Sheikh Salman cleared to stand in five-man race to be Fifa president

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, the Asian Football Confederation president who has been criticised by human rights campaigners over alleged links to a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners in Bahrain, has been cleared to stand in February’s Fifa presidential election.

Amid the worst crisis in Fifa’s history, the field to replace Sepp Blatter as president of the embattled world football governing body narrowed to five after Liberia’s Musa Bility was struck out following integrity checks carried out by Fifa’s ad hoc electoral committee.

Fifa’s electoral committee said on Thursday the five approved presidential candidates were Sheikh Salman, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan, the former Fifa executive Jérôme Champagne of France, the Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino of Switzerland and the South African businessman Tokyo Sexwale.

It had already said the Uefa president, Michel Platini, who like Blatter is banned from all football activity for 90 days over allegations of a £1.3m “disloyal payment” in 2011, would not be considered until his suspension was over or lifted. If Platini ends up making it onto the ballot on 26 February next year, Infantino plans to step aside.

Cristiano Ronaldo: I want to retire with 'dignity', not in USA, Qatar or Dubai

Cristiano Ronaldo said Friday that he wants to end his career “with dignity” and not playing in “the United States, Qatar or Dubai”. The Real Madrid and Portugal star, the subject of a new documentary that premiered on Monday in London, said Thursday in an interview on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show that he expected to play six or seven more seasons and hoped to finish his career at the highest level. The remarks ostensibly referenced the recent wave of top players who have finished their careers outside of Europe’s top leagues, among them MLS imports Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, along with Xavi, the lifelong Barcelona midfielder who signed with Qatari club Al Sadd in May. “That does not mean it’s bad play in the leagues of the United States, Qatar or Dubai, but I do not see myself there,” Ronaldo said. Ronaldo, who turns 31 in February, became Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer last month and has th...

Falkirk chairman calls for restructure of ‘outdated’ Scottish league

The format of the Scottish league is outdated and should be restructured with a 16-team Premiership to help boost football in the country, says the chairman of second-tier promotion-challengers Falkirk . Speaking at the club’s AGM, Doug Henderson said the slide of Scottish football, from falling attendances to the poor performance of the national side and their top clubs in Europe, would continue unless steps were taken to change the current system. Scotland were the only team from the British Isles not to qualify for next year’s European Championship and Celtic , Scottish champions for the past four seasons, regularly fail to make any impact in European competition. Scottish football’s top four tiers are currently organised into a 12-team Premiership with three lower divisions each containing 10 teams. “Reflecting economic reality and the need for premier division full-time football, I believe that we must put vested interest aside and reform our lea...

Young people to lose access to unemployment benefits as part of welfare reforms

YOUNG people will not be able to get unemployment benefits until they turn 25 under reforms introduced by the Turnbull Government today. The coalition has unveiled wide-ranging welfare reforms in parliament today, including changes to the Newstart program. It hopes to stop people aged 22 to 24 getting Newstart or the Sickness allowance, and they will instead be shifted to the Youth Allowance payment. This will reduce the amount of money that they will be able to get, costing a single person living away from home about $90 a fortnight. They will also be required to study in order to qualify for the payments. “The key aim of this measure is to provide incentives for young unemployed people to obtain the relevant education and training to increase employability,” according to an explanatory memorandum for the bill. However, it says Youth Allowance does allow students to earn a higher amount of money from part-time or casual work than Newstart, before this begins imp...

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