<p>A member of the decision-making FIFA Council has been banned for three months and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,906) for breaching rules on the resale of World Cup tickets, the global soccer body said on Thursday.</p>

<p>FIFA said that Lee Harmon, president of the Cook Islands Football Association (CIFA), had "mutually agreed" the sanction with its ethics committee in a plea bargain following an investigation which began in July, shortly after the World Cup in Russia.</p>

<p>FIFA said the investigation concerned the resale of tickets for the tournament but did not give further details. It did not immediately reply to a request for additional information.</p>

<p>Harmon, who could not immediately be reached for comment, has been CIFA president since 1997 and a FIFA Council member since 2016.</p>

<p>His biography on the FIFA Council website says he has been a match commissioner and referee assessor at various FIFA tournaments and international matches.</p>

<p>FIFA has been trying to root out corruption and unethical conduct after several dozen soccer officials were indicted in the United States in 2015, plunging the global soccer body into the worst crisis in its history.</p>

<p>One of the measures was to replace the old executive committee with the larger FIFA Council, which has 37 members.</p>

<p>CIFA is among the smallest of FIFA's 211 member associations and has been a member since 1994.</p>


A member of the decision-making FIFA Council has been banned for three months and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,906) for breaching rules on the resale of World Cup tickets, the global soccer body said on Thursday.

A member of the decision-making FIFA Council has been banned for three months and fined 20,000 Swiss francs ($19,906) for breaching rules on the resale of World Cup tickets, the global soccer body said on Thursday. FIFA said that Lee Harmon, president of the Cook Islands Football Association (CIFA), had "mutually agreed" the sanction with its ethics committee in a plea bargain following an investigation which began in July, shortly after the World Cup in Russia. FIFA said the investigation concerned the resale of tickets for the tournament but did not give further details. It did not immediately reply to a request for additional information. Harmon, who could not immediately be reached for comment, has been CIFA president since 1997 and a FIFA Council member since 2016. His biography on the FIFA Council website says he has been a match commissioner and referee assessor at various FIFA tournaments and international matches. FIFA has been trying to root out corruption and unethical conduct after several dozen soccer officials were indicted in the United States in 2015, plunging the global soccer body into the worst crisis in its history. One of the measures was to replace the old executive committee with the larger FIFA Council, which has 37 members. CIFA is among the smallest of FIFA's 211 member associations and has been a member since 1994.

FIFA Council member banned over resale of World Cup tickets

<p>Costa Rica got the first goal here Monday against Belgium only to end up losing 4-1 in the final friendly for both teams ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.</p>

<p>The potent Belgian attack was in evidence from the start and the first of what would turn out to be numerous tests for Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas came in the 5th minute on a strike by Eden Hazard.</p>

<p>At the other end of the pitch, Belgian keeper Thibault Courtois had nothing to do until the 13th minute, when he easily turned aside an effort by Marco Ureña.</p>

<p>Yet the visitors drew first blood, on a play that began with yet another great stop by Navas and ended with Bryan Ruiz's pouncing on a loose ball and knocking it past Courtois to make it 1-0 for Costa Rica in the 24th minute.</p>

<p>The advantage lasted just seven minutes, as Hazard exploited a defensive error to set up a one-touch strike by Dries Mertens just after the half-hour mark.</p>

<p>Energized by the goal, the hosts turned up the intensity and Navas was called upon for further heroics, including the use of his face to make a stop.</p>

<p>With three minutes left in the half, Romelu Lukaku took a pass from Mertens and let loose a volley that beat Navas to put Belgium up 2-1.</p>

<p>After the break, the hosts picked up where they left off and Lukaku needed just five minutes to get his second of the night, a thunderous header that increased the advantage to 3-1.</p>

<p>Michy Batshuayi added a fourth goal in the 64th minute, with help from both Hazard and Lukaku.</p>

<p>The Costa Ricans, who reached the quarterfinals in 2014, will begin their 2018 World Cup campaign on June 17 against Serbia in a group whose other members are Switzerland and five-time champions Brazil.</p>

<p>Belgium, meanwhile, are looking forward to their June 18 opener against Panama, to be followed by contests with England and Tunisia.</p>


Costa Rica got the first goal against Belgium only to end up losing 4-1 in the final friendly for both teams ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia

