Tag: International

AFCON 2021: Controversial referee who ended Tunisia vs Mali game early claims it was a message from God

Janny Sikazwe, the referee who officiated the Tunisia vs Mali group stage game in the ongoing African Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon, has claimed that he ended the game after hearing from God.

Sikaziwe blew for full-time early in the Group F opening match between Tunisia and Mali in the ongoing AfCON, and has now claimed he did so because he felt a heatstroke coming on. He also claimed that he could have died if he did not end the match early.

The Zambian official blew for full time five minutes to the end of the full 90 minutes regulation time in the match that was played on January 12. He was later forced to restart the game and still ended it 13 seconds early.

Tunisia were losing 1-0 and playing against a Mali side that were a man down. The referee’s decision left the bench of Tunisia furious and they stormed onto the pitch to confront him.

Sikaziwe had to be escorted off the pitch by security as the tensions started to boil over. The AFCON LOC ordered the match to be resumed, but Tunisia did not return to the pitch inadvertently giving the victory to Mali.

Sikaziwe was later suspended by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the rest of the tournament and has now come out to say that he ended the match after God told him to, due to him feeling a heatstroke coming on.

“I have seen people going for duties outside the country and come back in a casket,” he told reporters after arriving back in Zambia. “I was very close to coming back like that.

“I was lucky I didn’t go into a coma. It would have been a very different story. The doctors told me my body was not cooling down. It would have been just a little time before [I would have gone] into a coma, and that would have been the end.

“I think God told me to end the match. He saved me.”

Unusual climate led to my decision, Sikaziwe claims

Sikazwe further insisted that the extreme Sub-Saharan climate, which has seen some matches at the tournament played in temperatures of over 30C, affected him a lot.

“The weather was so hot, and the humidity was about 85 per cent,” he continued. 

“After the warm-up I felt the [conditions] were something else. We were trying to drink water but you could not feel the water quenching you – nothing.

“But we [match officials] believe we are soldiers and we go and fight.

“Everything I was putting on was hot. Even the communication equipment, I wanted to throw it away. It was so hot.”

AFCON Update: Stampede kills six, injures 40 in Cameroon knockout game

An unfortunate stampede which killed six fans occurred as the hosts of the 33rd African Cup of Nations, Cameroon, battled Comoros for a spot in the quarter finals.

Five-time AfCON winners Cameroon are looking to secure their sixth title at home in front of their football loving compatriots and this overzealousness led to a stampede occurring in the Indomitable Lions round of 16 game against debutants Comoros.

40 people including children were injured and six people have been pronounced dead in the stampede as a large crowd tried to force their way into the Olembe stadium in the country’s capital Yaounde to see Cameroon play Comoros.

The Olembe stadium is a 60,000 capacity stadium but COVID-19 restrictions mean that the grounds will have to restrict its capacity to 80 percent of its total. Fans, however, we’re having none of it and over 50,000 tried to gain access into the grounds, leading to the stampede.

Yaounde authorities have also come out to say that the casualty numbers could be more as news continues to come out about the stampede.

Regional governor Naseri Paul Biya said that there could be more casualties as news continues to filter out on the emergency.

CAF statement on the Stampede

The Confederation of African Football (CAF), has come out with a statement concerning the stampede.

The statement reads: “CAF is aware of the incident that took place at Olembe Stadium during the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations fixture between hosts Cameroon and Comoros tonight, 24 January 2022.

“CAF is currently investigating the situation and trying to get more details on what transpired. We are in constant communication with Cameroon government and the Local Organizing Committee.

“Tonight, the CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe sent the General Secretary, Veron Mosengo-Omba to visit the supporters in hospital in Yaounde.”

Malawi boss hits out at AfCON LOC

Elsewhere, the manager of the Malawian national team Mario Marinica has slammed the local organising committee of the African Cup of Nations for perceived bias against the smaller teams.

Malawi are in their first ever knockout rounds of the AfCON tournament after qualifying from Group B as one of the best third placed teams and will be facing Morocco on Tuesday. However, manager Marinica has claimed that the circumstances in which his team have been living is affecting their overall preparation for games.

“You wouldn’t see Sadio Mane washing his own underpants and hanging them on a bush to dry,” Marinica said to ESPN. “Gambia have the same problem, and there are different standards here, teams are being treated differently.

“Certain questions have to be asked; why are these things happening to us, why only to the smaller teams, why only to Comoros, Gambia, us?

