Category: Uncategorized

FIFA PRESIDENT DISAPPOINTED WITH KOREAN GAME

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has revealed his displeasure at the level of attendance at the World Cup qualifier between North and South Korea. The match which was played at Pyongyang Kim II Sung Stadium was played to an empty stadium.

The match, which saw a few select officials in the match, was watched by Infantino. The FIFA president revealed later on FIFA website that he was looking forward to crowds in the stands for the historic match but was disappointed to see empty stands.

North Korea also frustrated South Korean officials and TV companies who were unable to broadcast the match live. Fans had to follow the match on the internet due to breakdown in logistics regarding access and visa for foreign journalists.

FIFA and AFC were able to broadcast the game via online text commentary posted on their websites which was a disappointment to many.

The match was the first match between both nations in Pyongyang and was seen as a historic milestone for both countries technically at war.

There have been increasing tensions in recent weeks with North Korea testing missiles after a breakdown of US-led talks regarding its weapons program.

The local North Korean media did not have much enthusiasm regarding the game with a short summary of the game released by the agency.

The game ended in a stalemate with both sides playing a conservative game according to match reports from the game.  The return leg will be held in Seoul in November.

FIFA revealed after the game that they will continue to pursue different avenues towards bringing fair play to the sport.

The World governing body had earlier secured an unprecedented agreement with the Iranian government for women to watch football games. It remains to be seen whether this would apply to hermit countries like North Korea.

QATAR REVEALS UPDATES ON STADIUMS

The Supreme Committee on Delivery and Legacy, responsible for organizing the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has published live images that show remarkable progress at Al-Bayt Stadium in the city of Jor.

Al-Bayt is one of eight stadiums that will host the World Cup matches, of which two are ready: Al-Janoub and KhalifaInternational. Its roof measures around 1600 tons, equivalent to 380 half-size cars. 

Each of the pillars is 94.4 meters and weighs 82 to 104 tons. According to safety regulations, the pillars were raised and installed in stable weather conditions.

The Committee aspires to leave both the inhabitants of the city and those of the country a beneficial legacy, Al-Bayt offers commercial and recreational facilities. After 2022, the capacity of the land will be reduced to 30 thousand seats instead of 60.

 The upper part will be converted to a hotel and the chairs of this part will be donated to countries that lack sports infrastructure. The stadium is scheduled to open at the end of 2019.

Meanwhile, the pace of work at the iconic Lusail Stadium continues quickly, where both the inaugural and the final match will take place, as well, apart from both matches, Lusail will host matches of different rounds.

It is worth mentioning that the capacity of the stadium will fit 80 thousand spectators, the highest capacity of all of these in the world stadiums in Qatar.

As for the city of Lusail, the founder of QatarJassim bin Mohammed Al Thani lived there, at the beginning of the last century. Since then   the city hasenjoyed specialrecognition. 

The stadium design will housea mix between ancient and modern Islamic architecture. Its facade is adorned by the Arabic style designed in a creative way that allows the sun’s rays to enter the interior in an impressive way. 

Asian Qualifiers 2022 FIFA Ready to Go

The top Asia football teams are very soon going to begin their quest for the FIFA World Cup 2022. The FIFA World Cup 2022 is going to take place in Qatar. The team would come to know their rivals round 2 of Asian Qualifiers Round. The schedule for the same will be declared in the next month.

In round two, around 40 teams will take part and they will be divided into five teams of eight groups. All the teams will take part in the double round robin format the format is popularly known as “home and away”. They will compete from 5th September 2019 to 9th June 2020. This news has been circulated by AFC on Monday.
Read More

FIFA RANKINGS: BELGIUM STILL NUMBER ONE

FIFA have released the latest FIFA rankings with Belgium still holding strong at the summit ahead of World Cup Winners France. The rankings see little changes in the top three spots as Brazil still retains the third spot. One major change is with World Cup semi-finalists England moving a spot into fourth ahead of losing World Cup finalists Croatia.

This recent move up for the Three Lions cisco as a result of convincing victories in the European 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro. The remaining slots in the top 10 lost is dominated by European clubs with only Uruguay stopping the tide in 6th.
Read More

