FIFA Wednesday to speculation that it might change the format of games in the World Cup by insisting the basic length of matches in Qatar would remain 90 minutes.
“Following some reports and rumours spread today, FIFA would like to clarify that there will be no changes to the rules regarding the length of football matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 or any other competition,” said the governing body of world football in a terse statement.
Social media, and some more traditional news outlets such as Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport, had reported that FIFA president Gianni Infantino was considering encouraging referees to play more stoppage time, effectively extending games to 100 minutes, to make up for the amount of time the ball is not in play.
Koeman to take over as Netherlands coach after World Cup
Former Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman will take over as Netherlands boss from Louis van Gaal after this year’s World Cup, the Dutch football federation said on yesterday.
Van Gaal announced at the weekend that he had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer for the last two years but that he still hoped to lead the team at the finals that kick off in Qatar in November.
It will be 59-year-old Koeman’s second time in charge of the Dutch national team after taking the reins from 2018 to 2020, when he left the post to become coach of Barcelona.
He was dismissed by the Spanish giants in October last year after 14 difficult months in charge which included the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain as the club plunged into financial difficulties. The Netherlands will play the opening match of the World Cup in Qatar against Senegal. They also have the host nation and Ecuador in their Group A.
UEFA changing angle of attack with revised fair play rules
With many clubs reeling from the financial fallout of the pandemic and competitive inequality growing despite existing fair play rules, UEFA will today unveil changes in its tactics for levelling European football’s economic playing field.
After months of discussions, UEFA is expected to adopt an overhaul of the Financial Fair Play (FFP) system introduced in 2010 to stop clubs piling up debts in their pursuit of trophies.
The focus will change from requiring clubs to balance their books to curbing spending on salaries, transfer fees and agent commissions. The change of approach could make clubs more attractive to potential investors by putting a fixed limit on costs.
In 12 years, FFP has persuaded many clubs to clean up their accounts, but its limitations have become clear. On the other hand, as the Covid pandemic cost European football about 7bn euros over two seasons, FFP left poorer clubs with little room to manoeuvre. To avoid a wave of bankruptcies, UEFA relaxed its deficit rules in 2020, and then announced an overhaul of FFP.
