Europe's biggest football clubs are set for talks with FIFA "following proposals to switch the Qatar 2022 World Cup from summer to winter," according to Richard Conway of the BBC. The European Club Association "includes Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Barcelona." An ECA spokesperson said, "The [ECA] board expressed its willingness to take up discussions with FIFA to find a serious and fair solution." Last week, FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke "ruled out paying any compensation." ECA Chair Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has, however, held "positive" discussions with FIFA President Sepp Blatter in recent days. It "is believed on-going negotiations over 'player release' payments for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and then the Qatar tournament four years later may provide a mechanism to settle the issue" (BBC, 3/4). The AP's Graham Dunbar reported Rummenigge said, "I have a different opinion" of the apparent conflict after meeting Blatter since Valcke spoke in Doha. FIFA and the 214-member ECA "aim to renew an accord which expired" after paying clubs worldwide $70M from 2014 World Cup revenues in return for releasing players to the tournament (AP, 3/3). REUTERS' Daniela Desantis reported a South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) source said that CONMEBOL "will support" Blatter’s re-election as FIFA president in May. The source, who asked not to be named, "was at CONMEBOL’s executive committee meeting on Tuesday where South America gave Blatter its support as the Swiss seeks a fifth term in office" (REUTERS, 3/3). The AP reported seven candidates "are competing for three vacant Asia seats on FIFA's executive committee." The Asian Football Confederation confirmed the candidates Wednesday, "including Olympic power broker Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait, Chung Mong-Gyu of South Korea, whose family owns World Cup sponsor Hyundai, and long-time incumbent Worawi Makudi of Thailand." The other candidates are: "Tengku Abdullah, Malaysia; Kohzo Tashima, Japan; Saoud Al Mohannadi, Qatar; and Khalid Al Busaidi, Oman" (AP, 3/4). The AP also reported Russian Football Union General Secretary Anatoly Vorobyov said that Russia "needs to crack down on racism ahead of hosting the 2018 World Cup." He said that “unfortunately not everything is going smoothly” with Russia’s fight against racism in football. Last week, a report by two anti-discrimination organizations said that "there had been more than 200 cases of discriminatory behavior" linked to Russian football over two seasons (AP, 3/3).