Costa Rica got the first goal here Monday against Belgium only to end up losing 4-1 in the final friendly for both teams ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The potent Belgian attack was in evidence from the start and the first of what would turn out to be numerous tests for Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas came in the 5th minute on a strike by Eden Hazard. At the other end of the pitch, Belgian keeper Thibault Courtois had nothing to do until the 13th minute, when he easily turned aside an effort by Marco Ureña. Yet the visitors drew first blood, on a play that began with yet another great stop by Navas and ended with Bryan Ruiz's pouncing on a loose ball and knocking it past Courtois to make it 1-0 for Costa Rica in the 24th minute. The advantage lasted just seven minutes, as Hazard exploited a defensive error to set up a one-touch strike by Dries Mertens just after the half-hour mark. Energized by the goal, the hosts turned up the intensity and Navas was called upon for further heroics, including the use of his face to make a stop. With three minutes left in the half, Romelu Lukaku took a pass from Mertens and let loose a volley that beat Navas to put Belgium up 2-1. After the break, the hosts picked up where they left off and Lukaku needed just five minutes to get his second of the night, a thunderous header that increased the advantage to 3-1. Michy Batshuayi added a fourth goal in the 64th minute, with help from both Hazard and Lukaku. The Costa Ricans, who reached the quarterfinals in 2014, will begin their 2018 World Cup campaign on June 17 against Serbia in a group whose other members are Switzerland and five-time champions Brazil. Belgium, meanwhile, are looking forward to their June 18 opener against Panama, to be followed by contests with England and Tunisia.

Costa Rica fall 4-1 to Belgium in World Cup warm-up

<p>The chance to see Lionel Messi up close unleashed a certain madness Monday as the Argentine national team held their first open practice for the 2018 World Cup in this town roughly 60 km (30 mi) southeast of Moscow.<br />
<br />
Some 500 people packed the stands at the Bronnitsy training center on the banks of a river with sandy shores and just a short distance from a traditional Russian Orthodox Church with gilded domes.<br />
<br />
The fans never stopped chanting the name of FC Barcelona's star player, while waving both Argentine flags and Barca banners.<br />
<br />
"Argentina will win the World Cup. It doesn't matter that it's not the best team, it has Messi. With him, all is possible," Dima, a 10-year-old boy wearing a replica Barcelona shirt with the striker's name, told EFE.<br />
<br />
Added to the Argentina fans were more than 200 reporters covering the training session.<br />
<br />
Messi decided to thank the fans for their support and their patience by signing autographs and having photos taken with his countless admirers after the practice.<br />
<br />
While it wasn't sure that Paulo Dybala would make the starting lineup for the World Cup, the Juventus striker also attracted a lot of attention among the fans and, though Javier Mascherano has opted for a golden retirement in China, he was also very much sought after.<br />
<br />
Despite having a tough time qualifying for the World Cup and thanks to a sterling performance by Messi, the Argentines are once again one of the big favorites to win the championship.<br />
<br />
Argentina, which lost 1-0 in the 2014 World Cup against Germany, will debut on June 17 against Iceland before going up against Croatia on June 21 and will close the group stage against Nigeria on June 26.</p>


The Argentine national team held their first open practice for the 2018 World Cup and the fans never stopped chanting Messi's name, while waving both Argentine flags and Barca banners

The chance to see Lionel Messi up close unleashed a certain madness Monday as the Argentine national team held their first open practice for the 2018 World Cup in this town roughly 60 km (30 mi) southeast of Moscow. Some 500 people packed the stands at the Bronnitsy training center on the banks of a river with sandy shores and just a short distance from a traditional Russian Orthodox Church with gilded domes. The fans never stopped chanting the name of FC Barcelona's star player, while waving both Argentine flags and Barca banners. "Argentina will win the World Cup. It doesn't matter that it's not the best team, it has Messi. With him, all is possible," Dima, a 10-year-old boy wearing a replica Barcelona shirt with the striker's name, told EFE. Added to the Argentina fans were more than 200 reporters covering the training session. Messi decided to thank the fans for their support and their patience by signing autographs and having photos taken with his countless admirers after the practice. While it wasn't sure that Paulo Dybala would make the starting lineup for the World Cup, the Juventus striker also attracted a lot of attention among the fans and, though Javier Mascherano has opted for a golden retirement in China, he was also very much sought after. Despite having a tough time qualifying for the World Cup and thanks to a sterling performance by Messi, the Argentines are once again one of the big favorites to win the championship. Argentina, which lost 1-0 in the 2014 World Cup against Germany, will debut on June 17 against Iceland before going up against Croatia on June 21 and will close the group stage against Nigeria on June 26.

