FIFA Report: Football Leaders Meet in Bahamas, England Team for London Olympics

FIFA in Bahamas for Congress

FIFA will hold its annual congress in the Bahamas for the first time, the meetings beginning this weekend at the Atlantis resort near Nassau. The ruling 24-member executive committee will meet Saturday and Sunday ahead of the congress.

The major decision will be the choice of 12 cities in Brazil will host matches for the 2014 World Cup; 17 cities are in the running.

The choices are scheduled to be announced at press conference the afternoon of May 31. Other items on the agenda include progress report on the eight-nation Confederations Cup. The event in South Africa is a test for the 2010 World Cup.

The FIFA panel will also discuss whether to reinstate suspended federations Ethiopia and Kuwait. Ethiopia is under sanction as two groups vie to control the federation.

Kenya is under suspension after government interference. FIFA is seeking to change its rules to ban government interference with the national federations. The five confederations hold meetings Monday, while the FIFA Congress will be held on Wednesday June 3. FIFA President Sepp Blatter holds a closing press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Deal Imminent on English Team for 2012 Olympics

A deal to allow an England football team to represent Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics is close to being finalized.

The Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland football associations are expected to sign an agreement waiving their involvement in the Olympics, but won’t prevent England from representing Britain on a one-off basis for the London Games.

The three associations – as part of the agreement - are insisting that no attempt is made to pick Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish players for the British Olympic teams. A document has been prepared by the Scottish Football Association and sent to the other partied to sign. FIFA had set a deadline of the end of the month for the four home nations to come to an agreement over Olympic representation, with FIFA President Sepp Blatter already making it clear he’ll accept an English side representing Britain. The development should see the end of a bitter dispute over the Olympic football teams that has raged since 2005, when London won the right to host the Games.

FIFA Acts on World Cup Stadium Safety

FIFA is cracking down on safety at stadiums used in Malawi and Kenya for World Cup qualifying matches. FIFA wants measures in place relating to crowd safety at Malawi’s main stadium and has ordered Kenya to switch its next World Cup home match from its preferred stadium after failing to meet safety standards.

FIFA stepped up action against the two African nations following a tragedy in March before a World Cup qualifier between Ivory Coast and Malawi in which 19 fans died and more than 130 were injured in a crush at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan. Malawi must limit the crowd to 25,000 inside the 50,000-capacity Kamuzu Stadium in the capital Blantyre when it plays Burkina Faso on June 6.

FIFA has ordered standing areas in the stadium to be closed and a perimeter fence, guarded by police, to be installed at least 300 meters from entry gates. Fatal crushes have occurred at African grounds when too many people without tickets have been allowed inside the stadiums.

Kenya failed to meet a FIFA deadline to complete safety work at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi because it did not have the money. It will now host Mozambique on June 20 at the 60,000-capacity Moi International Sports Center on the outskirts of the capital city.

Key WC2010 Matches Sold Out

The opening and final matches of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and all possible games involving England, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands, are sold out, FIFA says.

With just over a year before play begins, the semifinals and all the matches in Cape Town, Nelspruit and Pretoria, the capital, are also sold out, FIFA says in a statement.

Fans can apply for team-specific tickets giving them access to all the games of their favorite national team. If the team fails to qualify for the tournament, the tickets are refunded. Qualifying will end later this year with the first match of the World Cup finals tournament scheduled for June 11, next year, in Johannesburg.

Peruvian Players to Boycott National Team

Peruvian players say they will boycott the national team if football authorities do not make major changes to the way the sport is run.

Francesco Manassero, president of the players union SAFAP, says the boycott will take effect after next month's World Cup qualifiers have been played.

“From June 24, they will not accept a call-up from the national team until their demands have been met,” Manassero told a news conference this week. “We need to take urgent action to change football in our country.”

Manassero says the agreement has been signed by all the locally-based professionals, who make up the bulk of the national team. One of the union's main demands is to increase the number of clubs eligible to vote for the president of the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF).

"The federation will undertake an exhaustive analysis of all the requests," the FPF said in a statement. "The federation will maintain its policy of keeping its doors open to dialogue." The FPF adds that players who turned down a national team call-up will be subject to disciplinary action.

Written by

Anthony StavrinosFor general comments or questions,

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