FIFA President Gianni Infantino wants VAR technology at next summer's World Cup in Russia and "hopes to sanction such a move in the spring," according to Ed Malyon of the London INDEPENDENT. Infantino said that trials have "proven the need for video assistance for match officials," and that he "feared a major tournament being decided by a refereeing error." Infantino: "We need it. Every championship needs it. That's being shown in leagues like Portugal and Italy at the moment" (INDEPENDENT, 10/23).
MOUNTING COSTS: The AP reported Russian authorities said that next year's World Cup will cost $600M "more than previously planned." There was no immediate explanation from organizers or the Russian government for the latest cost rise, published in a government decree on Tuesday and signed by PM Dmitry Medvedev. Costs have risen by 34.5B rubles ($596.8M) to 678B rubles ($11.7B) (AP, 10/24).
CRYING BLOOD?: The HINDUSTAN TIMES reported a "doctored image" of Lionel Messi, "where he is seen crying blood," has been released by a propaganda cell of terror group ISIS in a "fresh threat" to the 2018 World Cup. A message on the poster accompanying an image of Messi "crying blood behind bars" reads, "You are fighting a state that does not have failure in its dictionary" (HINDUSTAN TIMES, 10/25).
