the fifa weekly 2015 08 21

WWW.FIFA.COM/THEWEEKLY

ISSUE 33/2015, 21 AUGUST 2015 ENGLISH EDITION

Fédération Internationale de Football Association – Since 1904

FOODBALLNutrition in football

NEYMAR ROBINHO WAS

MY BIGGEST HERO

SEPP BLATTER FANS MUST

SHOW RESPECT

CLUB LICENSING REAPING THE BENEFITS OF

GOOD ADMINISTRATION

T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L

North and Central America 35 members www.concacaf.com

South America 10 members www.conmebol.com

The FIFA Weekly app

FIFA’s magazine The FIFA Weekly is published in four languages every Friday and is also available free of charge on smartphone and tablet. http://www.fifa.com/mobile

6 Foodball

A footballer’s body is his or her most valuable asset. Holger Stromberg, chef to Germany’s national team, knows that proper nutrition means more than eating plate after plate of pasta and notes the need for a varied diet. Sarah Steiner reports on energy management, fluid reserves and the culinary keys to success.

15 Turkey The country’s top three clubs, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas, are readying them-selves for the new season and dreaming of past glories.

16 Club Licensing System FIFA’s standardisation programme is aimed at strengthening the development of club football, with Club America acting as a template for its implementation.

23 Sepp Blatter “Spectators may express their frustration with what is on offer by whistling or simply choosing to stay at home next time, but they should never interrupt proceedings,” says the FIFA President in his weekly column.

18 Neymar The Brazilian superstar discusses his role models, friends and best goals.

24 No limits Blind and cerebral palsy footballers captivate Toronto. (Pictured: Ricardinho)

FoodballWhat do professional footballers eat? An apple every now and then for sure!

George Coppock / Getty Images

Suha

imi A

bdul

lah

/ Get

ty Im

ages

, Ped

ro P

aulo

Fer

reir

a / F

otoA

rena

Schu

eler

/ Ei

bner

-Pre

ssef

oto,

Stu

art F

rank

lin /

FIFA

via

Get

ty Im

ages

FIFA U-17 World Cup

17 October – 8 November 2015, Chile

2 T H E F I FA W E E K LY

T H I S W E E K I N T H E W O R L D O F F O O T B A L L

Europe 54 members www.uefa.com

Africa 54 members www.cafonline.com

Asia 46 members www.the-afc.com

Oceania 11 members www.oceaniafootball.com

28 All-Star Squad 23 players from the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 in Canada made it into the squad of the tournament.

(Pictured: Megan Rapinoe (r.) and Heather O’Reilly)

14 Germany Borussia Dortmund sent out a war-ning to their rivals in their Bundesliga opener. (Pictured: Marco Reus)

Suha

imi A

bdul

lah

/ Get

ty Im

ages

, Ped

ro P

aulo

Fer

reir

a / F

otoA

rena

Schu

eler

/ Ei

bner

-Pre

ssef

oto,

Stu

art F

rank

lin /

FIFA

via

Get

ty Im

ages

3T H E F I FA W E E K LY

0731 �� 1P 215x289.indd 1 15. 8. 6. �� 8:50

U N C O V E R E D

The musings of German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) have filtered down through the generations, moving around with the speed and agility of a footballer despite the

fact that the beautiful game only reached the German-speaking world a year after the scholar’s death. “You are what you eat” is perhaps the most famous of Feuerbach’s maxims. If only profes-sional footballers had listened to him sooner!

Nowadays players are acutely aware of what they consume, accepting advice, help and guidance on all things nutritional. They know that “they are what they eat” and appreciate that this not only applies to the dinner table but describes a way of life, a holis-tic attitude and an appreciation of the need to eat healthily all the time. Turn to page six to get your mouth watering! Å

Perikles Monioudis

Bon appetit!

Mar

io W

agne

r / 2

Age

nten


F O O T B A L L A N D N U T R I T I O N

Kav

el R

affe

rty /

Die

Illu

stra

tore

n


DINNER IS SERVED!

“You are what you eat!” Al-though this declaration by German philosopher Lud-wig Feuerbach is now just over 150 years old, it has lost none of its significance in the intervening years and is particularly true of football. While players require ener-gy to ensure they can deliv-er the strong performances expected of them, this sim-ple equation is about more

than just the simple act of eating.Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger once said:

“Food is like fuel. If you fill up your car with the wrong type, it doesn’t run.” The same principle applies to the human body. Proper nutrition provides players with the essential nutrients they need to perform at their best. Given that a footballer’s body is his most important asset, it is no wonder that nutrition plays an ev-er-greater role in the sport. Players who eat right recover better, maintain their ideal weight more easily and reduce their risk of injury – but this was not always so well understood. A plate of schnitzel and fries was once considered a good source of energy, while it was also com-mon for players to enjoy a pint of beer after a match. It would be almost unthinkable to en-counter such nutritional gaffes today.

