Last year, Bangladesh national team's captain Jamal Bhuiyan signed an official contract with Argentine Club social y Deportivo Sol De Mayo which is a third division football club of Argentina.  Jamal was warmly welcomed by the Argentine team as the first Bangladeshi footballer. But this time the national team's captain has complained to FIFA against the club. Jamal's contract with Sol De Mayo was for one and a half seasons. Jamal has already played half a season for the team. According to the contract, the Bangladesh captain was supposed to get $ 12,000 per month. Jamal's notice to FIFA states that he has not received a month's salary from Sol de Mayo!

Morocco, Portugal and Spain will be joint hosts for the 2030 World Cup, but some matches will also be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, FIFA announced on Wednesday. FIFA, the world soccer's governing body, said in a statement that the matches in South America were part of the celebration of the centenary of the first World Cup in Uruguay. "The centennial World Cup could not be far from South America, where everything began," said Alejandro Dominguez, the president of South American soccer body CONMEBOL. "The 2030 World Cup will be played in three continents." Acceptance of a unified 2030 candidacy still needs formal approval next year at a meeting of the 211 member federations, but this step is seen mainly as a formality. "In 2030, we will have a unique global footprint, three continents — Africa, Europe and South America — six countries — Argentina, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay — welcoming and uniting the world while celebrating together the beautiful game, the centenary and the FIFA World Cup," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement. The 48-team, 104-game tournament scheduled for June-July 2030 would start with games in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay, before moving on to the core host nations Spain, Portugal and Morocco for the later stages of the competition. It will involve an unprecedented amount of travel and time zone-crossing for teams, and possibly for fans trying to follow their teams.  Sole candidate for the competition The multi-country bid is the only one being formally considered for the 2030 World Cup, which means FIFA will avoid the often contentious bidding and voting process that came under such sharp scrutiny in 2010 when Russia was named the 2018 tournament host and Qatar the 2022 venue.  Subsequent allegations of corruption in those votes only served to heighten the controversy and ultimately led to former President Sepp Blatter's departure and to Infantino taking up the role.  FIFA had made it possible for the competition to take place in multiple different countries ahead of the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup, won by a joint bid from the US, Canada and Mexico. Morocco, now included in 2030's plans, had been the only other contender in applying to host that competition.  UEFA carried out a similar experiment for Euro 2020 (ultimately held in 2021 because of the COVID pandemic), which took place across 11 host cities around Europe. In a bid to make room for countries and regions that have gone many years now without hosting a World Cup, the bidding process to host the 2034 competition will only be open to member federations from Asia and Oceania. Saudi Arabia is rumored to be one interested party, as is Australia, which co-hosted this year's women's World Cup with New Zealand. 