“I couldn’t have milk for coffee, they said the milk was finished until tomorrow. We are treated like second-class citizens, but if you’re a hotel manager and you see this happening, you take charge, you can’t allow it in this day and age, at this level of competition.”

Marinica also hit out at the officiating in the tournament, which has seen some questionable calls being made.

“Honesty on the pitch is important,” he said. “The referee in the last match played a huge part in our draw with Senegal, where we had a clear-cut penalty, the player was pushed, pulled and the referee gave nothing.

“Later, the ref gave offside when he should have played advantage, it’s as though we are second-rate citizens.”

Malawi midfielder John Banda backed up his manager’s claims. “Our clothes haven’t been washed, it’s true, and we’re facing some problems. It’s unfortunate that we’re being taken as underdogs,” he said.

“As Africa, we need to be treated equally, the same as Senegal, Nigeria, all equally. This is a competition, no teams are guaranteed they will win it, and we all need equal treatment and fairness.”

FIFA introduce new rules for loaning of players

The world football governing body, FIFA, has introduced new rules to govern the loaning of players by clubs, in an attempt the body claims is aimed at preventing the hoarding of talents by clubs.

The new rules were announced on Thursday and will kick into effect in July, just ahead of the 2022/23 European football season.

As a result of the new rules, clubs will only be limited to 16 loan deals: eight loaned in, and eight loaned out across all their squads. The following season will see the number drop to 14 (seven in, seven out), and the season after that will see the number drop to 12 (six in, six out), which will be the final number going forward.

The new rules to govern the loan of players are part of a wider reform of the player transfer system which FIFA began to look into in 2017. FIFA have mandated national associations to bring their own regulations in line with the new rules by July 1 2025 at the latest.

FIFA are still fine-tuning the rules with an approval yet to be given by the FIFA Council in charge of major changes like these. However, pending the official approval which has been reported to be scheduled for between July 2022 and June 2023, clubs will find the exemption of u-21 players and academy players to the rules a favourable loophole to exploit as these players are the ones for whom the idea of loans benefit the most.

FIFA claims that the new rules have been drawn up with the intention of helping to develop young players, improve competitive balance and prevent the stockpiling of players. They were originally due to be implemented in July 2020 but were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FIFA statement on new loan rules

A FIFA statement on the new rules read: “Objective is to develop young players, promote competitive balance and prevent hoarding.

“Following the decision passed by the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee last year, the new regulations concerning loans of players in international football are now ready to be implemented. They will be submitted to the FIFA Council for approval at its next meeting with a view to their entering into force on 1 July 2022.

“The introduction of a new regulatory framework for player loans is another important step in the context of the wider reform of the transfer system, the process of which began in 2017. Initially planned to start in July 2020, the implementation of the new rules had to be delayed as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Other loan rules by FIFA

The rules described above cover international loan deals and don’t affect domestic loan deals. However, clubs will be restricted to only six loan deals (three in, three out) with one team outside their country at any given time.

Each loan will only last one year, meaning that it must be done between two transfer windows.

Sub-loaning of a player (when both clubs agree to send an already loaned player to another club to finish the loan due to playing time or other reasons) will be banned.

All these regulations are a result of FIFA being concerned that wealthy clubs are hoarding players and preventing less wealthy clubs from accessing quality talent on loan.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic joins Cristiano Ronaldo in exclusive list

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 40, has further staked his claim to be one of the games most legendary strikers after he joined Manchester United forward and five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo record as the only players to have scored against 80 different teams.

Ibrahimovic, who is one of only five active players to have scored more than 500 career goals, is determined to ensure that he achieves as much as he can individually as he nears the end of a very illustrious playing career.

The big Swede joined AC Milan in 2020 for a third stint after taking almost a year away from the sport and has been phenomenal for the Rossoneri. The former Paris Saint-Germain forward has scored 36 goals in 64 games for the club, taking his tally to 92 goals in 149 appearances in Rossoneri colours.

This season, he is the club’s top scorer in Serie A with eight goals from 13 games to put him among players with the best goal-per-minute ratio in Italy this season.

Ibrahimovic scored his eighth goal of the season in the first two minutes of AC Milan’s win over Venezia to equal Ronaldo’s record. He tapped in from close range following a cross from fellow attacker Rafael Leao to put the Italian giants ahead.