Football is an endurance sport. Although a player normally works at around 70 per


Maintaining a healthy diet is now considered an essential part of any footballer’s career.

Sarah Steiner investigates exactly what that means. Illustrations by Kavel Rafferty.

cent of their capacity even in the lower-in-tensity phases of a match, heart rate and body temperature readings suggest that their energy needs remain high throughout a game due to the short bursts of high-inten-sity activity they complete along the way. Players endure between 150 and 200 of these intervals in the course of a game and cover between 10 and 15 kilometres over 90 min-utes, including an average of 600 metres at a full sprint and a further 2.4 kilometres of high-intensity running. Their heart rates re-main at 85 per cent of their maximum for the duration of the match as their oxygen re-quirement climbs to 70 per cent of the max-imum absorption capacity. A player weighing 75 kilograms requires an average of 1,800 calories per game. Never has the term “high performance” seemed so appropriate!

More than just pastaHolger Stromberg knows just how important the right nutrition can be. He has been the German national team’s chef for eight years and celebrated their World Cup win with them in July 2014. “When Oliver Bierhoff came to me in 2006 and asked if I would like to cook for the national side, it was vital for me to think it over,” the 43-year-old ex-plained. “I didn’t want to be someone who just dishes out pasta; I wanted to highlight the important role that nutrition plays in football.” He did exactly that thanks to K

avel

Raf

fert

y / D

ie Il

lust

rato

ren


Chopping, baking, stirring Lukas Podolski (left) with Holger Stromberg, chef to Germany’s national team.

CULINARY DELIGHTS FROM THE WORLD OF FOOTBALLF oot ba l ler s c apt ure t he imaginat ion w i t h t heir d is c ip l ine in t r a in ing , dynamism on the pi tch and abi l i t y to enter t ain. However, away f rom the f ield o f play they a lso regular ly provide culi -nar y anecdotes . W ith this selec t ion o f gas t ronomic t a les we dive into a wor ld where greasy burgers c an s t i l l be eaten in spi t e o f nut r i t iona l p lans , where bananas and cof fee play an impor t ant r o le and w her e a f or got t en piec e o f chewing gum could have decided the 1969 European Cup f inal .

meticulous planning and the best possible ingredients, and the players seem to appreci-ate his efforts. “Ever since they were chil-dren, footballers have been given nothing but pasta, pasta, pasta,” Stromberg said, “Players look forward to trying new alterna-tives because they need more than just noo-dles to get their daily intake of carbohy-drates. A salad of pearl barley or couscous is also perfectly suitable in this respect.”


Carbohydrates are vital when it comes to fuelling elite athletes, as the body needs these building blocks in order to function and perform at its best. While carbs are con-sidered particularly important for energy production, sportspeople also need to con-sume protein for tissue and muscle growth and fat for energy, building cell membranes and transporting fat-soluble vitamins. Small amounts of these vitamins, together with

FAST FOOD CRAVINGS “Coach, we’d real ly l ike to eat a couple o f burgers,” s aid the Denmark squad ahead of their semi - f inal at the 1992 European Championship – and their request was granted. The t r ip to a loc al f as t food out let ev ident ly did not do them any harm; the Danes surpr is ingly went on to win the tournament .

A TASTE OF HOME Ecuador was once the f i f th - larges t banana expor ter on the planet . When the count r y ’s nat ional team ar r ived in Bra zi l ahead of the 2014 F IFA Wor ld Cup™, they only had one request when i t c ame to food: bananas. Hotel employees were asked to t ake a f reshly f i l led basket o f the f ruit to the players ’ room ever y day. However, they did not want jus t any bananas. Loc al ly grown produce was not desired; ins tead the Ecuador c amp wanted bananas delivered f rom their beloved homeland.

Mar

c A

ttki

ns /

Off

side

Mic

hael

Age

lIll

ustr

atio

nen:

Kav

el R

affe

rty /

Die

Illu

stra

tore

n


minerals and micronutrients, are also impor-tant. The key to success is achieving an opti-mal balance between all of these elements. As a player’s energy consumption levels change depending on whether they are training or contesting a match, their nutritional mix var-ies from one day to the next. Put simply, an athlete whose energy stores are inadequate will tire easily, struggle to train effectively or at all and be at a greater risk of injury.