FIFA has provisionally suspended the Luis Rubiales, the head of Spain's national football association, almost a week after he kissed player Jenni Hermoso allegedly without her consent after the team won the Women's World Cup. "The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee... has decided today to provisionally suspend Mr Luis Rubiales from all football-related activities at national and international level," FIFA said in a statement on Saturday. The action was taken to preserve "the fundamental rights" of Hermoso. FIFA also ordered Rubiales and the Spanish football federation not to contact Hermoso or those around her. The suspension period will initially last for 90 days, pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings that FIFA opened against Rubiales on Thursday. The Spanish football federation later said Rubiales would defend himself against the suspension. "Luis Rubiales has stated that he will legally defend himself in the competent bodies, he fully trusts FIFA and reiterates that, in this way, he is given the opportunity to begin his defense so that the truth prevails and his complete innocence is proven," the federation said in a statement. The entire women's team and many more players said the would no longer represent Spain until Rubiales steps down. Spanish football federation threatens legal action The suspension comes after the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) threatened to take legal action against Hermoso. In a statement published late on Friday, it said it would take "as many legal actions as necessary to defend the honor of the President of the RFEF." Rubiales meanwhile said this week that he considered himself the target of a "social assassination."  It said that it had attempted to contact Hermoso but was unsuccessful in receiving a response. "In a state governed by the rule of law, as [Rubiales] has argued, opinions are countered with facts and evidence and lies are refuted in court," it said. It did not specify what the legal action would consist of. The RFEF said that the federation would prove that claims that had been "spread either in [Hermoso's] name [...] or by the player herself" were "lies." In its statement, the federation published three photos and claimed they showed that Hermoso had lifted Rubiales up during a hug, meaning that the federation boss "could not exert any force." However, the photos were seemingly taken before Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips. Earlier, Hermoso said: "I want to make clear that, as was seen in the images, I did not at any point consent to the kiss he gave me and of course I definitely did not try to lift up [Rubiales]." The player also said that she felt "vulnerable and like the victim of an assault." RFEF had claimed that Hermoso said that the kiss was a "mutual gesture" between her and Rubiales, which the player later said was falsely attributed to her. "I won't tolerate anyone putting in doubt my word and even more so that anyone invents words that I did not say," she said. Spanish sports council demands Rubiales' suspension Spain's National Sports Council (CSD) submitted a request for the country's administrative court for sports (TAD) to suspend Rubiales over "unacceptable behavior." The council said that it considered that Rubiales had abused his authority and had committed public acts that had infringed on dignity or decorum in sports. "Both infringements are considered 'very serious,' which allows for the adoption of a measure of provisional suspension of Luis Rubiales as the president of the [RFEF]," it said in its petition. Rubiales on Friday refused to resign following broad condemnation of his conduct. FIFA has also launched its own proceedings against the Spanish football boss. "Mr Rubiales has not lived up to what was expected of him," CSD president Victor Francos said. "His reaction has disappointed us." Player's union calls for action, FIFA launches probe On Wednesday, the Spanish player's union, FUTPRO, issued a joint statement calling for action to be taken against Rubiales. The England women's team, who lost against Spain in the World Cup final, expressed their solidarity on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, saying: "We all stand with you Jenni Hermoso and all players of the Spanish team." They also slammed the "Unacceptable actions allowed to happen by a sexist and patriarchal organisation. Abuse is abuse and we have all seen the truth." Meanwhile, the head of Germany's FC Bayern Munich Karl-Heinz Rummenigge defended Rubiales' behavior, saying it was "absolutely OK," comments for which he drew widespread condemnation. "When you become a world champion, you get emotional. And what he did there is, with all due respect, absolutely OK," he said, adding that he had "kissed men" when the team won the 2020 World Cup. On Saturday, German Bundesliga fans condemned both Rubiales' behaviour and Rummenigge's defense of him. During a match against Werder Bremen, Freiburg fans held held a banner that read: "A fist instead of a kiss for Rubiales and Rummenigge — sorry, with all due respect — absolutely OK." freiburg supporters also held another banner reflecting on the week-long saga. "Balance of power played out perfectly again," it read. "Women win the World Cup — everyone's talking about toxic masculinity."

Brazilian soccer player Vinicius Junior has agreed to join a new task force to tackle racism in football. The Real Madrid star was recently racially abused during a La Liga match with Valencia. Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior will play a "prominent role" in a new anti-racism task force, the world football governing body, FIFA, said on Thursday. FIFA "would set up a task force to make specific recommendations, with Vinicius Junior taking a prominent role," the governing body said in a statement. Racial incidents: Next time we must stop the match says FIFA Vinicius, who is Black, was racially abused by Valencia fans in May in an incident which provoked worldwide outrage. "It's very important not just to talk about racism and discrimination, but to take action in a decisive and convincing manner — zero tolerance," FIFA president Gianni Infantino wrote in an Instagram post. "FIFA is together with the Brazilian Football Confederation and with all the players in this fight. It's important to introduce sporting sanctions and I congratulate CBF for having done so already." "There is no football if there is racism!" the FIFA president continued. "So let’s stop the games. The referees have this opportunity in FIFA competitions as we have this process for stopping the game, and actions have to be taken at every level, at national level as well. Everyone has to understand this and we will go, together, until the end." Vinicius has been subjected to racial abuse on numerous occasions over the last two years, with little to no action being taken. It was only after the 10th reported incident of racist abuse aimed at the wide player since 2021, during last month's La Liga match between Valencia and Real Madrid at the Mestalla stadium, that Spanish football and the country finally decided to take action. Seven arrests were made by police in wake of the incident and Spain’s football federation (RFEF) launched an anti-racism campaign while ordering the partial closure of Valencia’s stadium. Vinicius speaks up Vinicius spoke to reporters for the first time since he was racially abused in Valencia last month. He thanked everyone who supported him. "Everyone has been giving me strength so I can continue in this battle," he said. "Infantino came today to show his support and asked me for advice on which players I think should be on the committee FIFA is creating. I think it's important and necessary, I embrace it," Vinicius added. Supporters found guilty of abusing Vinicius were issued stadium bans and fines by Spanish authorities last week. Worldwide problem Infantino stressed that measures should be taken globally to eradicate racial  discrimination in football. "Unfortunately, racism is not a problem that exists only in Spain. It exists in many, many other countries. That is why we need to take collective measures to fight against it all over the world," Infantino said. FIFA already created an anti-racism task force in 2013 after a notorious incident of abuse suffered in Italy by AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, who is Black. Boateng worked with the task force which FIFA shut down in 2016, months after Infantino was elected. FIFA said then the task force had "completely fulfilled its temporary mission."