Messi fans flock to Argentine open practice in Russia

<p>When strongman Ramzan Kadyrov last month opened The Local, a United Arab Emirates-funded luxury hotel in the Chechen capital of Grozny and prepared to receive Egypt's World Cup qualifying a national team as its first guests, he was cashing in on more than the Russian region's Muslim identity.</p>

<p>Eager to forge close ties to Middle Eastern nations, Mr. Kadyrov, who tightly controls Chechen sports, was cashing in on the fact that he has aligned himself with like-minded governments that not only stand out in their repression of dissent but also their efforts to oppose Saudi-inspired ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam.</p>

<p>Mr. Kadyrov, a barrel-chested man who recognizes the political utility of sports and is widely seen as a henchman of Russian President Vladimir Putin, earned his credentials by brutally suppressing an Islamist insurgency in Chechnya during his decade-long tenure.</p>

<p>Speaking to The Washington Post, Beslan Visambiev, a manager of a Grozny-based UAE investment fund, suggested that Mr. Putin was using Mr. Kadyrov as his point man in the Muslim world. "It seems like Putin delegated those powers to Kadyrov," Mr. Visambiev said.</p>

<p>Mr. Visambiev echoed Mr. Kadyrov's own words four years earlier when he addressed 20,000 members of his militia in a Grozny stadium.</p>

<p>"The time has come for us to make our conscious choice, and we say this to the whole world that we are the combat infantry of Vladimir Putin," Mr. Kadyrov said quoting a speech given by his father shortly before he was assassinated in 2004.</p>

<p>Criticism by human rights groups of the UAE's investment and Egypt's choice of Grozny has focussed on Chechnya rather than the Emirates and Egypt, even if both countries have recently been in the news for their own alleged violations of basic rights.</p>

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<p>The US the House of Representatives last week voted to investigate a potential US role in torture in a UAE-operated network of prisons in Yemen.</p>

<p>A close US ally, the UAE stands accused of being a "colonizing force" in Yemen that supports extremist militias responsible for violence against Yemeni activists and Islah, a Muslim Brotherhood-linked political party, and a bete noire of UAE crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed.</p>

<p>In recent days, Egypt, whose prisons are filled with an estimated 60,000 political prisoners, arrested &nbsp; Hazim Abdelazim, a one-time campaigner turned critic for general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and prominent blogger and activist Wael Abbas.</p>

<p>Mr. Kadyrov, whose human rights record, like that of Prince Mohammed and Mr. Al-Sisi, has been questioned, has denounced allegations of abuse as a "myth" designed to destabilise his government.</p>

<p>Yet, Mr. Kadyrov's notion of a more liberal interpretation of Islam is not dissimilar to that of Mr. Al-Sisi or Prince Mohammed, even if the effective UAE ruler has been not quite as harsh in measures against transgender, gay, and gender non-conforming people.</p>

<p>Both Chechnya and Egypt have in the last year brutally targeted gays, prompting Human Rights Watch to demand that world soccer body FIFA oppose a proposed Egyptian anti-LGBT law and to demand the release of Oyub Titev, the head of Chechnya's only still operating human rights group.</p>

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<h5>The fact that Egypt and the UAE are the vehicles Mr. Kadyrov is using to exploit this month's World Cup in Russia in a bid to project Chechnya on the world stage in a more positive light and polish his tarnished image is no coincidence</h5>
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<p>The bullet-riddled body of Mr. Titev's predecessor, Natalia Estemirova, was dumped by the road shortly after she was kidnapped in 2009.</p>

<p>The fact that Egypt and the UAE are the vehicles Mr. Kadyrov is using to exploit this month's World Cup in Russia in a bid to project Chechnya on the world stage in a more positive light and polish his tarnished image is no coincidence.</p>

<p>Both the UAE and Egypt have been in the forefront of efforts to counter political Islam and promote more quietist, apolitical interpretations of the faith that counter Saudi-style ultra-conservatism and are more in line with their vision of autocratic rule even if both countries are closely aligned with the kingdom.</p>