“I didn’t want to be someone who just dishes out pasta; I wanted to highlight the impor tant role

that nutrit ion plays in football.” Holger Stromberg

23 professional footballers, 23 favourite meals

Although every player has the same basic nu-tritional requirements, their tastes vary con-siderably. While the needs of each individual depend predominantly on their playing posi-tion as well as their physical condition and tac-tical role within the team, each footballer nat-urally has their own set of personal eating preferences. “There’s no master plan,” said

Cheers! Regulating fluid levels is vitally important when it comes to physical exertion.

PATRIOTIC PASTAThe green, white and red colours o f the I t a l ian f lag are a lso mains t ays on the A zzur r i ’s matchday menu. According to the team’s nut rait ional advisor E l is abet t a Orsi, green olive oi l , white pas t a and red tomatoes make up the per fec t pre - game meal .

FOOTBALL AND SAUSAGES – A RECIPE FOR SUCCESSUli Hoeness lef t nothing to chance when planning for his future. In 1985, while working as general manager at Bayern Munich, he set up his own meat factor y. I t has since been a great success, with up to four million Hoeness sausages sold ever y day. Incidentally, Ferenc Puskas was no stranger to the meat industr y either - his father was a butcher.

STOKING UP, AUSTRALIAN STYLE“Not without my cof fee”, was the mot to o f the Aust ra lian team at the 2014 Wor ld Cup in Bra zi l . Accordingly, a cof fee machine was set up c lose to the players ’ rooms to quench their thirs t for c a f feine and help them prepare for the upcoming t asks . Newspapers were made available too, giv ing the players ever y thing they needed ahead of the nex t match.

Mar

c A

ttki

ns /

Off

side

Mic

hael

Age

lIll

ustr

atio

nen:

Kav

el R

affe

rty /

Die

Illu

stra

tore

n



Stromberg. “23 professional footballers have at least 23 favourite dishes. One might love meat while another prefers fish or vegetables, and some have a sweet tooth they want to satisfy.” With this in mind, Germany’s chef is convinced that “eating healthily is only possible in the long run if the food you’re eating tastes good.”

While there is no doubt that the World Cup winners are lucky to have such a range of deli-cious dishes cooked for them, it is not a service they get to enjoy all the time. When there are no matches being played, footballers tend to eat most of their meals alone. This poses a particu-lar challenge for youngsters: often living away from home for the first time, they have little experience of eating well and cooking for them-selves. As a result, many clubs now pay special attention to this issue by offering advice on cooking and food shopping as part of every ris-ing star’s training programme. Ensuring players take on enough fluids is also crucial. This is be-cause the body reacts to increases in exertion by producing sweat to regulate its temperature, leading to a loss in both fluids and salts.

When it comes to serious competition, a player’s supplies of energy and fluids can prove particularly decisive in the second half of a match. Having well-stocked energy levels keeps a footballer’s skills sharp and enables him to make the right decisions. With so many games decided in the closing minutes, being able to deliver the best possible performance until the final whistle is vital.

“After the match is before the match”Although Sepp Herberger was not thinking about nutrition when he uttered these oft-quot-ed words, he still managed to sum up this cru-cial requirement perfectly. Recovering from one game forms part of a player’s preparations

Energy intake Pele paid close attention to nutrition during his playing days.

Declaration of love Dominic Oduro expresses his passion for pizza.

MENU A LA RONALDO What is cur rent F IFA Bal lon d ’Or holder Cr is t iano Ronaldo’s f avour ite food? According to Helio Loureiro, the Por tugal nat ional team’s chef, the f ish dish ’Bac alhau a Bras ’, r isot to, polent a and veget able soups are among them. Nut r i t ion is impor t ant to Ronaldo, who once s aid: “ You c an have fant as t ic t a lent but i f you don’ t fol low the rules you won’ t be the bes t .”

FINE WINES Footbal lers have to avoid consuming a lcohol as f ar as possible dur ing their c areers, but that does not mean they c annot produce a lcoholic beverages. Barcelona’s Andres Inies t a has his own v ineyard in his hometown, where he s t r ives for the s ame per fec t ion in winemak-ing that he demon -s t rates out on the pitch: he produces top - quali t y wines for high - end res t aurant s .

CALM BEFORE THE STORMPreparat ion is the key to success, and Pepe Reina a lways fol lows his own pre - match r i tual . The goalkeeper has t wo toas ted cheese and ham s andwiches with a glass o f wine the evening before ever y game. The snack helps him to s leep so that the nex t day he is well res ted by the t ime he dons his gloves .

