Tag: FIFA

Victor Montagliani says that the next World Cups will clean up football

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In recent times, FIFA has been undergoing a string of scandals, briberies and things of this nature which has led to a number of FIFA executives either deciding to resign from their position in the football governing authority.


It’s even believed that some countries have been able to host the worldwide competition for the simple reason that they paid certain officials in order to get enough votes to make it happen, even if this nation does not have enough technological resources or top stadiums to host an event of this magnitude, it has been discovered that it does not matter as long as the nation paid for their bids and votes.

However, there still is hope as the former FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani believes that the upcoming editions of the World Cup will clean up everything that has recently been going on and will help in trying to restore the image of the sport which has been tainted by all of these defamations. Continue reading Victor Montagliani says that the next World Cups will clean up football →

Scotland Happy with Underdog Status, Says Russell Martin

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Russell Martin believes that Scotland are better off with an underdog status when it comes to the World Cup 2018 qualification campaign. Scotland were one of the home nations to miss out on the Euro 2016 final tournament.

Despite having a top manager like Gordon Strachan, the team was unable to make it through whereas the likes of Wales and Northern Ireland featured in this major tournament. As a result, there is a lot of pressure on Scotland to qualify for the World Cup 2018. The more number of teams taking part in this tournament does give them a great chance, but Martin says that Scotland should approach games with an underdog feeling.

Strachan’s team are in the group containing England and Slovakia. Both these teams are expected to be the favourite when it comes to fighting for qualification. Only the top two teams will be able to qualify for the World Cup. In fact, even the runners up in the group will have to go through a play-off in order to determine their participation in the final. England are the overwhelming favourites to top the group despite undergoing a managerial change. Scotland, though, will be relishing their underdog status according to Martin, who saw the team secure an impressive 5-1 win over minnows Malta in the opening group match. Continue reading Scotland Happy with Underdog Status, Says Russell Martin →

Ashley Williams Optimistic Enough

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A semi-final outing in Euro has got Ashley Williams optimistic enough to hope that the Dragons might be the World Champions in 24 months’ time.

Making the Euro Cup finals was achievement enough for Wales and even if they had been sent packing before the knockout round of the main competition, it wouldn’t have fetched them much criticism.

But, not only did they just get to the first knockout round which was the Round of 16, but, went two steps further than that and ended up in the Round of 4. The level of expectations was crossed by some margin.

And that’s why the welcome they received back home was nothing short of what should be the welcome of the Champions. The whole of the country was over the moon.

Nobody can say there was a whole lot of luck involved in Wales’ campaign at all. They advanced to the pre quarter final as the no. 1 team of the group they were in and the victories they secured in the pre quarter final and the quarter final were the comprehensive victories, the latter was in fact against the second ranked team in the world. Continue reading Ashley Williams Optimistic Enough →

David Silva is optimistic about winning the 2016 Euro’s

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David Silva is not only a key player for Manchester City but also for his national side Spain and he is certain that Spain is able to win the 2016 Euro’s and defend their title for another successive year.

“It’s normal we are tagged as favorites since we’ve won the previous two European Championships and these two matches. If we keep our current level of performance, we can be champions again. We want to keep our feet on the ground and focus on the next opponent Croatia” Manchester City’s David Silva said during a press conference.

Spain has kicked off their 2016 Euro’s campaign in full force after claiming consecutive triumphs over Czech Republic and Turkey. These victories have ensured Spain’s progression to the next rounds of the international competition.

The 2008 and 2012 edition of the Euro’s were won by Spain and they are one of the favorites of winning it once again during the 2016 and have initiated their campaign in a positive form which is good news, especially taking into consideration the disastrous journey that they went through in the 2014 World Cup when they failed to make it past the group stages. Continue reading David Silva is optimistic about winning the 2016 Euro’s →

FIFA gives Consent to Video Refereeing

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FIFA has raised the green flag to video refereeing and the next 24 months would be the trial period for it.


If it’s found to be effective and really helping in the correction of the decisions, it would be implemented in World Cup too.

There would be an additional game official sitting away from the action having television footage from various angles at his disposal and the referees would have the luxury to fall back on him for assistance in case of any hesitancy regarding any incident.

However, it doesn’t mean that the video assistant can come into the game only when the on-pitch referee wants him to. The intervention can be made by him even when he is not called upon.

If he sees that the on-pitch referee is faulting in any decision, be it related to the booking or goals or anything else, he can immediately stop him and convey to him what’s wrong and what should be done. So, by no means is his role limited. Continue reading FIFA gives Consent to Video Refereeing →