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The Star
8 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Singapore could host Fifa youth competition, says Fifa chief Gianni Infantino
Fifa chief Gianni Infantino (right) and Football Association of Singapore president Forrest Li met after the second session of the Fifa executive football summit in 2025. - GIANNI INFANTINO/INSTAGRAM SINGAPORE: A Fifa youth tournament, potentially a festival for Under-15s, could be held in Singapore in the future, while the Lions could participate in the cross-confederation Fifa Series friendly tournament in 2026. The ideas emerged at a meeting between Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Forrest Li during the June 19-21 Fifa executive football summit 2025 in Miami, one of the host cities of the ongoing Club World Cup in the United States. Infantino confirmed the discussions about the two competitions and told the Fifa website on June 21: 'FAS President Forrest Li and I had a constructive discussion in Miami on how we can continue collaborating to take football forward in his beautiful country. 'When I visited Singapore in 2021, I felt the great passion people in the country have for football, and it reflected in the work being done to grow the game. 'Fifa has an established, fruitful relationship with the FAS through Fifa Forward and Fifa Football for Schools, and I offered Fifa's full support to President Li and his team while congratulating him on his recent election.' As early as 2013, Singapore had expressed its desire to host the Youth World Cup. In 2023, the FAS signed a letter of intent to discuss and consider co-hosting with Indonesia the Under-20 World Cup in 2025 and the Under-17 World Cup between 2025 and 2029. Indonesia had won the hosting rights for the Under-20 World Cup, but lost them after it opposed Israel's participation in the tournament. They eventually held the Under-17 World Cup in the same year. Meanwhile, the Fifa Series is a biennial international tournament featuring friendlies between teams from various continents and held in different countries. Croatia emerged champions of the pilot edition in 2024, and the next edition is slated for the March international window in 2026. It remains to be seen if the Lions can accommodate for the Fifa Series as it will host Bangladesh in their final Asian Cup Group C qualifier on March 31. The Straits Times has contacted the FAS for more information, while Li told the Fifa website that he and Infantino had discussed the possibility of Singapore hosting an international event for U-15s. He said: 'We talked about the summer – new initiatives from Fifa about the Fifa Series and also the concept of a Fifa festival for Under-15s,' said Li. 'I think that's a great initiative to get more (Fifa member associations) involved and to help the players feel included and get the chance to experience the best of Fifa's football experience. So, I think that is very exciting.' Li, who is also chairman of Singapore Premier League and Singapore Cup champions Lion City Sailors, who made local football history by finishing as Asian Football Confederation Champions League Two runners-up last season, added that the ongoing Club World Cup, an expanded edition featuring 32 teams, is a 'great initiative'. He said: 'Finally we see a lot of excitement… and you see the best clubs from different continents finally playing together. So, this is great.' - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Singapore could host Fifa youth competition, says Fifa chief Gianni Infantino
Fifa chief Gianni Infantino (right) and Football Association of Singapore president Forrest Li met after the second session of the Fifa executive football summit in 2025. PHOTO: GIANNI INFANTINO/INSTAGRAM SINGAPORE – A Fifa youth tournament, potentially a festival for Under-15s, could be held in Singapore in the future. That was one of the things discussed between Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Football Association of Singapore (FAS) president Forrest Li, after last week's second session of the Fifa executive football summit 2025 in Miami, one of the host cities of the ongoing Club World Cup in the United States. Infantino said on the Fifa website on June 21: 'FAS President Forrest Li and I had a constructive discussion in Miami on how we can continue collaborating to take football forward in his beautiful country, including the possibility of the men's national team's participation in the 2026 Fifa Series and the potential hosting of a Fifa youth competition in the future.' The Fifa Series is a biennial international tournament featuring friendlies between teams from various continents and held in different countries. The next edition is slated for the March international window in 2026. Croatia emerged champions of the pilot edition in 2024. Infantino, who also offered Fifa's 'full support' to Li, added: 'When I visited Singapore in 2021, I felt the great passion people in the country have for football, and it reflected in the work being done to grow the game. 'Fifa has an established, fruitful relationship with the FAS through Fifa Forward and Fifa Football for Schools, and I offered Fifa's full support to President Li and his team while congratulating him on his recent election.' Li told the Fifa website that they had discussed an international event for U-15s. The Straits Times has contacted the FAS for more information. 