FIFA had been holding out for more money from several major European free-to-air broadcasters, threatening not to sell broadcast rights to the competition at all. The news comes just weeks before kickoff. World football's governing body FIFA on Wednesday announced that it had struck a deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to air the 2023 Women's World Cup on free TV in the continent's five biggest markets.  "FIFA is delighted to widen the deal with the European Broadcasting Union for the transmission of the upcoming FIFA Women's World Cup to include the five major markets within their existing networks, namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as Ukraine, thus ensuring maximum exposure for the tournament," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a press release on the organization's website.  No financial details of the deal were announced.  Last-minute haggling in first-ever separate tender This follows a standoff with FIFA demanding more money from major European broadcasters, even saying it might withhold the rights altogether if necessary, a threat that always rang slightly hollow. German captain Alexandra Popp had earlier called the threat "empty words."  Besides commercial sponsorship deals usually from major corporations and ticket prices on site, TV deals are a core component of FIFA's revenues from such competitions. They're also a necessary vehicle for airing and promoting the competition; unlike some sports these days, FIFA offers no direct video feeds or subscription services of its own, though it had mooted setting up some such service at the last minute, without explaining how.  FIFA listed German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, the BBC and ITV in the UK, France Televisions, RAI in Italy and RTVE in Spain. It also listed French broadcaster M6, which is not a part of the EBU.  The competition in Australia and New Zealand begins on July 20, meaning FIFA left the accord almost as late as was possible. It had announced a preliminary deal with 28 European countries — but generally in much smaller and less lucrative markets — last October, closer to the time frame you'd normally expect.  Several European countries that will play in the competition — Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Portugal — did not feature on Wednesday's updated list of partner broadcast countries.  DFB welcomes deal to avoid 'blackout' It's the first time FIFA had ever put the Women's competition up for a separate tender, having in the past bundled it in with the rights for the men's World Cup.  FIFA had been arguing that the ratings successes of recent women's football competitions meant that public broadcasters should pay more for the rights.  In Germany, ARD director Axel Balkausky had said his network had made a fair bid for the rights, but "would not allow themselves to be blackmailed." The head of the DFB, or German FA, Bernd Neuendorf issued a statement saying he was "delighted" at the deal "avoiding a blackout," and said airing the competition would be "of enormous importance for the further development of women's football in Germany."  Germany's women's coach, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, told DW last month that the limbo left her "speechless," and said that, "for me, there is no alternative. There has to be a deal."  On Wednesday, Voss-Tecklenburg thanked "everyone involved for reaching an agreement." "Now we can go into the preparation phase with even more momentum and positive energy," she said.  Stellar recent viewing figures face tough time zone test Down Under TV ratings from the 2019 Women's World Cup in France and the 2022 European Championships in England were impressive in several European countries, Germany included. Germany's defeat in the final to hosts England in 2022 drew almost 18 million viewers, making it the most watched sports event of the year, with slightly more viewers than the German national team's elimination in the men's World Cup group stage later that year, according to data from a tracking company.  But several factors spoke in the competitions' favor in Europe. The matches took place during prime time evening viewing. And Euro 2022 took place when a men's World Cup should have been competing for viewer eyeballs but was not, because it had to be postponed to the winter in equatorial Qatar. And of course, Germany's women nearly won the whole thing, attracting fair weather domestic fans later in the competition, while the men crashed out in the group stage for a second straight World Cup.  The upcoming competition in Australia and New Zealand could prove a sterner test of viewers' dedication on the other side of the globe, with games therefore taking place early in the European morning and in the middle of the night in the Americas. 

