Man City accepted the FA's anti-doping charge that it failed to provide detailed "club whereabouts" information for players on three separate occasions over a period of 12 months. The potential sanction is "understood to range from a reprimand to a fine, with the latter punishment most likely, though it is not expected to be a six-figure sum." How long it will take an independent commission to decide "depends on the volume of documentation" Man City submitted when the club lodged the guilty plea on Friday. The charge "does not concern any individual player" (London GUARDIAN, 1/27).
Uruguayan FA (AUF) President Wilmar Valdez admitted that it will be "very difficult" to host the 2030 World Cup with Argentina, "but made it clear that he will support the joint bid." Valdez said, "In the current conditions it is very difficult to agree to the organization of a tournament of this nature. In every way I believe that Uruguay and Argentina have the historic responsibility to try, by any measure, to create the conditions for the World Cup to be held in Río de la Plata" (CLARÍN, 1/28).
The head of the Fan Safety Committee of the Russian Football Union said that the 2018 World Cup in Russia will not "see a repeat of the violent clashes between supporters" witnessed at Euro 2016 last summer. Referring "in particular to clashes between English and Russian fans" in Marseille, Vladimir Markin said that "similar violence would not take place at the World Cup." Markin: "A repeat of the Marseille events won't happen here, for a number of reasons. What happened in Europe and the way it will be here are two different things" (RT, 1/27).
FIFA announced that winners of the Intercontinental Cup tournament "will no longer be considered world champions." The annual tournament started in '60 and "brought together the winners of the Copa Libertadores in South America and the champions of the European Cup -- later rebranded as the Champions League -- before being supplanted by the Club World Cup" in '00. According to FIFA, teams that lifted the old trophy "do not have the right to call themselves the best on the planet" (GOAL, 1/27).
Syrians "cheered excitedly in an Aleppo stadium on Saturday as they watched their first live football match in the war-ravaged city in years." The Ittihad club beat Hurriya 2-1 in its "first match on home turf since rebels took east Aleppo" in '12, dividing the northern city into a regime-held west and rebel-controlled east. Police in full riot gear "stood by," while a large Ittihad banner "draped in the stands featured an image of President Bashar Assad" (AFP, 1/28).
The Confederation of African Football "rejected claims that the poor pitches at the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon have led to player injuries." Ghana Manager Avram Grant insisted "five injuries have been down to the pitch." CAF spokesperson Junior Binyam said, "It has not been scientifically proved that injuries are related to the pitch" (BBC, 1/28).
