National Teams

NEW YORK — Two former 21st Century Fox executives and a South American sports marketing company pleaded not guilty on Thursday to criminal charges in New York in the long-running corruption probe surrounding FIFA, the world governing body for soccer.

The former Fox executives, Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez, and Full Play Group SA entered their pleas to crimes including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy at an arraignment before U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn.

BERN — FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that football will be "totally different" when it re-starts after the coronavirus. He has talked of smaller, but more meaningful, competitions, more balance and football being "more attentive to true values."

Infantino has not yet gone into further details and some may question his credentials in this matter: as FIFA president he has increased the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams and, in a previous role as UEFA general secretary, oversaw growing financial inequality in European football.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has become the focus of fresh FIFA corruption allegations after the release of a new U.S. Department of Justice indictment which says bribes were paid to football officials to secure their votes for hosting rights.

Suspicion and rumours have long surrounded both the 2010 vote by FIFA's executive to hand the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar. But on Monday, for the first time, prosecutors set direct, formal allegations down in print.

U.S. prosecutors on Monday announced new criminal charges against two former executives of 21st Century Fox Inc and others stemming from a long-running investigation of corruption surrounding FIFA, soccer's world governing body.

The former Fox executives, Hernan Lopez and Carlos Martinez, were indicted in Brooklyn federal court on wire fraud and money laundering along with Gerard Romy, former co-CEO of Spanish media company Imagina Media Audiovisual SL, and Full Play Group SA, a Uruguayan sports marketing company. Lawyers for the defendants could not immediately be identified. 

ZURICH — The age limit for the Tokyo Olympics men's football tournament could be raised so that players who were eligible in 2020 will not miss out following the postponement of the Games until the following year, FIFA said on Friday.

Olympic football is usually restricted to under-23 teams for the men's tournament, with three overage players allowed per team.

Two of the most iconic African footballers of all time took to social media to denounce disgustingly racist comments made on French television on Thursday. Former Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o quite rightly called them “sons of bitches.”

Professors Jean-Paul Mira and Camille Locht were discussing possible COVID-19 cures on French TV channel La Chaine Info on Thursday. Mira suggested to Locht the studies should be done in Africa.

UEFA indefinitely suspended the Champions League, Europa League and Euro 2020 qualifying playoffs on Wednesday in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

UEFA posted on its website that "all national team matches for men and women due to be played in June 2020 are postponed until further notice. This includes the playoff matches for UEFA EURO 2020 and qualifying matches for UEFA Women's EURO 2021."

The postponement of soccer around the world recently has left me, like many others, with no choice but to watch old highlights to get my fill. While watching clips from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil I came across a moment that instantly became an all-time classic: Tim Cahill's stunning volley against the Netherlands in a 3-2 group-stage defeat.

As a two-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, two-time World Cup champion and the only player (of either gender) to score the game-winning goal in two separate Olympic gold medal matches, Carli Lloyd has had a legendary football career. 

However, her time with the USWNT is nearing an end. Lloyd has appeared in 281 games, scored 113 goals and recorded 52 assists, and it’s clear that her impact on the USWNT and women’s soccer will be remembered for quite some time.