The General Secretary of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), Abu Nayeem Shohag, has been banned from all football activities for 2 years by the highest body of international football (FIFA) and ordered to pay a fine of CHF 10,000 for having used false and/or falsified documents to justify payments made by the BFF with FIFA funds. In a media release FIFA said, "In addition to the evidence collected during the investigations conducted by the investigatory chamber in the applicable proceedings, the adjudicatory chamber was comfortably satisfied, after having conducted a hearing and upon careful analysis of the evidence presented before it, that Mr Shohag had breached articles 13 (General duties), 15 (Duty of loyalty) and 24 (Forgery and falsification) of the FIFA Code of Ethics, 2020 edition." Source: FIFA.com

Two months after winning the World Cup, Argentina's Messi has been named the best male footballer over the last 12 months, eclipsing Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema. Spain's Alexia Putellas won the top women's player. Lionel Messi was named FIFA male player of the year at a ceremony in Paris on Monday on the back of his World Cup triumph with Argentina. The 35-year-old forward scored two goals in the World Cup final, which Argentina won on penalties against France following a 3-3 draw after extra time. Messi beat his Paris Saint-Germain teammate, and World Cup final rival, Kylian Mbappe to the award with Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema the other contender to claim the prize. It is the second time that Messi has won the honor inaugurated by FIFA in 2016 after football's world governing body split from Ballon d'Or organizers France Football. Putellas wins women's award Spain's Alexia Putellas was named the Best FIFA women's player for 2022. She is currently recovering from a serious knee injury suffered last July which saw her miss the Euros in England. Prior to that she had scored 11 goals on Barcelona's run to the Champions League final, which they lost to Lyon.

Lionel Messi has had a dream year in 2022. He achieved his biggest dream, the FIFA world cup. Leading from the front, Messi helped his team to win the World Cup. He is believed to be in the final fight for FIFA's 'The Best FIFA Men's Player Award'.  Kylian Mbappé played superb football in the World Cup final.  Karim Benzema is also in the race to win the FIFA best. Based on their performance 14 people were initially nominated  during the period from August 8, 2021 to December 18, 2022.  On Friday, February 10, FIFA announced names of the top three. Men's national team coaches, captains, journalists and football fans voted to finalize the names of Messi, Mbappe and Benzema.  'FIFA the Best' award will be given in Paris on February 27. Lionel Messi After leaving Barcelona, Messi joined the PSG. In the beginning, Messi did not play well for PSG. Although it was not too late to settle down and spread the spark of his skill. But the best of Messi can be seen in the Argentina jersey in 2022 FIFA world cup.  Especially in Qatar World Cup, Messi played hard for Argentina. He was on the pitch every moment for Argentina, contributing the highest number of goals for his team. The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner also scored a pair of goals in the final against France. 7 goals with three assists. Messi also won the best player award in World Cup. Messi is strong contender to win this award. Kylian Mbappé In 2018, Kylian Mbappé won the World Cup. The 24-year-old French star came so close to win his second World Cup in 2022.  Despite playing great football in the final against Argentina, it didn't happen in the end. Mbappé won the Golden Boot award by scoring the maximum 8 goals in the World Cup. He also scored a hat-trick in the final.  Trailing by two goals in the final, France turned around with his own brilliance. He also created a winning situation after equalizing.  Karim Benzema Karim Benzema went to the World Cup with big dream. But injury halted his campaign.  But Benzema was irresistible in club football. He scored 15 goals to win the Champions League. He scored 10 goals in the knockout stage. Benzema scored total 27 goals for the team to win the Spanish La Liga. He won the Ballon d'Or last year with such skill at the club. However, this star may have fallen behind in the race than Messi and Mbappe due to not being able to play in the World Cup.

