Football Federation Australia Chair Steven Lowy met with FIFA ahead of the world governing body's intervention to "sort out" the standoff over Australian football's governance. It is understood Lowy met FIFA Chief Member Associations Officer Joyce Cook "soon after FIFA's member associations committee rejected FFA's proposed expanded congress model as unrepresentative" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 7/23).
The issue of mental health in football was "thrown back into the spotlight" as figures released in Norway showed that four in 10 of the nation's elite football players "have suffered from anxiety and depression." The Norwegian Players' Association (NISO) took part in a survey in '15 organized by FIFPro. The survey results showed that 43.8% of respondents said that they suffered from anxiety or depression, with "almost a quarter having trouble sleeping and close to" 7% saying that they had a "problematic relationship with alcohol" (REUTERS, 7/22).
The Ghana FA said that it is as "clean as snow" and "vowed to take legal action against two media houses" for suggesting it misappropriated funds from the Puma sponsorship deal. A report claimed the cash component of the contract is not paid into the GFA accounts and has "never been properly accounted for" (GHANA SOCCERNET, 7/20).
A player from Serbian club Vojvodina complained to UEFA after he was "allegedly attacked in the changing room by his team's own fans following a Europa League tie." UEFA confirmed that it had been contacted by Nikola Trujić about the incident which followed the match away to Slovakian side Ružomberok on July 6. Trujić said that "around a dozen fans were involved" (REUTERS, 7/21).