<p>The UAE has quietly nurtured the creation of moderate Islamic institutions such as the Muslim Council of Elders, the Global Forum for Prompting Peace in Muslim Societies and the Sawab and Hedayah Centres in a bid to counter the influence of controversial, Qatar-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood, and more militant Islamist forces.</p>

<p>Mr. Al-Sisi, an observant Muslim who in a 2006 paper argued that democracy cannot be understood without a grasp of the concept of the caliphate, has been advocating with limited success that Al Azhar, one of the Muslim world's foremost institutions and the world's oldest seat &nbsp;of Islamic learning, spearhead "a religious revolution" to counter militancy.</p>

<p>Mr. Kadyrov, who professes to be a Sufi, a more mystical interpretation of Islam, facilitated in 2016 a high point of the Emirati and Egyptian efforts when he hosted in Grozny a gathering of prominent Sunni Muslim leaders that effectively excommunicated Saudi-backed ultra-conservatism.</p>

<p>In a frontal assault on Saudi-backed religious movements such as Wahhabism, Salafism and Deobandism, the conference charged that the label Sunni had been hijacked by heretics whose deviant practices distorted Islam.</p>

<p>In defining Sunni Islam, the conference explicitly excluded Wahhabism, the version of Islam long propagated by Saudi Arabia, as well as Salafism and Deobandism from its definition.</p>

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<h5>Mr. Kadyrov’s alliance with the UAE and Egypt has allowed him to exploit Russia’s hosting of the World Cup even if Chechnya will not be a venue for any of the competition’s matches</h5>
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<p>Mr. Kadyrov's alliance with the UAE and Egypt has allowed him to exploit Russia's hosting of the World Cup even if Chechnya will not be a venue for any of the competition's matches.</p>

<p>The alliance has also paid off in other ways. The UAE last year created the Zayed Fund that aims to support Chechen businesses and is funding construction of a gleaming skyscraper in the Chechen capital. UAE-based carrier Air Arabia launched in April direct flights from Sharjah to Grozny.</p>

<p>The UAE-Egypt-Chechnya alliance may have produced economic benefits but appears to have done little to improve the tarnished image of the Russian republic or Mr. Kadyrov himself.</p>

<p>"FIFA's decision to use Grozny for a World Cup team camp is absolutely shocking and outrageous. FIFA should reverse their decision and move the training camp to another city," said Human Rights Watch associate director Jane Buchanan.</p>

<p>FIFA last year conceded that anti-LGBT attacks in Chechnya were in "sharp contradiction to the values of FIFA as an organization and we firmly condemn them" but more recently insisted that it had "no grounds to believe that the choice of the Egyptian FA to locate its base camp in Grozny will cause particular adverse human rights impacts."</p>

<p>Countered Ms. Buchanan, the author of a report on World Cup worker abuses in Russia: Mr. Kadyrov runs Chechnya "like his own fiefdom and commits human rights abuses with impunity. FIFA's decision will only legitimize the utterly abusive Kadyrov regime."</p>

<p><em>(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)</em></p>


The UAE-Egypt-Chechnya alliance may have produced economic benefits but appears to have done little to improve the tarnished image of the Russian republic or Mr. Kadyrov himself

