FIFA will pay $600,000 to help teams travel to two intercontinental World Cup playoffs next month. It will contribute $150,000 each toward travel costs for the football federations of Australia, Honduras, New Zealand and Peru. There are "no direct flights" to get the All Whites team from the first leg in Wellington on Nov. 11 to the return game in Lima on Nov. 15. Honduras hosts Australia in San Pedro Sula on Nov. 10, and the second leg is Nov. 15 in Sydney (AP, 10/19).
New Zealand Football expects to put up the "full house" sign at Westpac Stadium "by the end of the weekend." By Thursday afternoon, more than 30,000 tickets "had been sold for the first leg" of the team's World Cup playoff. A sellout "would see 38,000 fans attend the match, which would surpass the previous highest attendance for a football match in New Zealand" (STUFF, 10/19).
The FA of Wales announced a two-year partnership with sports website company Pitchero, which will serve as the FAW’s official grassroots partner. Pitchero will also be listed as a partner of the organization’s coaching education level one and two programs. All FAW member clubs will be given access to Pitchero’s suite of new mobile apps, including Pitchero Play, which will allow teams to "record, upload and share match highlights within 60 seconds of play occurring" (SOCCEREX, 10/19).