Illus

trat

ion:

C2 /

Kri

stin

a Ro

tach

Popp

erfo

to /

Get

ty Im

ages

, Ric

k O

sent

osck

i / U

SA T

OD

AY

Spor

ts


for the next encounter, with rehydration also important in this regard. Offsetting perspira-tion also plays a key role; the body needs to replace both the fluids and salts it loses during exercise, while it is also important to ensure that calorie needs are being met. “Carbohy-drate reserves need to be replenished as quick-ly as possible after a match, ideally within the first 45 to 60 minutes,” said Holger Stromberg. “Pasta, a snack or a banana and oatmeal shake are all good ways of satisfying this need.” Even after victory in last year’s World Cup Final, the chef’s primary concern was still for the physi-cal wellbeing of his players. “Of course, nobody was thinking about food at first,” he recalled, “but after 45 minutes the first few guys came through feeling hungry.” Stromberg was ready and waiting with pasta in tomato sauce.

Rice pudding with rice milkThe FIFA World Cup in Brazil was a challenge for each and every team, with the country’s climate, heat and humidity all affecting the players’ nutritional needs. Overheating can be dangerous, with just a two or three-degree increase in body temperature posing a grave threat to health. If the weather is too humid, sweat cannot evaporate and instead remains stuck to the skin. Taking on extra fluids be-comes essential, while soups and tomato juice


“Eating healthily is only possible in the long run if

the food you’re eating tastes good.”Holger Stromberg

THE POWER OF SUPERSTITIONChewing gum c an help smokers quit by ser v ing as a nicot ine replacement , the ac t o f chewing ser v ing to c a lm the ner ves . I f Johan Cruy f f is to be believed, gum c an a lso be the di f ference bet ween winning and losing. The former A ja x player had an ex t remely unusual pre - match rout ine: shor t ly before k ick- of f he would hi t goalkeeper Ger t Bals in the s tomach and then spit his chewing gum into the opposit ion hal f. Only then could the game begin. Cruy f f discovered what the consequenc -es o f not fol lowing that r i tual were in the 1969 European Cup f inal when he hit his keeper in the s tomach only to f ind he had forgot ten his gum. A ja x went on to lose the match 4 -1.

PIZZA LOVERWhen i t comes to goal celebrat ions the possibi l i t ies are endless : Miros lav K lose has his somers aul t s , for example, and the Colombian nat ional team their dance moves. Colombus Crew ’s Dominic Oduro c ame up with a new celebrat ion a f ter scor ing agains t Chic ago F ire in an ML S match. Af ter hit t ing the net he ran to the touchline, grabbed a piz za box and prompt ly ate a s l ice. Once he even shaved a pic ture o f his f avour ite food into his hair.

Illus

trat

ion:

C2 /

Kri

stin

a Ro

tach

Popp

erfo

to /

Get

ty Im

ages

, Ric

k O

sent

osck

i / U

SA T

OD

AY

Spor

ts


Meals are not always complicated to pre -pare and tai lored specif ical ly to the body ’s needs. For example, sandwiches are one of

the more basic opt ions available: a couple of s l ices of bread, but ter, let tuce and some cheese or meat . Br i t ish chef Jamie Oliver, much l ike all other telev ision cooks, has con -coc ted his own vers ion of sandwiches to great success. His addit ions of herbs, horse -radish or rump s teak make for a del ic ious snack , even i f they are far removed f rom the sandwich’s s imple or igins . The f ir s t sand -wich was made in the middle of the 18th centur y, and as with al l innovat ions, the

name of i t s creator is s t i l l disputed. Nowa -days his tor y tends to credit Br i t ish diplomat Sir John Montagu, the four th Ear l of Sand -wich, as the founder.

Hitting the wall Montagu was a l i f e long c r ibbage p layer and one evening in 1762 h is w inn ing

s t reak dur ing the t wo - person card game went on for so long that he asked for a s l ice of roas t beef to be put bet ween t wo pieces of bread spread wi th mayonnaise . A s i t was both tas t y and cheap that was

al l he subsequent ly ate dur ing c r ibbage matches

White bread may not be par t icular l y healthy when eaten in large quant i t ies but wheat f lour does have cer tain advantages in an emergency : i t raises blood sugar lev -e ls quick ly. In the wor ld of professional cyc l ing, some r iders s t i l l make the mis take of fai l ing to eat while r iding – and doing so can have huge consequences.For ins tance, a s l ice of white bread or a ba -nana would have done Jan Ullr ich the wor ld

of good before he s tar ted a c l imb dur ing the Tour de France on 27 July 1998. It may even have helped him win the race. Once he hit the wall , however, i t was too late. His body hypothermic , Ullr ich s tar ted trembling and r ings developed under his eyes. He fel l fur -

ther and fur ther behind in the race, while his r ival Marco Pantani pulled away at the f ront . Not only did Ullr ich lose the yel low jersey that day, he also los t the Tour de

France in what was the most disappoint ing defeat of his ent ire career.

