FIFA

Co-host country Australia is now facing the Republic of Ireland at the tournament’s largest venue, Stadium Australia, in Sydney/Gadigal.

Stadium Australia was due to host knockout matches only, but given the significant interest in tickets, FIFA has taken the decision to move Australia’s first match to Sydney’s largest stadium.  

The kick-off time and date of the Australia v. Republic of Ireland match will still be on Thursday, 20 July at 8pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time).

Key activities will include employing FIFA Legends to raise climate change awareness and adapting existing infrastructure in one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to make it more climate proof.

FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, and the PIF Secretary General, Henry Puna, signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to combat climate change during the FIFA Congress in Doha, Qatar, in April.

The other team selected for this opportunity is Tahiti, who recently did a tour to Europe and with them a film crew and the whole team.

FIFA has commissioned a six-part documentary series engaging a UK-based production company called Whisper to produce the series. Whisper has engaged a camera crew all over the world to film at different qualifying tournaments.

The report highlights the increasing degree of abuse directed at footballers across social media platforms during international tournaments.

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The world governing body on Friday revealed that operational funding for this year and 2019 will be paid to 211 national governing bodies worldwide.

A second instalment of operational costs for 2020 was due to be handed out in July, but FIFA will make an early payment "to help safeguard football across all member associations".

Each member association will receive $500,000, along with any other remaining funds they were due to receive. 

COVID-19 is starting to cause widespread disruption to sport across Europe, particularly in Italy, Germany, France and Spain.

Italy is the most-affected European nation, with 9,172 cases of infection reported as of Tuesday, and that has led to all sporting activities being postponed until April 3.

In Spain, fans have been prohibited from attending games at all levels over the next two matchdays, though that could change after the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) requested all action be postponed instead.

The 87-year-old Uruguayan headed his nation's football association for nine years from 1997, doubling up as a CONMEBOL vice-president for part of that spell, a post he held for two decades until 2013.

It was at that point he replaced Nicolas Leoz as president of the South American confederation, but he was arrested two years later.

Figueredo was accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes relating to "awarding contracts to companies for the media and marketing rights to CONMEBOL competitions" between 2004 and 2015, FIFA said.

World football's governing body said there was insufficient time to consider the proposed expansion of the tournament due to logistical concerns.

A plan backed by president Gianni Infantino had been put forward that would have seen some of Qatar's Gulf neighbours stage some of the extra matches, having conceded it would be "difficult" to host all such games in Qatar alone.

However, in a statement released on Wednesday, FIFA confirmed it would need more time to consider all possible requirements of an expanded tournament, with a deadline on the decision set for next month.

This is for offering and accepting gifts as well as conflict of interest, world soccer governing body FIFA said on Friday.

Along with the ban, which comes into immediate effect, former FIFA vice president Chung was also fined 100,000 Swiss francs (K337,000).

“The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee has found David Chung ... guilty of having offered and accepted gifts, as well as having acted under a conflict of interest, in violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics," FIFA said in a statement.