When strongman Ramzan Kadyrov last month opened The Local, a United Arab Emirates-funded luxury hotel in the Chechen capital of Grozny and prepared to receive Egypt's World Cup qualifying a national team as its first guests, he was cashing in on more than the Russian region's Muslim identity. Eager to forge close ties to Middle Eastern nations, Mr. Kadyrov, who tightly controls Chechen sports, was cashing in on the fact that he has aligned himself with like-minded governments that not only stand out in their repression of dissent but also their efforts to oppose Saudi-inspired ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Islam. Mr. Kadyrov, a barrel-chested man who recognizes the political utility of sports and is widely seen as a henchman of Russian President Vladimir Putin, earned his credentials by brutally suppressing an Islamist insurgency in Chechnya during his decade-long tenure. Speaking to The Washington Post, Beslan Visambiev, a manager of a Grozny-based UAE investment fund, suggested that Mr. Putin was using Mr. Kadyrov as his point man in the Muslim world. "It seems like Putin delegated those powers to Kadyrov," Mr. Visambiev said. Mr. Visambiev echoed Mr. Kadyrov's own words four years earlier when he addressed 20,000 members of his militia in a Grozny stadium. "The time has come for us to make our conscious choice, and we say this to the whole world that we are the combat infantry of Vladimir Putin," Mr. Kadyrov said quoting a speech given by his father shortly before he was assassinated in 2004. Criticism by human rights groups of the UAE's investment and Egypt's choice of Grozny has focussed on Chechnya rather than the Emirates and Egypt, even if both countries have recently been in the news for their own alleged violations of basic rights. A close US ally, the UAE stands accused of being a "colonizing force" in Yemen that supports extremist militias responsible for violence against Yemeni activists and Islah × The US the House of Representatives last week voted to investigate a potential US role in torture in a UAE-operated network of prisons in Yemen. A close US ally, the UAE stands accused of being a "colonizing force" in Yemen that supports extremist militias responsible for violence against Yemeni activists and Islah, a Muslim Brotherhood-linked political party, and a bete noire of UAE crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed. In recent days, Egypt, whose prisons are filled with an estimated 60,000 political prisoners, arrested Hazim Abdelazim, a one-time campaigner turned critic for general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and prominent blogger and activist Wael Abbas. Mr. Kadyrov, whose human rights record, like that of Prince Mohammed and Mr. Al-Sisi, has been questioned, has denounced allegations of abuse as a "myth" designed to destabilise his government. Yet, Mr. Kadyrov's notion of a more liberal interpretation of Islam is not dissimilar to that of Mr. Al-Sisi or Prince Mohammed, even if the effective UAE ruler has been not quite as harsh in measures against transgender, gay, and gender non-conforming people. Both Chechnya and Egypt have in the last year brutally targeted gays, prompting Human Rights Watch to demand that world soccer body FIFA oppose a proposed Egyptian anti-LGBT law and to demand the release of Oyub Titev, the head of Chechnya's only still operating human rights group. The fact that Egypt and the UAE are the vehicles Mr. Kadyrov is using to exploit this month's World Cup in Russia in a bid to project Chechnya on the world stage in a more positive light and polish his tarnished image is no coincidence × The bullet-riddled body of Mr. Titev's predecessor, Natalia Estemirova, was dumped by the road shortly after she was kidnapped in 2009. The fact that Egypt and the UAE are the vehicles Mr. Kadyrov is using to exploit this month's World Cup in Russia in a bid to project Chechnya on the world stage in a more positive light and polish his tarnished image is no coincidence. Both the UAE and Egypt have been in the forefront of efforts to counter political Islam and promote more quietist, apolitical interpretations of the faith that counter Saudi-style ultra-conservatism and are more in line with their vision of autocratic rule even if both countries are closely aligned with the kingdom. The UAE has quietly nurtured the creation of moderate Islamic institutions such as the Muslim Council of Elders, the Global Forum for Prompting Peace in Muslim Societies and the Sawab and Hedayah Centres in a bid to counter the influence of controversial, Qatar-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood, and more militant Islamist forces. Mr. Al-Sisi, an observant Muslim who in a 2006 paper argued that democracy cannot be understood without a grasp of the concept of the caliphate, has been advocating with limited success that Al Azhar, one of the Muslim world's foremost institutions and the world's oldest seat of Islamic learning, spearhead "a religious revolution" to counter militancy. Mr. Kadyrov, who professes to be a Sufi, a more mystical interpretation of Islam, facilitated in 2016 a high point of the Emirati and Egyptian efforts when he hosted in Grozny a gathering of prominent Sunni Muslim leaders that effectively excommunicated Saudi-backed ultra-conservatism. In a frontal assault on Saudi-backed religious movements such as Wahhabism, Salafism and Deobandism, the conference charged that the label Sunni had been hijacked by heretics whose deviant practices distorted Islam. In defining Sunni Islam, the conference explicitly excluded Wahhabism, the version of Islam long propagated by Saudi Arabia, as well as Salafism and Deobandism from its definition. Mr. Kadyrov’s alliance with the UAE and Egypt has allowed him to exploit Russia’s hosting of the World Cup even if Chechnya will not be a venue for any of the competition’s matches × Mr. Kadyrov's alliance with the UAE and Egypt has allowed him to exploit Russia's hosting of the World Cup even if Chechnya will not be a venue for any of the competition's matches. The alliance has also paid off in other ways. The UAE last year created the Zayed Fund that aims to support Chechen businesses and is funding construction of a gleaming skyscraper in the Chechen capital. UAE-based carrier Air Arabia launched in April direct flights from Sharjah to Grozny. The UAE-Egypt-Chechnya alliance may have produced economic benefits but appears to have done little to improve the tarnished image of the Russian republic or Mr. Kadyrov himself. "FIFA's decision to use Grozny for a World Cup team camp is absolutely shocking and outrageous. FIFA should reverse their decision and move the training camp to another city," said Human Rights Watch associate director Jane Buchanan. FIFA last year conceded that anti-LGBT attacks in Chechnya were in "sharp contradiction to the values of FIFA as an organization and we firmly condemn them" but more recently insisted that it had "no grounds to believe that the choice of the Egyptian FA to locate its base camp in Grozny will cause particular adverse human rights impacts." Countered Ms. Buchanan, the author of a report on World Cup worker abuses in Russia: Mr. Kadyrov runs Chechnya "like his own fiefdom and commits human rights abuses with impunity. FIFA's decision will only legitimize the utterly abusive Kadyrov regime." (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Football World Cup offers Chechnya opportunity to play Middle Eastern politics