The concept of ’hi t t ing the wall ’ has long ex is ted, but i t has gained in signif icance in recent years as the intensit y of endurance spor ts has increased. In modern cyc l ing or

cross - county sk i ing, athletes can no longer af ford to res t in order to eat or dr ink . In the Tour de France i t was common prac t ice

well into the 1970s for cyc l is t s to s top of f at a bar and order a glass of beer or wine

when thirs t y. Landlords took s teps to ac -commodate such v is i t s dur ing the tour, not ing down a cyc l is t ’s s tar t number in or -der to set t le up af ter the race was f inished. Suppor t vehic les did ex is t at the t ime, but they were not permit ted to over take cy -c l is t s to give them food or dr ink . Inc iden -tal l y, today ’s cyc l is t s consume 30 k i lo -grams of potatoes and 75 bananas over the course of the ent ire Tour de France.

Concentration crucialEat ing and dr ink ing is not as common dur -ing chess, where players normally main -tain concentrat ion levels with cof fee, tea or mineral water. I f a match does drag on for a long t ime then players tend to eat ei -ther f resh or dr ied f rui t , whi le Nor way ’s Magnus Car lsen only dr inks pure orange juice. The 24 - year - o ld is considered the

best chess player of al l t ime and even had unusual eat ing habit s dur ing childhood: he would of ten eat whi le sat at his chess board, rather than with his family at the dinner table.

Alan Schweingruber

Mine’s a pint, please


Sandwiches were born out of necessity during an evening game of cribbage. Chess world champion Magnus Carlsen relies on orange juice for concentration,

and professional cyclists used to drink beer and wine.

Tour de France, 1921 Swiss riders Henri Colle and Charles Parel take a break in the village of Dalstein.

Fran

ck F

ife /

AFP

AFP

/ PR

ESSE

SPO

RTS



can also provide good sources of salt. In such climatic conditions, Stromberg estimates that players should be drinking five litres of water a day, even taking a further two litres on board on match days. Germany’s chef also made changes to the ingredients he used dur-ing the World Cup, explaining: “I left out dairy products because of the hot weather.” Never-theless, he ensured that no players felt de-prived by this adjustment. “There was rice pudding before each game in any case!” he said. “The players believe that it brings them luck, so I simply made the dish with rice milk instead. It was pretty good. Animal fats put a particular strain on the body in the heat be-cause a great deal of energy is required to di-gest them,” Stromberg explained. “The play-ers felt much better without dairy products.”

Escribano’s magic potionGermany are not the only team with a profes-sional like Holger Stromberg on their side. With nutrition also becoming an increasingly prominent concern at club level, Spaniard An-tonio Escribano is considered a master in his field. The sports nutrition specialist has ad-vised top clubs such as Atletico Madrid, Tot-tenham Hotspur and Sevilla. Players at Schal-ke 04 will still recall one particular episode from 2006 that may just be the reason they lost their UEFA Cup semi-final to Sevilla after extra-time. Escribano prescribed the Spanish side a ’magic potion’ of bananas, oranges, ap-ples, peaches and melons as well as two per cent fructose, all blended together in milk or water. But there was no magic at work here. Instead, he simply determined exactly how much energy the players would require in that situation and mixed them a drink on that ba-

sis, explaining that these concoctions are also cheaper to produce than the isotonic sports drinks sold in shops.

In addition to these isotonic beverages, numerous sports nutrition products have been developed to supply the body with a cer-tain amount of energy and nutrients in an easily consumable form. This can be very val-uable for satisfying a player’s specific needs in situations where normal food is unavaila-ble or impractical, such as shortly before, dur-ing or after a training session. Nevertheless, countless other sports nutrition products and supplements are on sale whose effects have not yet been sufficiently investigated. In many cases, not all of the products’ ingredi-ents are disclosed on their packaging, while some are manufactured in substandard hy-gienic conditions.

In its “Nutrition for Football” guidelines, FIFA warns: “Players must be aware of the strict liability principle that makes them re-sponsible for everything they eat and drink. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for a positive doping result. Check all supple-ments with a medical officer. If there is any doubt at all, don’t take it.” Å

The recipes on page 11 are taken from “Das Kochbuch der Nationalmannschaf t ” (“ The National Team Cookbook”) by Holger Stromberg (Hamburg 2014, Edel Books, 17.95 euros).

