Russia gets Infantino approval over WCup prep
Filippelli held over alleged WC fraud
MOSCOW, May 23, (Agencies): FIFA chief Gianni Infantino told President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday he was satisfied with Russia’s preparations ahead of hosting the Confederations Cup in June and the 2018 World Cup.
“I’ve always been convinced that Russia will meet all of its obligations – now we can see the concrete facts,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Infantino as saying in the southern city of Krasnodar in comments translated into Russian.
“As FIFA president – and what is more important as a football fan, I can invite the entire world to come to Russia to watch the Confederations Cup and the World Cup games and to discover this beautiful country,” he added after visiting the purposebuilt World Cup arena in Krasnodar.
Meanwhile, Putin assured Infantino that Russia would strive to make sure the construction of the Confederations Cup and World Cup facilities was completed in time.
“We will do everything possible to make sure that the venues and the conditions for staying in Russia and everything related to serving a large number of fans, viewers and athletes is carried out at the best possible level,” Putin told journalists.
The president added that he considered developing the game further in Russia to be the primary objective of staging the global showpiece.
“The development of the game is one of the main ideas behind granting the right to host the World Cup to countries that still have goals to achieve and new standards to reach in the development of sport and
football,” he said.
Brazilian police said Tuesday they have arrested an adviser of President
Michel Temer and two ex-governors over alleged fraud linked to a stadium used in the 2014 football World Cup.
The suspects allegedly overbilled by 900 million Brazilian reais (about $380 million at the time) on a 600 million-reais project to build the Mane Garrincha Stadium in the capital Brasilia.
Officers arrested presidential adviser Tadeu Filippelli and two former governors of Brasilia, Jose Arruda and Agnelo Queiroz, a police spokesman told AFP.
The construction of the stadium – the most costly venue in the World Cup – was funded by loans from the city development agency Terracap, which now faces insolvency, the police statement said.
Corruption scandals have hit countless Brazilian politicians over recent years and have now reached Temer’s own doorstep. Manchester City winger Leroy
Sane has pulled out of Germany’s Confederations Cup squad so he can undergo a nasal operation.
The German soccer federation says Sane will miss Germany’s friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen on June 6, the World Cup qualifier against San Marino in Nuremberg four days later, and the Confederations Cup in Russia.
Sane says “I’d have liked to be there in Russia (but) I’ve decided in consultation with the doctors to use the summer break for this operation so I can start the new season without any difficulties.”
Antonio Conte’s achievement in coaching Chelsea to the Premier League title in his first season in charge saw him named manager of the year by his peers, the League Managers Association (LMA).
The 47-year-old Italian – who performed a similar feat at Juventus in his first season with them in 2011/12 – could land the domestic double if Chelsea beat Arsenal in Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Conte – a former midfield workhorse for Juventus and Italy – won praise for turning a demoralised squad which had gone from being champions in 2015 to 10th place in the 2015/16 campaign back into title winners in such a short space of time. French international striker Antoine Griezmann said Monday he had a six out of 10 chance of moving to Manchester United from Atletico Madrid.
After saying a transfer to the English Premier League was “possible”, 26-year-old Griezmann was asked to rate the possibility out of 10.