Asia Archives - Page 25 of 48 - Inside World Football

Request for gender test sparks fury in South Korean women’s league

Park Eun-Seon

By Andrew Warshaw
November 8 – South Korea’s women’s football league has been rocked by an unusual gender row that has led to the resignation of a team coach and prompted a major human rights dispute. Six of the seven K-League teams recently requested that star striker Park Eun-Seon, who plays for Seoul City Hall Amazones, undergo a gender test. They also asked Korea Women’s Football Federation (KWFF) to bar Park from playing until her gender is verified.

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Blatter pushes Iranians to end stadium ban on women watching men’s matches

Iranian women fans

By Andrew Warshaw
November 8 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has urged the Iranian authorities to end the ban on women attending men’s matches, a policy that has been in force since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Blatter, wrapping up a two-day visit to Tehran, said he had raised the issue with that Iran’s top female government official, Vice President Masoumeh Ebtekar.

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FIFA makes Aussie match fixing ban global as court case is ongoing

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By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – FIFA has imposed global bans on four players and a coach from Australia’s Southern Stars Victorian Premier League side in an escalation of the most serious match-fixing scandal to hit the country.

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Asia sets out blueprint for grassroots football

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October 29- Under the chairmanship of Fifa vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Asian football officials have concluded a high-profile round table in Jordan by recommending a series of proposals to boost the development of grassroots football in the region.

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More trouble for Makudi in his bid to retain power in Thailand

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By Andrew Warshaw
October 22- Embattled Fifa executive committee member Worawi Makudi insists he retained the presidency of Thai football perfectly legally despite last week’s election success suddenly being plunged into fresh chaos.

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Makudi wins another 4 years as Thai FA chief after bitter election fight

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By Andrew Warshaw
October 18 – Controversial Thai football boss Worawi Makudi has finally retained control of his federation after months of internal squabbling. Makudi was re-elected president of the Football Association of Thailand for another four years after defeating former national team boss Virach Chanpanich 42-28 in a secret ballot to earn his fourth straight term. Two votes were deemed invalid.

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AFC review offers hope of lifting Iraqi ban on home matches

Iraq fans

By Andrew Warshaw
October 14 – Iraq’s bid to overturn a FIFA ban on playing home internationals has won the conditional support of their confederation as the dispute over the country being stripped of hosting the Gulf Cup escalates.

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Exclusive: Prince Ali voices concern over political interference

Prince Ali

By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
October 10 – Asia’s FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein has questioned the decision to strip Iraq of host status for the next Gulf Cup, intensifying Asian football’s latest controversy especially over the issue of what does and doesn’t constitute political interference in sport. The competition, due to be held late next year or early in 2015, features the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),

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Iraqis boycott Gulf Cup in protest at lost hosting, AFC steps in with warning

By Andrew Warshaw
October 10 – Just when it is striving to enter a new era of unity and cohesion, Asian football has been rocked by a spat between Iraq and Saudi Arabia over the next Gulf Cup of Nations due to be held late next year or early in 2015. The competition, featuring the six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), plus usually Iraq and Yemen, is little known outside the region but hotly contested whenever it takes place.

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Qatargas focusses sponsorship on youth and commits to Qatari’s second flight

Qatari league football

By Mark Baber
October 9 – Qatargas and Qatar Football Association (QFA) signed a three-year deal on Monday at QFA headquarters in the Al Bidda Tower, as part of which Qatar’s 2nd Division will be known as the Qatargas League.

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Prince Ali calls for ‘official’ Arabic language and lifting of Iraqi home ban

Prince Ali

By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – FIFA’s Asian vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has called on the organisation to make Arabic one of its official languages in addition to English, French, German and Spanish. In a wide-ranging statement on a number of issues, Prince Ali said FIFA needed to recognise how many people across the world spoke Arabic as a first language.

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Aussies expect to make a profit in 2014 with World Cup and Wanderers sale

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By Mark Baber
October 7 – With the Hyundai A-League season starting on Friday, Football Federation Australia forecasts a profit for its activities in the 2014 financial year due to an increase in broadcasting revenue and sponsorship.

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Spanish football deepens its links with Gulf and opens up in Dubai

Dubai airport freezone

By Mark Baber
September 26 – Spanish football is developing ties with the Gulf State of Dubai and has announced plans for La Liga to open an office in the Dubai Airport Freezone (DAFZA). Dubai’s bid to host the World Expo 2020 is also being heavily promoted in Spanish stadiums.

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Malaysian match-fixer denied bail in Aussie as investigations deepen

By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – The Malaysian alleged to have been the middle man in Australia’s match-fixing scandal has been denied bail in a Melbourne court for being a possible flight risk, according to local reports.

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Interpol claims Singapore match-fixing bust is a major breakthrough

Ron Noble Interpol

By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – The recent crackdown on match-fixing by authorities in Singapore has been hailed by Interpol as the biggest breakthrough to date in the global effort to catch the ringleaders. Singapore is one of the Asian nerve centres of the illegal practice from where games around the globe are manipulated.