Qatar Faces Embargo before the World Cup

A feasibility study is usually done by FIFA when it considers the bids that different countries place for hosting the World Cup. In this study for Qatar, the hosting nation for World Cup 2022, it was found that, of the five countries that surround Qatar, three of them would not play co-hosts. These are Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. These countries need to be ruled out as co-hosts. This leaves only Kuwait and Oman with whom Qatar can share the matches. However, these countries might not want to participate in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are antagonized by their actions. After all, they are bigger brothers to these nations and they are all part of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The final decision would be taken by the FIFA Congress in June when they meet for the Paris convention. The three countries who have turned foes for Qatar have engaged themselves in legal and diplomatic battles that are acrimonious. Qatar has been spending a lot of resources and time to gain global opinions. Countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia are also impacted by this but they have larger economies of scale to their advantage. Qatar is a speck on the global map. The embargo was put on June 2017, mainly because it has been sponsoring terrorist individuals and groups. For such reasons, the country is being isolated in this region. Qatar is, however, trying to show its bravery and ensuring that the World Cup event would not be harmed. They are working on infrastructure and other preparations. The country is not sparing money and effort for building hotels, roads, stadiums and subway systems.
Read More

INFANTINO STILL PUSHING FOR 48-TEAM WORLD CUP

It is no news to every one of us that FIFA president Gianni Infantino is a big fan of the idea of a 48-team World Cup tournament.

Infantino has spoken boldly since his appointment as FIFA president of his desire to expand the World Cup from a total of 32 participating teams to 48.
Read More

Increasing Number Of Teams At 2022 World Cup

It has been noted that there is a widespread support for the increasing amount of teams in the World cup 2022. The numbers will b increased to 48 as said by the president Gianni Infantino. This World Cup will be held in Qatar. Yet the final decision is not given. It is expected to be decided till March after they complete a survey was said by Gianni Infantino. He has also said that they’re open to the World Cup being conducted for 48 teams across the world. The tournament will have to be extended but the decision will have a great impact and they will face issues related to logistics and politics.

This World Cup 2022 will first take place in the region and will be of 28 days instead of 32. Last time, it was held in Russia for 32 days. But as Qatar faces some of the toughest diplomatic crisis from its neighbors, the probability of it is a little hard. It had been economically and politically was isolated by Bahrain, UAE, and Saudi Arabia since June 2017. It was accused of heeding positively of terrorism and being too much of closeness with Iran. But its rivals want a change of regime in Qatar. He was also asked if he had some talks with political leaders and the organization if some games could be conducted in the neighboring country of Saudi Arabia. To this, Infantino didn’t provide a specified answer. Instead, he gave a diplomatic answer saying; he had discussed everything but not gotten to a concrete result. Although the football world cup schedule is cramped up now because of the shift in the playing window, there are quite a few teams who still want the window to be expanded like the other previous tournaments.

Taliban Delegation – They Are Better Equipped To Host The FIFA World Cup 2022 In Qatar After Talk With Russia.

After participating in what is called a crucial global meeting in Moscow on Afghanistan, which aims at launching the peace talks post decades of war, the Taliban has expressed positive remarks that the negotiations in Russia is positive result oriented. In the meeting total 12 countries participated and the members of the Afghan High Council, the fellow delegation of the Taliban political office in Qatar also participated and after the meeting they all agreed to be better equipped the country to host the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Taliban delegation said that they have received “invaluable” tips from people who are engaged in organizing this tournament in the Russia. A Taliban delegation member, while speaking to the Dependant said, “We went to Spartak and Luzniki stadiums in Moscow to attend an orientation on how such things were done. We were taken there by the organizers.” Considering that we have been considered long these activities, it’s a good place to understand what functionality is.”
Read More

  • Comments Off on Taliban Delegation – They Are Better Equipped To Host The FIFA World Cup 2022 In Qatar After Talk With Russia.
  • index
  • Uncategorized

Branislav Ivanovic Has Grown His Game Since 2008

In the World Cup win that Serbia had over Costa Rica, Branislav Ivanovic became one of the most capped players. He is also known to be one of the greatest defenders of Chelsea. Branislav currently plays for Zenit in St Petersburg and his recent 104th appearance has been greatly applauded. This appearance for the national side, however, has eclipsed player, Dejan Stankovic.

Branislav has played nine seasons on Chelsea’s side. He turned out from being a bit part player to a cult hero and much more. Being a Serbian player, he had a difficult start for SW6. Now that he looks back, the fee that was paid for him in January 2008 amounting around 10 million mirrors much about the impact and weight he had in the playing circles.
Read More

Fernando Torres’ Atleti New Boy Kalinic Inherits Old No.9 Shirt

Atlético Madrid has given the shirt No.9 to the fresh arrival of the team Nikola Kalinic. The Croatian takes over the squad number that Fernando Torres left after his move to Sagan Tosu of Japan in the last month.

Today, Atlético confirmed that Kalinic would wear the shirt of the No.9 shirt while making his debut in the season with the club. The Croatia international has worn the shirt of number 9 at all of his previous clubs. He was with the clubs Hajduk Split, Dnipro, Fiorentina and Blackburn Rovers.
Read More