‘Absolute joke’: Sancho and Akanji fined for home haircuts

FIFA president Gianni Infantino called on Saturday for discussions over proposals to introduce salary and transfer fee caps to football in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

World football’s governing body intends to finalise plans in the coming weeks for a financial relief package following the economic damage caused to the sport by the global health crisis.

FIFA announced in April it would release $150 million (133 million euros) to its 211 member associations “as the first step of a relief plan”.

UEFA shortly afterwards said it had allocated 236.5 million euros to its 55 member federations.

Last month, the German FA and Bayern Munich chairman Karl-heinz Rummenigge urged industry talks about a salary cap and reforming the transfer system to keep football “credible”.

“On the financial and governance aspects, I also heard some interesting proposals on a wide range of topics,” Infantino wrote in an open letter to FIFA’S members.

“From salary caps to transfer fee caps or other the transfer value of players in 10 of Europe’s top leagues could plummet by up to 10 billion euros due to the economic crash caused by coronavirus.

The French league, declared over in late April, said it would have to take out a governmentguaranteed loan of some 225 million euros to tide over clubs impacted by the loss in income from broadcasters.

Last season’s Champions League finalists Tottenham have received a £175 million loan from the Bank of England to help them through the crisis as the club predicted losses of £200 million over the next year.

Infantino is hoping to push through the rescue package by the time of the next FIFA council meeting later this month.

“The need for top club football to resume has understandably taken priority, but we must also consider national teams, women’s football, lower-tier domestic leagues, youth and the grassroots game,” Infantino said.

BERLIN: English midfielder Jadon Sancho and his Borussia Dortmund teammate Manuel Akanji were fined by the German League on Friday for breaking stringent health guidelines to get haircuts at home.

Photos emerged of Sancho, 20, and 24-yearold Swiss defender Akanji having their hair styled in their respective homes, with neither the players nor the hairdresser wearing any personal protective equipment.

“Absolute joke DFL,” tweeted Sancho. The German League (DFL) said in a statement: “The players from Borussia Dortmund had obviously violated general hygiene and infection protection standards at home hairdressing appointments and in particular the medical-organisational concept of the DFL task force.

“There is no question that professional footballers also have to have their hair cut. However, this currently has to be done in accordance with the medical-organisational concept.”

The German football federation (DFB) decided on Wednesday it would not fine Sancho for lifting his Dortmund shirt to reveal a t-shirt bearing the message “Justice For George Floyd” during the win against Paderborn last weekend.

The death of Floyd, a black American, as a white policemen kneeled on his neck in Minneapolis has sparked days of protests in cities across the United States and in other countries.

The Bundesliga became the first of the major European football leagues to resume on May 17, following the coronavirus shutdown. Players and coaches must follow strict health guidelines, including regular testing and only remaining with family members or teammates in between matches.

Meanwhile, Mehdi Ait Ahmed, a French football agent, is suing Bordeaux’s sporting director for allegedly swindling him out of his commission when the club signed Algerian defender Naoufel Khacef on loan in February.

Ait Ahmed, who is registered as an agent in France, has filed a complaint against Bordeaux’s Spanish sports director Eduardo Macia for “illegal exercise of the profession of sports agent” and “swindling in an organised gang”, Bordeaux’s public prosecutor’s office told AFP on Friday.

The accusation revolves aaround Khacer’s decision to switch agents to Raquel Herraiz Del Moral, a Spanish former hairdresser.

She is not a registered agent but has close links to her compatriot Macia.