The goal was one of three unreplied goals scored by Milan on Sunday night, as they go head to head with city rivals and stadium neighbours Internazionale for the Serie A title this season, one point separating both teams as things stand.

Ibrahimovic not looking forward to retirement

Ibrahimovic signed with Milan for one year in the summer of 2020 but his impressive performances convinced manager Stefano Pioli to urge the board to keep him for another year.

There has been no concrete news of a contract extension and as such, plenty of speculation surrounding the former Barcelona man’s career has sprung up. Some reports, however, claim that Milan is looking into the possibility of giving Zlatan one more year as they continue their squad rebuild in the same vein as stadium neighbours Inter Milan.

Ibrahimovic, who has also come out of international competition retirement to play for the Swedish national team again as he targets one last World Cup finals appearance, previously talked about his fear of retiring from the game he still loves with a passion.

“I want to play as long as possible,” he told the Italian talk show Che Tempo Che Fa earlier this month. “As long as I have that adrenaline, I will continue.

“I don’t know what will happen after football, so I am a little scared to stop. We’ll see, but I want to continue playing so that I don’t have any regrets.

“Let’s put pressure on Milan here to give me an extension and I hope to stay at Milan for life,” Ibrahimovic added.

“I still have objectives that I can achieve and I want to win another Scudetto.”

Gareth Bale considering retirement from football after 2021/22 season

Gareth Bale is set to call time on his illustrious career at the end of the season, but could extend it further if Wales qualify for the World Cup, according to reports.

The Wales star is said to only be focused on making sure that his country qualifies for the December 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and will retire if that target is not met.

Wales will have to play a play-off game against Austria, and beat either Scotland or Ukraine if they beat Austria to qualify for their first World Cup in 64 years.

Should Wales scale these hurdles, the 32-year-old could also move to the English Championship to play for Cardiff City or Swansea City in order to maintain match fitness for the tournament.

Bale has been at Real Madrid since 2013 and has won 13 titles including four Champions League titles, two LaLiga titles and one Copa Del Rey title which he scored the most famous goal of his career to seal for Los Blancos.

He has, however, been out of favour at the Spanish giants for the past two seasons and with his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu expiring in the summer, he has reportedly made his decision to bow out of the sport.

Bale could sign a short-term contract close to home, reports say

Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol made these claims on Friday.

“If Wales don’t qualify for the World Cup I think there is a very good chance that Bale will just retire from football when his contract runs out in the summer because he feels he’s achieved everything he set out to achieve in the game,” Solhekol said.

“If he’s not going to be able to play in the World Cup with Wales then he’ll retire.

Solhekol further claimed that Bale will seek a club close to home to play for in order to stay match fit for Wales, should they qualify.

“What I think he will then do is try to sign a short-term contract with a club back in the Premier League or the Championship.

“I actually think it is more likely that it could be a club in Wales in the Championship that he signs a short-term contract with,” said Solhekol.

The Athletic‘s David Ornstein made the same claims in his column.

“If Wales safely navigate the qualification play-offs and Bale wants to feature in the finals, he will look to join a club – unlikely to be one at the very top level – in order to prepare himself for the December tournament,” Ornstein wrote.

Cardiff or Swansea are the touted clubs where Bale could be winding down his playing career. Both clubs will be keen to secure Bale’s services if financial terms can be agreed.

Solhekol: Bale has achieved everything he wanted in club game

“This is an interesting story about Gareth Bale because obviously he is out of contract in the summer,” Solhekol said.

“He has always maintained he will stay at Real Madrid until the end of his deal, even though he may not be playing regularly.

“I think if Wales qualify for the World Cup then he’s going to be without a club in the summer because his contract is set to expire at Real Madrid. So what I think he will then do is try to sign a short-term contract with a club back in the Premier League or the Championship.

“I actually think it is more likely that it could be a club in Wales in the Championship that he signs a short-term contract with.

“And if Wales don’t qualify for the World Cup I think there is a very good chance that Bale will just retire from football when his contract runs out in the summer because he feels he’s achieved everything he set out to achieve in the game and if he’s not going to be able to play in the World Cup with Wales then he’ll retire.”

“I died for five minutes” – Christian Eriksen finally speaks following his slump at Euro 2020

Christian Eriksen has come out with an interview following the events that occurred over the summer while representing Denmark at the Euro 2020 tournament.

The midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest as Denmark faced Finland in their Euro 2020 opener in Copenhagen last June. Eriksen fell to the ground and looked to be passing out but quick thinking from Simon Kjaer and the solid work from the medical staff on the pitch led to his life being saved.

Fans, players, coaches, clubs and pundits poured out heartfelt emotions towards the Dane’s situation and his home country of Denmark honoured him in a big way during the tournament.

Denmark went on to reach the semi finals of the tournament, using Christian Eriksen’s situation as motivation, much to the happiness of the midfielder. However, they were denied a third place playoff as UEFA changed the rules of the tournament before it began.

Since then, the former Tottenham Hotspur man has been in slow and steady recovery, and finally feels ready to play football again.

“It was quite extraordinary”, Eriksen says of the show of affection received

Eriksen opened up about the incident in an interview with Danish TV channel DR 1. He said: “It was amazing that so many people felt the need to write or send flowers.

“It had an impact on so many people and they felt the need to let me and my family know. That made me very happy.

“At the hospital, they kept saying I’d receive more and more flowers.

“It was weird because I didn’t expect people to send flowers – because I died for five minutes.

“It was quite extraordinary, but it was very nice of everyone and it’s been a big help to me to receive all those best wishes. And people still write to me.

“I’ve thanked people I’ve met in person, I’ve thanked the doctors, my team-mates and their families in person.

“But all the fans who have sent thousands of letters, emails and flowers or who come up to me in the street – both in Italy and Denmark – I thank them all for the support that I got from all over the world that helped me through this.”

Eriksen has offers from the Premier League, agent claims

The 29-year-old midfielder, who was contracted to Internazionale at the time, had to leave the Serie A title holders due to laws preventing anyone with a heart issue from participating in active sport in Italy.

An Inter statement after both parties agreed on a mutual contract termination read: “FC Internazionale Milano announces that an agreement has been reached for the consensual termination of Christian Eriksen’s contract.

“The club and the entire Nerazzurri family embrace the player and wish him the best for his future.

“Christian was a key figure in our march to the Scudetto – a team effort which Eriksen contributed to with his vision, intuition, passing, assists and goals, including some big ones.”

Now a free agent, Eriksen has been training at his boyhood club Ødense Boldklub in Denmark and in Switzerland when in Italy with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) fitted to him, as he looks for a way back into professional football.

Eriksen’s agent Martin Schoots told Daily Mail that his client has offers to get back on the pitch, however.

Schoots said: “It is going really well for Christian. He had all the checks just before Christmas and the results were so good that we expect him to be involved in a group training with a team some time later in January.

“But I would prefer Christian to talk about this himself and he will do so very soon.

“Christian is very ambitious. Italy is one of the only countries with these regulations. 

“In other countries it is very different. His contract with Inter has been terminated and now we can look forward.”

Eriksen has eyes set on World Cup

Despite his near-death experience, Eriksen has no intention of hanging up his boots.

Speaking in the interview with DR 1, he said: “My goal is to play in the World Cup in Qatar. I want to play.

“That’s been my mindset all along.

“It’s a goal, it’s a dream. Whether I’ll be picked is another thing. But it’s my dream to come back.

“I’m sure I can come back because I dont feel any different. Physically, I’m back in top shape.

“That’s my goal and it’s still some time away. So until then, I’m just going to play football and prove that I’m back at the same level.”

“That’s really s***”: Sebastian Haller replies Afcon or club question

Sebastian Haller is the latest to kick against the “disrespect” shown by Europeans towards the African Cup of Nations.

COVID is currently ripping throughout Europe and the restrictions from the thick of the pandemic are back in many countries.

A few African nations have been red-listed by some European countries and why this move is causing eyebrows to be raised on the political scene, European clubs are looking to take advantage of this to prevent their players from leaving for Afcon.

The 27-year-old former France youth international who declared for the country of his mother’s birth in 2020, was asked by a correspondent of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf if he would answer Cote d’Ivoire’s call to represent them at Afcon.

Furiously, he replied, “This question shows the disrespect for Africa. Would this question ever get asked to a European player ahead of the EUROs?

“Of course I am going to the Africa Cup [of Nations]. This tournament was actually supposed to be held in the summer, but was postponed due to Covid.

“Of course I will go to the Africa Cup to represent Ivory Coast. That is the highest honour.”

“I hate having to choose,” Haller says

Haller’s outburst is as a result of the way African players across Europe have been asked to choose between club and country.

