THE president of European football's governing body, Lennart Johansson, last night warned FIFA that they run the risk that Europe ''won't participate'' in the World Cup if the game's world leaders press on with proposals for a biennial tournament.
UEFA's Johansson is furious with FIFA president Sepp Blatter for failing to consult him over his proposals for a World Cup every two years instead of four. Blatter had rejected claims that he and Johansson were at loggerheads over the proposals for a biennial tournament, which UEFA fear will clash with the European championships.
However, last night Johansson said that Blatter, who beat him to become FIFA president last year, had behaved unacceptably by floating the idea without first consulting him. He said: ''I was extremely surprised that we went back to the old system where the president allowed himself to make statements about anything without asking anyone and that I cannot accept.''
Asked if he thought the Blatter plan, which got a distinctly mixed reception around the world, was therefore doomed to failure, Johansson said: ''No, he can come through with it, but the risk is that Europe won't participate.''
FIFA's strategic studies committee, which can propose changes to international competitions, is set to discuss Blatter's suggestion in depth later this month. The FIFA chief hopes that a World Cup-style international tournament can be arranged to celebrate the world body's 100th anniversary in 2004 - which would clash with the European championships - though he has conceded that the biennial World Cup could not be introduced before 2006.
The war of words has prompted accusations that Blatter and Johansson are involved in a club versus country war over the future of football following UEFA's revamping of their lucrative European club competitions before Christmas.
The World Cup finals in France last year made a pre-tax profit of #36m, sources close to the French government said yesterday. Following taxes and payment to the European Union of a fine for irregularities in the sale of match tickets, the net profit should be about #21m.
qAtletico Madrid president Jesus Gil is being held in jail for alleged embezzlement and fraud.
The controversial Gil, who has a reputation for hiring and firing coaches in quick succession, is under suspicion of funnelling town hall money from Marbella, where he is mayor, to the Spanish club. Investigating magistrate, judge Santiago Torres, ordered him to be held without bail, but Gil's lawyer, Jose Luis Serra, said his client would file an appeal and denied the charges.
Gil said: ''Everything is fine, and I am relaxed. I am going to jail. This way the lynching campaign against me is over.''
Anti-corruption prosecutor, Carlos Castresana, claims he has evidence that in 1991 and 1992 Gil diverted #1.9m to Atletico. The case against Gil broke in October when police raided the Marbella city hall and the team's offices in Madrid. No arrests were made.
qFormer European champions Ajax Amsterdam have followed the example of Manchester United, who have established feeder systems in Belgium and Australia, by forming an affiliated squad in Cape Town.
Ajax Cape Town would be set up to play in the South African premier league, Ajax said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the proposed end-of-season transfer of Dutch international twins Frank and Ronald de Boer has hit a snag with Ajax and Barcelona now squabbling over the fee. The De Boers say they hope a deal will be finalised before the Dutch league resumes on February 6 after its winter break, but Ajax are now unhappy with the amount Barcelona are offering - believed to be #14m.
Brother Ronald was approached by Newcastle United last month, but was not interested in going, saying his primary loyalty lay with Barcelona.
qCameroon's prime minister, Peter Mafany Musonge, has appealed to FIFA to lift the indefinite suspension it imposed on the West African nation's soccer federation earlier this week.
In a letter addressed to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, Musonge said his government was prepared to accept the world body's plans for the federation and disavowing the actions of his sports minister that led the country being suspended from world soccer.
FIFA has set up a 12-member committee to restore order within Cameroon soccer, in disarray since its former president, Vincent Onana, was detained over a World Cup tickets sale scandal in June. He was suspended from his post in August, along with the management committee of his national governing body.
Sports minister Joseph Owona, resenting FIFA's intervention, delayed naming the government's four appointments to the committee and also added conditions and reservations unacceptable to FIFA. The world governing body responded on Monday by suspending the Cameroon national team.
qUruguayan defender Paolo Montero became the man sent off most in Italy's Serie A history when he was dismissed for hand ball in Wednesday's 1-1 league draw between Juventus and AC Milan. Montero, of Juve, has been shown the red card 12 times in his eight seasons in Italy.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article