<p dir="ltr">Wales let slip two 2018 World Cup qualifying points in a 1-1 draw at home to Georgia in Cardiff on Sunday.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Real Madrid star Gareth Bale headed Wales into a 10th-minute lead and the Euro 2016 semi-finalists should have scored more goals before half-time.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Georgia hit back after the break, equalising through Tornike Okriashvili&#39;s 57th-minute header and they nearly won the game late on when Valeri Kazaishvili struck the crossbar.</p>

<p dir="ltr">&quot;People will look at it as two points dropped but it might be a point gained at the end of the day, in the second half,&quot; Wales manager Chris Coleman told Sky Sports.</p>

<p dir="ltr">&quot;We got a great start but you&#39;ve got to take care of business. We didn&#39;t and we were punished, we tried to come again but it was too late, they&#39;d got a bit of confidence by then.&quot;</p>

<p dir="ltr">He added: &quot;We could have lost it in the second half but you think Georgia at home, you&#39;ve got to take the three points.</p>

<p dir="ltr">&quot;The next game now is Serbia here (on November 12). It puts more pressure on us to take three points there and we have to deal with that.&quot;</p>

<p><br />
&nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr">(AFP)</p>


The match ended in a 1-1 draw with Gareth Bale getting wales a 10th-minute lead and Georgia's Tornike Okriashvili's 57th-minute header

Wales let slip two 2018 World Cup qualifying points in a 1-1 draw at home to Georgia in Cardiff on Sunday. Real Madrid star Gareth Bale headed Wales into a 10th-minute lead and the Euro 2016 semi-finalists should have scored more goals before half-time. Georgia hit back after the break, equalising through Tornike Okriashvili's 57th-minute header and they nearly won the game late on when Valeri Kazaishvili struck the crossbar. "People will look at it as two points dropped but it might be a point gained at the end of the day, in the second half," Wales manager Chris Coleman told Sky Sports. "We got a great start but you've got to take care of business. We didn't and we were punished, we tried to come again but it was too late, they'd got a bit of confidence by then." He added: "We could have lost it in the second half but you think Georgia at home, you've got to take the three points. "The next game now is Serbia here (on November 12). It puts more pressure on us to take three points there and we have to deal with that." (AFP)

