FIFA has made available an extra 42,308 tickets to the general public for June's Confederations Cup in Brazil. The new allocation includes 3,166 tickets to the tournament opener between Brazil and Japan in Brasilia and a further 1,601 for the host nation's clash with Italy in Salvador (FIFA). ... Dubai Refreshment (PJSC) and Dubai Sports Council "on Wednesday night officially opened the 7Up Dubai Government Entities Football League 2013." The league, which runs until April 13, involves 41 teams from government entities and semi-governmental organizations in Dubai, UAE (GULF NEWS, 2/28). ... Balikpapan, Borneo-based Super League club Persiba President Syahril Taher said the club "will continue to employ Lebanese striker Mahmoud El Ali despite the athlete’s life ban from the West Asia Football Federation over alleged match-fixing" (JAKARTA GLOBE, 2/28). ... The Vietnamese women's football team "has been awarded two titles by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) for both team and individual." The country's national women's football team "was named the best women's team of 2012 and goalkeeper Dang Thi Kieu Trinh won the best female player of the year" (XINHUA, 2/28). ... UAE Pro-League side Al Nasr has "asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to increase" the Dh22.4M ($6.1M) compensation awarded to it from French side Nantes following the signing of Ismael Bangoura (AP, 2/28).
