Kuwait’s government "has launched legal action against FIFA" and other int'l federations implementing its ban from int'l sporting competition. Last year FIFA joined several other global sporting bodies in suspending Kuwait from int'l events and competitions "over government interference in sporting affairs." Now the Kuwaiti government has "ratcheted up its campaign" against the suspension from int'l football and Olympic sport to an "altogether new level." A report published in Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas "sets out a strategy to fight back" against the int'l federations implementing the ban, with the "key element being court cases against sports governing bodies." That has put FIFA, whose Kuwaiti exec committee member Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has been personally criticized by MPs in his homeland, "in the crosshairs" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 4/29).
BRAZIL INQUIRY: The Brazilian parliamentary inquiry (CPI) into corruption in football "has requested interviews" with former Brazilian FA President José Maria Marin and marketing firm Traffic Founder José Hawilla, both "currently confined" to the U.S. as part of their agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice as it continues its football corruption prosecutions. The CPI has requested interviews with Brazilian coach Carlos Dunga, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Brazilian striker Neymar’s father. CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez is also on the list. The CPI has "approved for a number of representatives" to travel to the U.S. to conduct the interviews of Marin and Hawilla, though "it is not clear" if the U.S. Department of Justice has given its approval (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 4/29).
FOOTBALL BRIEFS ...
FIFA's ethics watchdog on Friday banned former Caribbean Football Union exec Lionel Haven from football for five years "for failing to disclose information related to cash payments" at a CFU event in '11. The adjudicatory chamber said in a statement that it imposed the ban and fined Haven, from the Bahamas, 3,000 Swiss francs ($3,130). In an "unusual move, it made the ban public without having contacted Haven," whom it said it was "not able to reach at his last known postal address" (REUTERS, 4/29).
Guinea's FA (FGF) has become "the latest to prompt intervention" by FIFA after football in the West African nation "ground to a halt." FIFA said on Friday that it would appoint a seven-member "normalisation committee" to run the FGF's daily affairs, revise its statutes and organize elections by next February. The decision "will not affect the Guinea national side" (REUTERS, 4/29).
Under "the false name of Javier, a professional runner of football bets, now working for an organization that detects match-fixing in Spanish football," described match-fixing in the sport. He said that "up to 40%" of games in the third and fourth tier are fixed. He "also claimed that match-fixing affects La Liga and second division games, whether with goals, corners, cards or other variables" (EL MUNDO, 4/29).