Wales drop two World Cup points in Georgia draw

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called on FIFA to investigate Russia&#39;s sports minister Vitaly Mutko, a member of the football world body&#39;s executive, over drug failures in football.<br />
<br />
A bombshell report on &quot;state-dictated&quot; doping in Russia, which will host the 2018 World Cup, said the manipulation of tainted Russian samples was controlled by Mutko&#39;s ministry.<br />
<br />
The investigation by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, released on Monday, did not provide evidence of a detailed implication by Mutko in decisions to protect drug-cheat athletes.<br />
<br />
But it said Mutko, president of the Russian football federation and chief organiser of the 2018 World Cup, took the decision to hide the doping case of a foreign player in the Russian football league.<br />
<br />
McLaren quoted Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov as saying it was &quot;inconceivable&quot; that Mutko did not know about the whole doping system.<br />
<br />
WADA called on FIFA to act on Mutko, a 57-year-old ally of President Vladimir Putin and sports minister since 2008.<br />
<br />
&quot;Another notable finding within the (McLaren) report is the role that one of FIFA&#39;s executive committee members, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, played within the system,&quot; said a WADA statement.<br />
<br />
&quot;Accordingly, WADA urges the FIFA ethics committee to look into the allegations concerning football and the role played by this member.&quot;<br />
<br />
The McLaren report said deputy sports minister Yuri Nagornykh had almost a daily responsibility for deciding which athletes would get a &quot;SAVE&quot; order and have failed tests manipulated or be put under &quot;QUARANTINE&quot;.<br />
<br />
The report added however that McLaren &quot;is aware of at least one foreign footballer playing in the Russian league who had that benefit of a SAVE order.&quot;<br />
<br />
&quot;That SAVE decision was made by Minister Mutko and not Deputy Minister Nagornykh.&quot;&nbsp;<br />
<br />
It said 11 footballers in all had drug cases covered up.<br />
<br />
It quoted email evidence as saying that &quot;the SAVE decision for the football players was the final decision of &#39;VL&#39;.<br />
<br />
&quot;VL is the first name and patronymic name initials of the Minister of Sport Vitaly Leontiyevich Mutko, who is also the president of the Russian football federation.&quot;<br />
<br />
FIFA acknowledged the WADA call but said its ethics committee is independent &quot;and only it can decide what actions to take in respect to this issue.<br />
<br />
&quot;For its part, FIFA will request from WADA all details concerning the individual cases of doping in Russian football that are referenced in the McLaren report. Once FIFA receives this information from WADA, it will take the appropriate next steps.&quot;<br />
<br />
Mutko is due to stand for re-election to FIFA in March.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
The Kremlin said officials &quot;directly&quot; implicated by the report would be suspended but did not name them and attacked what it called the &quot;dangerous&quot; new &quot;interference of politics in sport.&quot;<br />
<br />
WADA president Craig Reedie demanded that the Russian government sack all sports ministry officials &quot;implicated&quot; by the McLaren report, but did not name any individuals.<br />
<br />
Much of the McLaren report is based on evidence provided by Rodchenkov, former director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory now in hiding in the United States.<br />
<br />
Rodchenkov told the inquiry that in meetings with deputy minister Nagornykh on the doping cover-up, &quot;Nagornykh told him that Minister of Sport Mutko was aware of everything that they were discussing.<br />
<br />
&quot;Dr Rodchenkov`s evidence is that it is inconceivable that Minister Mutko was not aware of the doping cover-up scheme.&quot;<br />
<br />
The Kremlin has slammed Rodchenkov as &quot;a person with a scandalous reputation.&quot;<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Rodchenkov is now under criminal investigation by Russian authorities.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
The McLaren report said however that there were &quot;several documents which tend to corroborate Dr Rodechenkov&#39;s conclusion.&quot;<br />
<br />
Rodchenkov said he discussed a response to a German television documentary last year on doping in Russian athletics with Mutko.<br />
<br />
The whistleblower added that he met with Mutko before the Sochi Olympics. &quot;Dr Rodchenkov`s evidence is that the doping cover up plan for Sochi was discussed at those meetings.&quot;<br />
<br />
Rodchenkov also testified that Mutko knew about bribes allegedly paid to former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack to cover up doping failures by race walkers.<br />
<br />
&quot;Dr Rodchenkov&#39;s evidence is that in September 2012 he met with Minister Mutko to discuss the IAAF&#39;s extorsion demand.<br />
<br />
&quot;At that meeting, Minister Mutko asked Dr Rodchenkov whether the situation was really so bad he needed to pay all of that money, thereby exposing his knowledge of the doping problem in Russian athletics.&quot;<br />
<br />
McLaren made clear the power of the sports ministry, refered to as the MofS, over the Moscow and Sochi doping laboratories during the Winter Olympics and other events.<br />
<br />
&quot;The Moscow laboratory was effectively caught up in the jaws of a vice. It was a key player in the successful operation of a state imposed and rigorously imposed programme which was overall managed and dictated by the MofS.&quot;<br />
<br />
(AFP)