Spoilt for choice France’s women’s national team browse the buffet.Fran

ck F

ife /

AFP

AFP

/ PR

ESSE

SPO

RTS


O N T H E I N S I D ETA L K I N G P O I N T S

youngsters at centre-back. Dortmund eased off a little after scoring their fourth, albeit without ever allowing their opponents a chance of getting back into the game.

After the match Tuchel, a Swabian native known to be a meticulous worker obsessed by success, expressed his delight that his charges “didn’t give an inch in the tackles and kept the tempo of the game high”.

G e r m a n y : 1. B u n d e s l i g a

Has Dortmund’s ‘greed’ returned?

Perikles Monioudis is chief editor of The FIFA Weekly.

Reigning champions Bayern Munich kicked off the new Bundesliga season on

14 August with a 5-0 victory over a Hamburg side that has been in severe danger of relegation in recent years. A day later the remaining title candidates also got their campaigns under way.

They did so with varying degrees of success: Schalke eased to a 3-0 away triumph over Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen went behind early on against Hoffenheim but fought back to win 2-1, while Wolfsburg won by the same scoreline against Eintracht Frankfurt. Yet the result that really caught the eye was Borussia Dortmund’s 4-0 defeat of Champions League participants Borussia Monchengladbach, whose Swiss coach Lucien Favre has high hopes for his side this season. Thanks to Dortmund, those plans suffered a setback at the outset.

Yes, it was Dortmund of all teams who inflicted the defeat. The Yellow-Blacks have struggled recently but now, following the departure of head coach Jurgen Klopp – who led the club to Bundesliga titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12, as well as to the Champions League final in 2012/13 - hopes of the side returning to its former glory have been rekindled after Matchday 1. And all thanks to new coach Thomas Tuchel.

Just like his predecessor, the 41-year-old moved to Dortmund following a spell at Mainz. Once again he has inherited Klopp’s team and this time has been left with a host of top-quality players at the Signal Iduna Park, including Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer, Shinji Kagawa and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus the pick of the bunch.

Spearheaded by the latter, Dortmund’s attack ran riot: Reus linked up with Aubameyang, Kagawa and Mkhitaryan and the quartet picked apart a Gladbach defence that, to the surprise of many onlookers, had two

In Germany the question has now been raised as to whether their “greed” for success, to use a term often touted in the press, has now returned. Tuchel refused to be drawn on the matter, saying: “We know what we’re capable of and what we’re not capable of.” One thing that can be said with certainty, though, is that Dortmund look to be in good shape again – and ready to go a long way. Å

Inspired interplay Reus (top), Aubameyang (l.) and Schmelzer. imag

o / E

ibne

r

imag

o / S

eski

m


Tu r ke y : S u p e r L i g

Eto’o heads new al l-star cast

Roland Zorn is a Frankfurt-based football correspondent.

Istanbul has never failed to stage a grand airport recep-tion every time major sign-

ings have landed, raising hopes of success at Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas, the Turkish capital’s leading clubs. But never have the Big Three’s shopping sprees on the global transfer market heralded such promise as in the run-up to this season. The clubs’ latest purchases underscore their ambitions to compete for honours on the domestic front and restore their reputation in Europe.

Fener featured in the opening Super Lig match on 14 August. Having spent more than any of their competitors on 15 new arrivals to date, the club failed to progress in the Cham-pions League, losing to Shakhtar Donetsk in the qualifying stage. A comfortable 2-0 home victory against Eskisehirspor saw the team’s new superstar, Dutch international Robin van Persie, formerly of Manchester United, take to the field late in the second half to loud applause.

Turkish international Mehmet Topal, mean-while, was greeted with a standing ovation when he was sent on in the 82nd minute, just a few days after his car had been shot by an unknown assailant. Topal was lucky – his vehicle had bulletproof windows. The incident in Istanbul city centre came four months after a gunman who remains at large opened fire on the Fenerbahce team bus following an away game in Samsun, and served to dampen Turkish fans’ excited anticipation in the run-up to the new season.

The Turkey national team have failed to satisfy expectations in recent years, but when the domestic league campaign finally got under way a number of the new arrivals lived up to the hopes invested in them. They included former Cologne and Arsenal marks-man Lukas Podolski, whose eye-catching header earned champions Galatasaray a point in their 2-2 draw at Sivasspor. Podolski’s compatriot Mario Gomez, meanwhile, made a substitute appearance for Besiktas in their 5-2 victory in Mersin.

