16/09/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | SEPT 16, 2026

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E UROPEAN football play ers’ union FifPro Europe demanded reforms to Fifa’s decision-making struc tures yesterday, arguing that the world body’s now-abandoned investment proposal exposed dan gerous flaws in how global football is governed. The union released a study claiming Fifa’s shelved Forward Enterprise (FFE) initiative would have converted the game’s flagship competitions into assets for private capital without proper consulta tion with key stakeholders. Fifa President Gianni Infantino unveiled the FFE proposal earlier this year before withdrawing it amid widespread opposition. FifPro Europe said the governance shortcomings that enabled its development remain unresolved. “FFE was an attempt to convert the game’s core competitions into an investable, tradeable and undervalued financial asset for pri vate capital,” the report stated, pro

Enough is enough FifPro Europe calls for Fifa reform after Infantino’s failed proposal

SIDENETTING Fofana calls time

MIDFIELDER Seko Fofana, who helped Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations title in 2024, yesterday announced his international retire ment aged 31. “The time has come for me to turn the page. It is with pride and deep gratitude that I had the chance to compete for my country,” said Fofana, who plays on loan at Portuguese club Porto from French side Rennes, in a post on Instagram . “Winning the continent’s most prestigious trophy was a childhood dream come true for me, and these memories will be etched forever in the minds of millions of Ivorians,” he added of the Afcon triumph at home against Nigeria. “I will always remain the number one fan of the Elephants and I look forward to seeing this new generation write their own story. We have no shortage of talent here.” Fofana played for France at youth level before switching to his parents’ country Ivory Coast, scoring seven goals and earning 34 caps over a nine-year international career. Having played for Udinese, Lens and in Saudi Arabia, Fofana was a key player in the Ivorian midfield. He featured in two games at the 2026 World Cup as the African team were eliminated by Norway in the round of 32. Football mismatch NORTH KOREA’S formidable women’s football team launched their Asian Games with a 10-0 hammering of Bangladesh yesterday, cheered on by several hundred pro-Pyongyang fans in Osaka. The North Koreans have enjoyed stunning international success at youth level and start among the favourites for gold in Japan. They were far too hot for Bangladesh to han dle and were seven goals ahead by halftime. Striker Ri Song A, who was born and raised in Japan, was in North Korea’s starting line-up and scored in the second half. “We have an eye on reaching the Asian sum mit and also next year’s World Cup, and I hope I can contribute to the team as much as possible in the limited time available,” Ri said. North Korea were cheered on by a large group of red-clad fans, who sang and chanted throughout the match. The men’s and women’s football teams were welcomed by supporters waving flags as they arrived for the Games last week wearing white blazers and pink ties. More than 100 North Koreans are set to com pete in 14 sports at the Games, which take place in Nagoya-Aichi and officially open on Saturday. North Korea’s women face South Korea in a Group F grudge match on Sept 21. The men’s team begin their campaign against China tomorrow. CR7 demands justice SAUDI ARABIAN football authorities promised to take action and Cristiano Ronaldo called for life bans after rival fans taunted Al-Hilal’s Ruben Neves about the death of Diogo Jota, his friend and former Portugal teammate. Chants about Jota, the Liverpool and Portugal forward who died in a car crash last year, rang out during Al-Hilal’s 6-0 away win over Al-Taawoun on Saturday. “The league must take action and punish this kind of fan behav iour,” Saudi-based Portugal captain Ronaldo wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “People who behave like this should never be allowed to enter a stadium again,” he added. Midfielder Neves, 29, reacted to the chants coming from the stands by sarcastically giving a thumbs-up and applauding, before pointing towards the sky. “I just hope they don’t go to pray later after what they did,” he said after the match. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation and Saudi Pro League condemned “unacceptable conduct by some supporters” in a joint state ment late on Sunday.

be advanced by a single office act ing alone. The report noted that the share of World Cup revenue dis tributed as prize money to partici pating countries had fallen to about 7.7% in 2026 from 10.5% in 2006, despite strong growth in tournament revenue. “Players receive only a fraction of that return, while participating federations rely on it as Fifa’s only performance-based revenue stream,” the report said. The union also urged the formal inclusion of players, clubs and leagues in football governance alongside national associations. Reuters has contacted Fifa for comment on the report’s findings. – Reuters Villarreal had the better chances in the first half but ended up going in behind at the break. Alvaro Valles made a fine save to push Santi Comesana’s effort onto the post, while Moreno and Tajon Buchanan had goals ruled out for off side. The hosts took the lead through Moreno in the 29th minute, when Buchanan headed the ball back his way to finish from close range. However Betis netted twice in four minutes before half-time to take the lead. Hernandez tucked away the rebound after Peter Gulacsi saved Ez Abde’s shot to pull Manuel Pellegrini’s side level. The Hungarian goalkeeper was at fault for Betis’s second, pushing the ball into the path of Natan to finish from close range after a corner was nodded towards goal. The visitors should have extended that advantage in the second half but Hernandez had a shot blocked when well placed and Pablo Fornals miscon trolled the ball when left alone in front of goal. Gulacsi made fine saves from Nelson Deossa and Antony as Betis continued to create huge danger without killing off the game, although they were not forced to pay for it. “We had three or four clear chances, I had two, that had to be a goal,” Hernandez admitted. – AFP

