Platini was made without a legal basis. This payment damaged FIFA’s assets and unlawfully enriched Platini,” the federal prosecution alleges. The men insist that they had, from the outset, orally agreed to an annual salary of one million francs.

“It is outstanding salary, owed by FIFA, under oral contract and paid under conditions of the most perfect legality. Nothing else! I acted, as in all my life and career, with the utmost honesty,” Platini said in a statement sent to AFP. As a civil party, FIFA wants to be reimbursed the money paid in 2011 so that it is “returned to the one and only purpose for which it was intended: football”, its lawyer Catherine Hohl-Chirazi told AFP.

Ballon d’Or winner

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter joined FIFA in 1975, became its general secretary in 1981 and the president of world football’s governing body in 1998. He was forced to stand down in 2015 and was banned by FIFA for eight years, later reduced to six, over ethics breaches for authorising the payment to Platini, allegedly made in his own interests rather than FIFA’s.

Platini is regarded among world football’s greatest-ever players. He won the Ballon d’Or, considered the most prestigious individual award, three times — in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Only Lionel Messi (seven) and Cristiano Ronaldo (five) have won more Ballons d’Or than Platini. Platini was UEFA’s president from January 2007 to December 2015. Platini appealed against his initial eight-year suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which reduced it to four years.

Source: AFP

Coco Gauff will face world number one Iga Swiatek for the French Open title after the teenager eased into her maiden Grand Slam final with a straight-sets victory over Martina Trevisan on Thursday.

The 18-year-old American claimed a 6-3, 6-1 win in a nervous match which saw both players featuring in a major semi-final for the first time.

Gauff is the youngest Grand Slam finalist since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004.

“I think I’m a little bit in shock right now,” said Gauff. I didn’t know how to react after the match. I’m lost for words.”

The players made 37 unforced errors between them in a poor first set before Gauff upped her game in the second.

The 18th seed will be a heavy underdog against Swiatek, who is on a 34-match winning streak, in Saturday’s showpiece match.

But she will have nothing to lose as she bids to become the youngest Slam winner since Sharapova stunned Serena Williams in London 18 years ago.

“I’m just going to go into it like another match,” Gauff added.

“Yeah, it’s a Grand Slam final but there are so many things going on in the world right now, especially in the US, so I don’t think it’s worth stressing about it.”

Unseeded Italian Trevisan saw her fine tournament and 10-match unbeaten run end with a whimper, as she served four double faults and made 36 unforced errors.

Gauff made a fast start and broke in the third game for an early advantage.

She became rattled though after failing to persuade the umpire to overturn a controversial line call as errors flew off both players’ racquets.

But Gauff composed herself to take the set with a run of three straight games.

Trevisan was broken four times in a row, winning just three points in those games as her serve was taken apart.

The world number 59 took a medical timeout before the second set to have her thigh strapped, but Gauff took total control of the match when she won a 14-minute game with a backhand winner for a 3-1 lead.

She went on to secure a final berth in style, breaking yet again before a hold to love.

Source: AFP