But it was Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o who stole the show among the plethora of recently recruited thirty-something star strikers. The 34-year-old underscored his enduring global reputation with two spectac-ular goals for newly promoted Antalyaspor in their 3-2 away win over Basaksehir. Having first found the net with a thumping volley, Eto’o went on to tuck the ball away neatly following a weaving solo run through the defensive ranks of the opposition. His match-winning performance made Eto’o the

standout performer of the opening matchday of the Super Lig season.

Even German-Turkish forward Cenk Tosun, who left Eintracht Frankfurt and the Bunde-sliga several years ago citing a lack of pros-pects in Germany, had to accept that he had been eclipsed. Tosun’s three goals helped put Besiktas top of the league after the opening round of fixtures, meaning Gomez evidently has a fight on his hands to gain a regular starting place for his new club. Å

Samuel Eto’o The Cameroonian veteran fired Antalyaspor to a 3-2 victory.

imag

o / E

ibne

r

imag

o / S

eski

m


The five criteria of the FIFA Club Licensing System

1 Sporting criteria – to encourage clubs to invest more in youth developmentExample: Youth team with development programme

2 Infrastructure criteria – to ensure appropriate technical environment in terms of infra-structure for clubsExample: Access to playing stadium and training venues

3 Personnel and administrative criteria – to encourage clubs to manage themselves in a professional wayExample: Appointment of a general manager, finance officer and qualified head coach

4 Legal criteria – to ensure appropriate club governance and sporting integrity of club competitionsExample: Submission of club statutes and ownership structure /control of clubs

5 Financial criteria – to ensure sustainability and transparency of clubsExample: Submission of audited financial statements and no payables overdue

designed to preserve the integrity and credibil-ity of club competitions while at the same time helping to improve professionalism within the footballing family and ensuring transparency in areas such as finance, ownership structures and control of clubs.

As he explains in an interview on the opposite page, Club America CEO Yon de Luisa is convinced of the value of this system.

Club America are Mexico’s most success-ful team. Although they were unable to clinch their 13th championship title this spring, the fans were still able to cele-brate the club’s sixth CONCACAF Cham-pions League triumph. But America are

not only sporting role models. As part of their commitment to becoming pioneers at an or-ganisational level, the club are providing a great example of how FIFA’s Club Licensing System can be implemented.

This new system sets out specific minimum requirements for clubs in national and interna-tional competitions, and will be binding within the CONCACAF zone from 2016 onwards.

FIFA’s Club Licensing System is based on five key criteria and aspects (see left). They are

“Leagues will be much more competitive”

FIFA is seeking to help improve club football with its Club Licensing System – and Mexico’s Club America

are leading the way.

F O O T B A L L D E V E L O P E M E N T

Dan

iel A

guila

r / R

eute

rs (F

otom

onta

ge V

SD)

Osv

aldo

Agu

ilar /

Mex

spor

t

Two examples of club licensing in AfricaGeorge Kasengele, Secretary General of the Zambian Football Association:

“We have made our own standardisation efforts. The problem is we’ve had so much turn-over in our clubs. Only one participant from our club administration course five years ago is still

in position in a club. We realized we need to take example from various countries, South Africa for example, and we achieved the enactment of the club licensing regulations. The first body has been appointed and ratified by the General Assembly so we are almost set to start in 2015 in Zambia. We told the clubs to be ready to be licensed. We are ready to take off.

Changing the mindset is crucial and takes

time. Legal issues are key. Clubs need to change their set-up. There are issues of leadership and control for those who have been appointed to

run the clubs. Our clubs are sponsored by major companies, not individually owned. The compa-nies have appointed committees to run the club; for these committees to relinquish control to full time employees is an issue.

Infrastructure is a big issue too as no clubs

own their own stadiums or training grounds. We find it hard to have stadiums that meet modern day requirements. We are very far off that tar-get in terms of standards. We need to do more

in terms of corporate social responsibility. All clubs in Zambia need to do more with the com-munities where they are based. You need to develop a sense of belonging in your commu-nity. It’s a serious work in progress but we must show we are up to the task.”

Wajdi Aouadi, Secretary General of the Tunisian Football Federation:

“We have had a professional league in Tunisia since 1996. In 2003, we modified our regulations to include new requirements for the professional clubs. If we compare with to-day, our regulations were approximately 80% compliant with the system that CAF is imple-menting now.

In 2014 we started to introduce new modi-fications to adapt to CAF’s requirements. For example we set up two separate instances (a first-instance body and an appeal body) and

presented the eligibility criteria for CAF compe-titions to the clubs. The current factors include all the CAF requirements around the five pillars

(sporting, infrastructure, lega, administrative, financial).

