A top Russian senator, Andrei Klimov, has accused the United States of America of making moves to lunch attack during the 2018 World Cup to be hosted in the country.
He said on Thursday that he had credible evidence of US plotting to “discredit” the 2018 World Cup Russia is hosting for the first time.
The tournament is scheduled to take place in Russia from June 14 to July 15 amid heat of a diplomatic war with the West over disputes ranging from Ukraine and Syria to Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
The Federation Council upper house of parliament’s new ‘protection of state sovereignty commission’, chief, Klimov, said the issue would be addressed at a meeting next Tuesday that will be attended by foreign ministry and sport officials.
The RIA Novosti state news agency quoted Klimov as saying, “The commission has received credible evidence showing that American government officials are directly steering their European colleagues into using the subject of sport to the utmost to discredit Russia in 2018.
“We have grounds to believe that an attack will occur on the football World Cup.
He went on to say that Russia, “will have to take retaliatory measures,” but offered no hint about what kind of attack he thought Washington was preparing.
The United States of America failed to make it to the World Cup and will thus avoid the politically-charged potential of facing Russia at a time when their diplomatic relations are almost a Cold War affair.
Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has revealed that the coaching crew has found new players to compete for shirts ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Rohr also praised the performance of the fringe players used in prosecuting last game of the qualifiers in Constantine yesterday when Nigeria were forced to a 1-1 draw by Algeria.
Rohr praised the attitude of the players who were minutes away from clinching a win before a controversial penalty helped Algeria draw level late into the game.
The German coach was quoted by Complete Sports as saying, “Everybody worked well, they lost the ball and the tried to get it back.
“They did well which means that the building is starting now and some things are changing. We have the same attitude.
“The game showed us that we have players who can play in different positions. We were searching to find new players and we found good new players but we must wait and the return of some injured players.
“Some of these players have shown that they can come in with the first team. We saw good competition for some players in some positions.”
FIFA’s disgraced ex-president Sepp Blatter has told AFP he will go to next year’s World Cup in Russia at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin, despite being banned from football.
“I will go to the World Cup in Russia. I received an invitation from President Putin,” the 81-year-old said in an interview.
Blatter said Michel Platini, the ex-UEFA president who is banned from football over corruption, had also been invited to the tournament by Putin.
But according to one of his close allies Platini “hasn’t received an invitation from Putin to go to the World Cup and doesn’t know what he will be doing next summer”.
Blatter, who led world football’s governing body for 17 years, was thrown out of the sport in 2015 at the height of a massive corruption scandal.
FIFA’s ethics committee has suspended him from all football-related activities for six years after finding him guilty of accepting an improper 2 million Swiss franc ($2.1 million, 1.8 million euros) payment from then-UEFA chief Platini.
But the ever-defiant Blatter said he had no plans to miss the World Cup, an event he has habitually attended since going to work at FIFA in the 1970s.
“I don’t know how long I will go for, whether I will be there for the opening match or the final,” he said during the interview in Zurich.
“Because I can’t work in football and I don’t have an assignment to do, maybe I will only make a short visit.”
Blatter is also the target of an investigation by Swiss prosecutors over alleged criminal mismanagement at FIFA and the infamous Platini payment.
Switzerland has ongoing probes into the 2018 World Cup, including possible bribery and corruption that may have led to Russia winning hosting rights.
“I’m sure that World Cup 2018 will be a great World Cup. Russia has to show that it can welcome the whole world. It’s a big challenge,” Blatter said.
It was not immediately clear how the FIFA ban would impact Blatter’s attendance at matches or events.
Platini, banned from football for four years, was allowed to attend Euro 2016 matches in his native France, provided he played no official role.
FIFA has revealed that football fans have already requested for 3,496,204 2018 World Cup tickets. The world football governing body made the announcement as the first sales period ends on Thursday.
According to FIFA, around 70% of the applications came from the host nation, Russia. Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, US, Egypt, China and Poland make up the remaining 30%.
150,000 tickets have been requested for the opening match on June 14 and more than 300,000 for the final on July 15.
FIFA said the tickets would be allocated by a random selection draw and that all applicants will be notified by November 16.
Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has congratulated Nigeria for qualifying for the World Cup.
He wished them a great moment at the event. Nigeria confirmed their place in Russia when Arsenal forward, Alex Iwobi came off the bench to score the only goal of the crunch encounter against Zambia in Uyo last Saturday.
Wenger said Arsenal is proud of Nigeria and prouder because their player scored the needed goal that put the Super Eagles through.
The Frenchman said, “Good morning. Congratulation to all our fans in Nigeria, I know there are very, very, very many of you and we are very proud that you have qualified for the World Cup.
“On top of that our player scored the goal for you and that makes us even prouder. Well done, and see you at the World Cup. I’m sure you’ll have a great trip there.”
Arjen Robben has announced his retirement from international football, after scoring twice as Holland beat Sweden 2-0 in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.
The Bayern Munich winger revealed his decision, after it was confirmed that the Dutch will not be at the tournament in Russia next year.
“I want to focus on my club career now,” Robben told reporters after the game.
“It’s a good time to pass the torch to the next generation,” he added.
Robben, 33, started playing for his senior national team in 2003 and scored 37 goals in 96 matches.
The United States National Team has crashed out of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It is the first time since 1986 that the team will miss out on the biggest football tournament in the world.
Needing only a draw to clinch their ticket to Russia, the US team traveled to Trinidad & Tobago for their final game of World Cup qualification.
Going into the night, Honduras and Panama were both in striking distance to jump the Americans.
The only way the Americans could be eliminated is if they lost and both Honduras and Panama won. That is exactly what happened as the United States fell short.
Despite beating Trinidad & Tobago 6-0 earlier in the qualification round, the Americans went down 1-0 early in Tuesday night’s contest courtesy of an own goal from Omar Gonzalez after a misplaced ball.
That was followed by an absolute strike from Trinidad & Tobago’s Alvin Jones that slid past Tim Howard to make it 2-0.
While American prodigy, Christian Pulisic, was able to earn a goal early in the second half to make it 2-1, however, the US soccer team was not able to equalise, and were eliminated after both Honduras and Panama won their games to jump the Americans in the CONCACAF qualifying table.
The Americans were also the victims of bad luck as Panama’s game-winning goal should have never counted. Replays showed that it never cleared the line.
Multi–millionaire Business Mogul, Kensington Adebutu, has splashed the sum of N50 million on the Super Eagles, after they became the first African country to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Adebutu, who was full of praises for the Super Eagles for their determination, professionalism and commitment throughout the qualifying campaign, said: “I congratulate the Super Eagles for overhauling the so–called ‘Group of Death’ even with a game to spare.”
He urged the team not to rest on its oars, but to prepare hard to be worthy ambassadors of Nigeria and Africa at the FIFA World Cup finals in Russia next year summer.
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