Final three nominees for the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper and the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper announced FIFA has announced the final nominees in the women’s and men’s goalkeeper category. The winners will be crowned on Monday, 27 February 2023 in Paris. Finalists for the Best FIFA Women’s Coach and the Best FIFA Men’s Coach will be announced on Thursday, 9 February 2023. FIFA has announced the finalists for the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper and the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper awards for the 2022 edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards. The final three nominees for the Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper are: Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women), Mary Earps (England / Manchester United WFC), Christiane Endler (Chile / Olympique Lyonnais). The final three nominees for the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper are: Yassine Bounou (Morocco / Sevilla FC), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid CF), Emiliano Martínez (Argentina / Aston Villa FC). These two awards are given to the outstanding goalkeepers in women’s and men’s football as voted for by an international jury respectively comprising the current coaches of all women’s/men’s national teams (one per team), the current captains of all women’s/men’s national teams (one per team), one specialist journalist from each territory represented by a national team and fans registered on FIFA.com. The full voting and award process is detailed in the Rules of Allocation. In addition, the finalists for the Best FIFA Women’s Coach and the Best FIFA Men’s Coach will be announced on Thursday, 9 February 2023, and the finalists for the Best FIFA Women’s Player, the Best FIFA Men’s Player and the FIFA Puskás Award will be communicated on Friday, 10 February 2023. All the winners of the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 will be crowned at a special ceremony on Monday, 27 February 2023 in Paris. Source: FIFA

Bangladesh got off to a flying start in the two-match FIFA International Friendly (Tier-1) outplaying upper-ranked Bhutan by 4-1 goals in the first match at floodlit Bangabandhu National Stadium in the capital on Sunday. Forward Nabib Newaz Ziban scored twice, midfielder Biplu Ahamed and Rabiul Hasan scored one goal each for the hosts while Dorji scored the lone goal for Bhutan.   The 2nd and last FIFA friendly match between the two teams will be held on October 3 at the same venue.   Bangladesh booters are preparing for the next matches of Joint Qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 against Qatar in their home match on October 10 at Bangabandhu National Stadium and their away match with India on October 15 at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. As part of the preparations, they are playing two preparatory matches against Bhutan national football team.  In the day’s match, Bangladesh started an attacking football from the very beginning and produced some good chances, putting pressure on the Bhutanese defence.  In the 10th minute, midfielder Mohammad Ibrahim missed a close chance while Saad Uddin sent the ball to him from outside the box.   But, the result came just after a minute as forward Ziban opened the Bangladesh account by a good header from the goalmouth melee, utilising a pass of captain cum midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan, off a corner kick taken by Saad Uddin in the 11th minute (1-0).   Bangladesh earned another success in the 39th minute when Ziban netted his 2nd goal by an amazing right-footed volley from inside the box, capitalising on midfielder Ibrahim cross (2-0).   After the half time, touring Bhutan came alive and reduced the margin in the 51st minute when their forward Dorji scored from the danger zone, off a free-kick off midfielder Tshering Dorji (2-1).   Bangladesh missed another close chance to widen the margin in the 62nd minute but Bhutanese goalkeeper Ngawng Jamphel denied a long range left-footed shot by substitute midfielder Md Rabiul Hasan.   But in the 74th minute, midfielder Biplu Ahamed scored the 3rd goal for Bangladesh by a close-range right footer from inside the box (3-1).    In the 81st minute, Rabiul Hasan sealed the fate of the match by a left-footed low range shot utilising a pass from Biplu Ahamed (4-1). Bangladesh are currently 41st in AFC and 187th in FIFA rankings while Bhutan 39th in AFC and 185th in FIFA rankings. Earlier, a 26-member Bhutan national team – 20 players and six officials – arrived Dhaka on Friday responding to BFF’s invitation to play the two practice matches.  Bangladesh: Ashraful Islam Rana, Rahmat Mia, Yeasin Khan, Bishwanath Ghosh, Jamal Bhuiyan, Nabib Newaz Jiban, Biplu Ahamed, Saad Uddin, Md Ibrahim (Md Rabiul Hasan-46th minute), Sohel Rana.  Bhutan:  Ngawng Jamphel, Lungtok Dawa, Jigme Tsdhering Dorjee, Nima Tshering, Chencho Gyeltshen, Dawa Tshering, Tenzin Dorji, Chimi Dorji, Tshering Dorji, Tinley Dorji, Dorji (Kabi Raj Rai-79th).  Referee:  Md Jalal Uddin  Source: UNB AH