'We talked about the summer – new initiatives from Fifa about the Fifa Series and also the concept of a Fifa festival for Under-15s,' said Li, also chairman of Singapore Premier League champions Lion City Sailors, who made history by finishing as Asian Football Confederation Champions League Two runners-up last season. 'I think that's a great initiative to get more (Fifa member associations) involved and to help the players feel included and get the chance to experience the best of Fifa's football experience. So, I think that is very exciting.' Li also said the ongoing Club World Cup, an expanded edition featuring 32 teams, is a 'great initiative', adding: 'Finally we see a lot of excitement… and you see the best clubs from different continents finally playing together. So, this is great.' Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Shakhtar Donetsk accuse Fifa of failing to support Ukrainian football during war
Shakhtar Donetsk's chief executive, Serhii Palkin, has accused Fifa of failing to support Ukrainian football in the three years since Russia undertook its full-scale invasion of the country. Ukraine's domestic league has managed to play on after an initial six-month pause but resources are scarce and the long-term outlook remains uncertain. Palkin claimed the world governing body had kept its doors 'closed to us' and he repeated previous entreaties for the creation of a fund to help maintain a sport that has endured severe physical and financial damage. He also urged Fifa and Uefa to hold firm on their commitment to bar Russian teams from international competitions amid an increasingly precarious geopolitical climate. 'From the beginning of the war Fifa never supported Ukrainian football,' Palkin told the Guardian. 'They always had a slogan that we are one family, but it was not one family. They forgot about Ukrainian football completely. 'We need to set up some kind of fund for Ukrainian football and the major donors should be Fifa. They should support us because we have a lot of destroyed infrastructure and a poor economic situation in the industry. It's difficult to survive in these conditions and it's strange they completely ignore what's going on in Ukraine. For me, it's some kind of shame.' Palkin claimed there had been a reluctance on Fifa's part to get around the table and discuss Ukraine's plight. 'Fifa's door is always closed for us,' he said. 'We tried to knock at this door in the last three years but there were no answers at all. I contacted some people at a high level in football and they also tried to communicate with Fifa, but I don't feel we have success.' Shakhtar sought £43m of damages from Fifa in 2022 after it ruled that foreign players in Ukraine could suspend their contracts because of the invasion, essentially depriving clubs of potentially hefty transfer fees. They eventually lost their case at the court of arbitration for sport. 'Fifa ignored Ukraine and our clubs,' Palkin said. Asked why he believed Fifa may be reluctant to create a reparations fund or provide further assistance, Palkin said: 'In the past three years many people asked the same question, but I don't know at all. We can make guesses, but I don't have the answer.' Last February Fifa's president, Gianni Infantino, met his Ukrainian Association of Football counterpart, Andriy Shevchenko, in Paris and pledged to 'support the continuous growth on and off the pitch' of football in Ukraine. Shevchenko acknowledged the value of existing Fifa programmes, such as the Fifa Forward campaign, in backing the sport's development in Ukraine. The Fifa Foundation has also helped deliver humanitarian supplies to Ukraine, allocating $1m to the cause in March 2022. Palkin was speaking days before the anniversary of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, which savagely escalated a decade-long war that has forced Shakhtar to play away from their home city since 2014. Fifa and Uefa acted swiftly three years ago to prevent Russian sides playing in their competitions but, in a fraught international climate and with a volatile US administration appearing openly hostile to Ukraine, Palkin reiterated the need for them to hold the line. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Infantino has been proud to flaunt his close relationship with Donald Trump, while the Russian Football Union president and Uefa executive committee member, Alexander Dyukov, was quoted in local media this month saying his country could 'theoretically' be admitted into the World Cup qualifiers, which start on 21 March. There is scant chance of such an occurrence and Palkin said the authorities' stance must remain while the war continues. 'At this moment I don't feel Fifa or Uefa would like to give permission to Russian clubs to participate in European competition,' he said. 'Maybe they have separate conversations but officially they keep their position. For Ukraine it's very important to have a strong position from Fifa and Uefa in respect of Russian teams. It's not possible, when you invade a country, that at the same time you're free to do whatever you want.' Palkin does not see danger in the proximity between Fifa and the US government. 'For us the face of Fifa didn't change since the beginning of the war. I don't know what kind of relationships they have, but I don't feel any changes regarding Ukrainian football. I don't understand how it can be worse and I don't feel it's become better.' Fifa was contacted for comment.