Many prominent African footballers have spoken out against the “belittling” of the tournament. Emmanuel Adebayor, former Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham forward who was captain of the Togolese national team even came out to claim that no coach would have stopped him from going for Afcon in his time.

“There is no coach in the world that can prevent me from playing at the Afcon,” Adebayor is quoted as saying by GHANAsoccernet.

“It’s disgusting that some persons are trying to prevent the African players from playing at the Afcon.”

Haller echoed Adebayor’s sentiments. To his earlier comments, he added: “I hate having to choose between my country and my club. That’s really s***.

“This situation is very frustrating. I hate having to choose between my country and my club. That’s really s***.”

Watford looking to block Emmanuel Dennis from Afcon

Elsewhere, Watford boss Claudio Ranieri is trying to block his star man Emmanuel Dennis from travelling with Nigeria to the Afcon tournament in January.

Ranieri claims that the Nigerian Football Federation sent the notice late and as a result, they may not be granted access to Dennis.

“The email didn’t arrive at the right moment. The national team has a time to send a pre-call. They didn’t respect the days, and I want to see,” Ranieri said.

“They have a time when they need to send a pre-call; if they don’t send it, we can choose.

“I’m not so sure I will miss him now, I don’t know if he will go. Let’s think about it this week, and then I will tell you.”

Bonucci sends serious warning to Ronaldo ahead of World Cup qualitlfying playoffs

Leonardo Bonucci has sent a warning to former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Italy and Portugal facing off in the European World Cup qualifying playoffs.

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal team could face Leonardo Bonucci and his Euro 2020 title winning Italy for a spot at the December 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

This development comes as a result of both nations finishing in second place in their respective qualifying groups, with Portugal just missing out on direct qualifications on the last day of the qualifying rounds.

Bonucci has told Ronaldo he will “suffer some blows” if the two meet on the international stage.

Italy and Portugal were drawn in the same bracket as Turkey and North Macedonia. Italy will face North Macedonia while Portugal will take on Turkey. The winners of both games will go on to face each other for the only qualifying spot in their bracket.

Both nations are favourites to make it out of the bracket and Bonucci has sent a message to his former teammate to not expect a walk in the park if both nations have to battle it out for the qualifying spot.

Bonucci told Italian outlet Rai Sport: “I heard Cristiano Ronaldo and we joked about the possible Portugal vs Italy match, we’ll see what happens on the pitch, Cristiano knows he will suffer some blows.

“We have to concentrate on what we will do on the pitch, then in March we will meet again and I am convinced that we will play two great matches.”

Portugal to face giant hurdle in playoff bracket

Ronaldo and Bonucci spent three successful years together at Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Ronaldo will be very familiar with the Italian style of defence having faced off against them in training for Juventus and on the pitch against other Serie A teams.

He will bank on his abilities which led him to score 101 goals in 134 games in Bianconeri colours playing against some of the best Italian defences.

However, they will have to get past the hurdle of Turkey who have proven to be a big obstacle in games like these. If they manage to take down Turkey, Euro 2020 winners Italy will prove an even bigger obstacle.

Ronaldo will no doubt be the main man for Portugal but will also have a plethora of stars to back him up as he seeks to lead the team to what could be his last World Cup and major tournament for his nation.

UEFA continues to oppose FIFA’s plans for a biennial World Cup

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is still facing a major obstacle in Aleksander Ceferin and UEFA in his plans for a biennial World Cup.

FIFA plans to hold a stakeholders meeting with its 211 member nations on Monday. Ahead of the meeting, FIFA released the results of a fan survey which shows a majority disposition to a more frequent World Cup.

FIFA’s survey claims 63.7 percent of football fans surveyed would like to see a more frequent World Cup tournament. However, the survey respondents voted in favour of a more frequent World Cup if it will not increase player workload.

Meanwhile, UEFA has come out with their own reports and has warned of a “deeply negative outlook” for international football should FIFA’s plans scale.

Also, in FIFA’ survey, European fans made up a small percentage of the majority vote and the major percentage of the minority vote of 48 percent who voted against the biennial World Cup.

The minority vote against the biennial World Cup came from three of the strongest footballing nations of England, Germany and France which also presents a headache for President Infantino.

The results of the FIFA survey and UEFA’s stance

Majority of Europe were against it, but 10 percent of the English fans surveyed were in favour of the idea.