ance, not advanced unilaterally,” it said. According to the report, European clubs employed 856 players at the expanded 2026 World Cup and released players worth about €16.9 billion (RM80b), representing 94% of the tourna ment’s total player value. It added that all 20 individual award winners across the last five World Cup editions were employed by European clubs. FifPro Europe said the findings underscored the need to protect what it described as football’s “critical infrastructure” and called for an independent review of Fifa Council executive decision making to ensure major changes could not

duced with Player IQ and Football Benchmark. The study comes amid a wider debate over the balance of power in the global game. In court filings related to challenges from European football body Uefa, Fifa argued that opposition to its pro posals is driven by efforts to pre serve Europe’s dominant position in the sport. The union said it supported efforts to increase development funding for smaller federations, but argued that any solidarity mecha nism should be shaped jointly by stakeholders across the game. “Any future proposal to grow solidarity funding should be built together, through trusted govern

Betis beat winless Villarreal to go third

REAL BETIS secured a 2-1 win at Villarreal yester day to move

third in La Liga and leave the Yellow Submarine in the relegation zone. Inigo Perez’s Villarreal are winless from five league games and sit 18th, while also losing their Champions League opener. Cucho Hernandez and Natan’s goals helped Betis claim three points and pull level with Real Madrid, after Gerard Moreno opened the scoring. “Right now everything’s going against us, teams are punishing us,” Moreno told Movistar . “We have to stick together and demand more of ourselves… maybe when we go behind, anxiety kicks in and it’s more difficult. “It’s hard to explain (how few) points we have... we have to be a team now more than ever.” Reigning champions Barcelona lead the table with five straight victories, fol lowed by Real Madrid and Real Betis. “We’re calm but excited. Difficult moments will come, but unity, honesty and work are non-negotiables here,” said Hernandez.

Villarreal’s Ayoze Perez (front) and Betis’ Facundo Bernal vie for the ball during their La Liga match at La Ceramica Stadium yesterday. – AFPPIC

In-form Malen fires Roma to Serie A summit NETHERLANDS STRIKER Donyell Malen scored his sixth goal of the season as AS Roma moved to the top of the Serie A table with a 2-0 win over Torino yesterday, as Inter beat Udinese 5-3 to keep up with the pace in the race for the Scudetto . scored and provided an assist in Inter Milan’s vic tory over Udinese but sit in second on goal differ ence behind Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, before they meet next weekend. Inter trailed 2-0 after just 16 minutes at the San Siro following efforts from Ireland defender James Abankwah and Dutch midfielder Jurgen Ekkelenkamp.

late consolation for the visitors in injury time. One stand-out negative for Inter was England centreback John Stones leaving the field early injured, with the trip to the capital city coming up on Sunday. Elsewhere, Cesc Fabregas’ Como are third after overcoming Parma 2-1 thanks to efforts from Spanish centre-back Jacobo Ramon and Brazilian leftback Kaiki. Yesterday, Napoli’s losing run came to an end as Slovakia midfielder Stanislav Lobotka scored to earn a 1-0 win over Bologna to ease pressure on coach Massimiliano Allegri. Sassuolo’s Montenegro midfielder Vasilije Adzic scored a last-gasp winner against his par ent club to consign Juventus to their first defeat of the season after a 3-2 thriller. – AFP

Ex-Aston Villa forward Malen netted just before halftime to maintain his side’s perfect start to the campaign, with four victories from as many outings. Italy midfielder Niccolo Pisilli doubled his account for the campaign to make sure of all three points in the 93rd minute. Torino are in 14th spot in the standings hav ing won just once this season, beating Fiorentina last time out. In Milan, France attacker Marcus Thuram

By halftime they were all-square thanks to firstly Carlos Augusto and then Nicolo Barella, from a Thuram pass. Thuram was on the scoresheet just before the hour mark before young Italy striker Pio Esposito and Ivory Coast attacker Ange-Yoan Bonny in the final 23 minutes maintained their good start to the campaign. Senegalese forward Idrissa Gueye claimed a