Football Notes: FIFA Upholds Results Of Nigeria Football Federation Exec Committee Elections

FIFA upheld the results of Nigeria Football Federation exec committee elections on Sept. 30, meaning that "the Amaju Pinnick-led body will continue in office." FIFA declared that "they have backed the majority report of the NFF electoral appeals committee which upheld the elections in Warri" (TODAY, 12/10). ... FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said that President Sepp Blatter "will oppose a January kick-off for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, despite it being a key option under consideration." Valcke said that January-February "will potentially impact the [2022] Olympic Winter Games, so that's definitely not for him a real option" (AP, 12/10). ... FIFA said that "it has fined three Indonesian clubs for publishing secret transfer information on Twitter, the first time football's world governing body has handed out sanctions for such social media offences." FIFA said that Persebaya Surabaya and Persires Bali Devata were each fined 25,000 Swiss francs ($25,800) "for publishing confidential data on club-linked Twitter accounts." PSIS Semarang was ordered to pay 15,000 Swiss francs ($15,500) "for republishing the other teams' tweets and publishing a confidential letter sent to them by FIFA" (AFP, 12/10).

GOAL-LINE TECH: Serie A "will test goal-line technology ahead of next season" and Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Carlo Tavecchio argued it will cost €4M ($5M). Tavecchio "is among those leading the charge to have goal-line technology introduced in Italy, especially as it was already used successfully in the 2014 World Cup and the Premier League this year." Tavecchio: “If all the big Italian stadiums had this technology, the total cost would not be superior to €4 million, against the television rights revenue worth €1.2 billion” (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 12/9).