African and Asian fans made up the majority of the positive responses with 76 percent and 66 percent of fans from these continents voting for the idea respectively.

Age also played a role in the votes, with the younger fan demographic mostly in support and the older ones opposing the idea.

UEFA’s study to rival FIFA’s survey “raise severe concerns over the sustainability of the plan for European associations”, according to reports. UEFA’s study also noted that the plans for the biennial World Cup raised issues for other sports, a concern previously brought up by the International Olympic Committee.

UEFA’s study had a survey in which only 25 percent of European fans gave their yeses while 40 percent said they would watch less knockout and group matches and 60 percent thought the World Cup’s prestige would drop.

UEFA’s statement read: “In this dark sporting context, the research conducted by Oliver & Ohlbaum projects a deeply negative outlook for European national team football, should the FIFA plan be implemented.

“Adding up the losses from centralised revenues (media rights of men’s European Qualifiers and Nations League; distributions from UEFA EURO) and from individual sources such as ticketing and sponsorships, revenues for European national associations might drop between €2.5 and €3 billion over a cycle of four years, depending on the number of qualifying windows available (two or just one).

“Echoing the clear objections expressed by the European stakeholders on several occasions and the firm and motivated opposition announced by fans’ organisations, UEFA believes that radical changes should be proposed only if they result in clear and unquestionable benefits for the game and its actors.”

Why is FIFA proposing a biennial World Cup?

FIFA claims that a biennial World Cup will create more funds that could benefit African, Asian and South American member nations who have a greater reliance on FIFA funds.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino also wants to “make football truly global” by opening up the World Cup to smaller countries.

This move has already begun with the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams from 2026 and is expected to solidify with the biennial World Cup.

 

UEFA and CONMEBOL finalise date for intercontinental super cup

Following a memorandum of understanding signed in 2020 between the European football and South American football governing bodies, the champions of the Euro 2020 and Copa America 2020 tournaments will play each other in London on June 1 2022.

The match, nicknamed FINALISSIMA, will act as an intercontinental super cup and is the first step in a renewed partnership between UEFA and CONMEBOL to improve the quality of football on both continents.

It will not be the first time that a game like this has been played between both continental champions. The Artemio Franchi Trophy was contested between the 1985 and 1993 winners of both tournaments. The tournament eventually grew into the FIFA Confederations Cup, which FIFA discontinued in 2019.

Fast-forward to February 12 2020 and history repeats itself with UEFA and CONMBEOL signing a renewed memorandum of understanding.

The Finalissima was decided upon by both governing bodies on September 28 2021 and will take place after the next three editions of both the Euros and the Copa America.

The confederations then met on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, to sign an extension to their memorandum of understanding where they also decided upon the June 1 2022 date for the first of the three editions of the intercontinental cup.

The new memorandum of understanding extends their agreement until June 30, 2028. An office will be opened in London to further relations between both governing bodies.

The stadium venue for the first Finalissima has yet to be confirmed, but Sky Sports reports that Wembley could be playing host to the champions of Europe and South America.

Speaking at the announcement of the Finalissima, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: “It is with great pride that we are relaunching such a prestigious national team trophy.

“There is a long tradition of co-operation between Uefa and Conmebol, as could be witnessed over the years with competitions such as the Artemio Franchi Trophy and the Intercontinental Cup.”

Argentina won the Copa America after beating the host nation Brazil to seal a first title in 28 years, while Italy beat England in Wembley, the proposed venue for the Finalissima.

UEFA still opposing the FIFA World Cup expansion plans

The Finalissima and the MOU between UEFA and CONMEBOL come after both continental governing bodies opposed FIFA’s idea of a biennial World Cup earlier in the year due to the strain it will put on the current international calendar.

FIFA will hold a global summit next week Monday with its 211 member nations to table its full plans for the biennial World Cup but reports have claimed that Aleksander Ceferin and UEFA are still opposing the idea strongly.

“As much as we know FIFA is still pursuing the project,” Cerin said to a news conference. “Then there are some signals are coming from different sides that they might not pursue it till the end.

“We don’t have a particular strategy. For Monday, it will be 211 federations, that means 500 people at the videoconference. I don’t expect something very deep.”

“But we will listen and we’ll see and we’ll act accordingly. But for now, we don’t even have the agenda for Monday. The only thing we know is that it’s called ‘Future of Football’, which can mean a lot and can mean nothing.”