The investigation by lawyer Richard McLaren revealed that the manipulation of samples was controlled by Vitaly Mutko's ministry

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called on FIFA to investigate Russia's sports minister Vitaly Mutko, a member of the football world body's executive, over drug failures in football. A bombshell report on "state-dictated" doping in Russia, which will host the 2018 World Cup, said the manipulation of tainted Russian samples was controlled by Mutko's ministry. The investigation by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, released on Monday, did not provide evidence of a detailed implication by Mutko in decisions to protect drug-cheat athletes. But it said Mutko, president of the Russian football federation and chief organiser of the 2018 World Cup, took the decision to hide the doping case of a foreign player in the Russian football league. McLaren quoted Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov as saying it was "inconceivable" that Mutko did not know about the whole doping system. WADA called on FIFA to act on Mutko, a 57-year-old ally of President Vladimir Putin and sports minister since 2008. "Another notable finding within the (McLaren) report is the role that one of FIFA's executive committee members, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, played within the system," said a WADA statement. "Accordingly, WADA urges the FIFA ethics committee to look into the allegations concerning football and the role played by this member." The McLaren report said deputy sports minister Yuri Nagornykh had almost a daily responsibility for deciding which athletes would get a "SAVE" order and have failed tests manipulated or be put under "QUARANTINE". The report added however that McLaren "is aware of at least one foreign footballer playing in the Russian league who had that benefit of a SAVE order." "That SAVE decision was made by Minister Mutko and not Deputy Minister Nagornykh." It said 11 footballers in all had drug cases covered up. It quoted email evidence as saying that "the SAVE decision for the football players was the final decision of 'VL'. "VL is the first name and patronymic name initials of the Minister of Sport Vitaly Leontiyevich Mutko, who is also the president of the Russian football federation." FIFA acknowledged the WADA call but said its ethics committee is independent "and only it can decide what actions to take in respect to this issue. "For its part, FIFA will request from WADA all details concerning the individual cases of doping in Russian football that are referenced in the McLaren report. Once FIFA receives this information from WADA, it will take the appropriate next steps." Mutko is due to stand for re-election to FIFA in March. The Kremlin said officials "directly" implicated by the report would be suspended but did not name them and attacked what it called the "dangerous" new "interference of politics in sport." WADA president Craig Reedie demanded that the Russian government sack all sports ministry officials "implicated" by the McLaren report, but did not name any individuals. Much of the McLaren report is based on evidence provided by Rodchenkov, former director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory now in hiding in the United States. Rodchenkov told the inquiry that in meetings with deputy minister Nagornykh on the doping cover-up, "Nagornykh told him that Minister of Sport Mutko was aware of everything that they were discussing. "Dr Rodchenkov`s evidence is that it is inconceivable that Minister Mutko was not aware of the doping cover-up scheme." The Kremlin has slammed Rodchenkov as "a person with a scandalous reputation." Rodchenkov is now under criminal investigation by Russian authorities. The McLaren report said however that there were "several documents which tend to corroborate Dr Rodechenkov's conclusion." Rodchenkov said he discussed a response to a German television documentary last year on doping in Russian athletics with Mutko. The whistleblower added that he met with Mutko before the Sochi Olympics. "Dr Rodchenkov`s evidence is that the doping cover up plan for Sochi was discussed at those meetings." Rodchenkov also testified that Mutko knew about bribes allegedly paid to former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Lamine Diack to cover up doping failures by race walkers. "Dr Rodchenkov's evidence is that in September 2012 he met with Minister Mutko to discuss the IAAF's extorsion demand. "At that meeting, Minister Mutko asked Dr Rodchenkov whether the situation was really so bad he needed to pay all of that money, thereby exposing his knowledge of the doping problem in Russian athletics." McLaren made clear the power of the sports ministry, refered to as the MofS, over the Moscow and Sochi doping laboratories during the Winter Olympics and other events. "The Moscow laboratory was effectively caught up in the jaws of a vice. It was a key player in the successful operation of a state imposed and rigorously imposed programme which was overall managed and dictated by the MofS." (AFP)

Russian sports minister Mutko in doping controversy spotlight

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