In Tunisia we are ready but after one or two seasons we will need to evaluate the implemen-

tation, see what is lacking and improve on it. We will succeed, and improve. We need to do it for the promotion of African football, whether it be the clubs or the national teams.”

For more information on this issue, visit http://www.fifa.com/development

Why is FIFA’s Club Licensing System a good idea?

Yon de Luisa: This programme will help clubs across the globe to develop in both sporting and organisational terms. These improvements will make the leagues much more competitive and provide more enter-taining matches for fans to watch. It’s important to understand that this project calls for a long-term process that creates success within individual confederations across a vast number of leagues.

How is the system helping to improve standards at your club?

Club licensing improves a club’s stand-ards because it identifies best practices globally and uses these to specify minimum requirements for successfully running the club both on and off the pitch. Determining sporting targets and defining structures designed to support everyday administra-tive, financial and legal issues improves the club’s chances of success.

Could you tell us which measures have been most useful for your club during the club licensing process?

For Club America and all clubs in Mexi-co’s Liga MX, I think the requirement to run U-17 and U-20 tournaments in parallel with the first team league has been one of the projects where we’ve seen the most remark-able results. To set up these tournaments, the sporting officials within each club – in-cluding top-flight coaching teams – have been forced to invest time and resources into developing future generations.

Generally speaking, what would happen if clubs did not follow these club licensing principles?

Clubs in the development phase would take longer to reach their goals and would

be more likely to disappear from the land-scape. In addition, the gap between clubs and leagues would remain so great that this imbalance would have a negative impact on international matches. Å

tfw

FIFA Club Licensing System to be implemented globallyClub licensing is among FIFA’s main football development priorities for the 2015-2018 cycle. FIFA is working closely with confederations and the 209 member associations to improve standards and implement club licensing around the world. Clubs must be licensed to take part in competitions. FIFA’s Club Licensing System will be implemented worldwide until the end of 2016.

Aims:

• To improve standards in club football for the benefit of leagues, clubs, players and fans

• To strengthen clubs. They are the foundation and heart of the football pyramid (clubs – leagues – member associations – confederations – FIFA). Their development and strength is essential for the well-being of football in general and for leagues and national teams in particular

• For national associations to implement the system in the long term with the help of FIFA and the confederations.

Yon de Luisa The Club America CEO can see many positive aspects to the Club Licensing System

F O O T B A L L D E V E L O P E M E N T

Dan

iel A

guila

r / R

eute

rs (F

otom

onta

ge V

SD)

Osv

aldo

Agu

ilar /

Mex

spor

t


NameNeymar da Silva Santos JuniorDate and place of birth5 February 1992 PositionStrikerClubs played for2009–2013 Santos since 2013 BarcelonaBrazil national team65 caps, 44 goals

Rya

n Pi

erse

/ FI

FA v

ia G

etty

Imag

es


T H E I N T E R V I E W

Who is your greatest role model?Neymar: Robinho, without a doubt.

I admired him when I was a small boy and then had the great honour of playing along-side him for not only Santos but also the Brazilian national team.

Which players, past or present, would you most like to play a match with?

I’m a big fan of Romario. He’s someone I would really, really have liked as a team-mate. The same is true of Zinedine Zidane. I once had the chance to take to the pitch with Ronaldo; it was his last-ever match for Brazil, and I wish we’d had the chance to partner each other more often.

Who do you rate as the strongest defender you’ve ever had to go up against?

Wow, that’s a really tough question to answer. There are so many top defenders: Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Thiago Silva and Sergio Ramos are just some of them – I could go on and on.

Who is your best friend in the world of foot-ball?

I’m fortunate to have made many great friends. I was particularly close to Paulo Henrique Ganso during my time at Santos, but unfortunately we lost touch with one another a little after he moved to another club. These days it’s Dani Alves; he’s one of my best mates.

What do you consider to be the best goal you’ve ever scored?

I’ve scored so many special goals that were significant at different points in my career so far, and I’ll never forget any of them. But if I have to choose, then it’d probably be my goal against Flamengo. That’s the strike that won me the FIFA Puskas Award.

tfw

Romario, Robinho, Dani Alves and Javier Mascherano have all graced the pitch during Neymar’s lifetime. The Brazil and Barcelona striker explains

how each of them have influenced his development.

“Robinho was my biggest hero”

Neymar is simply and compellingly spectacular.

Robinho on Neymar

He has everything it takes to become better than

Messi. Messi has already made history with what

he has achieved, and Neymar can do the same –

and perhaps take things even further. Who knows

how many more World Cups Messi will feature at?

In any case, Neymar still has the chance to play

at several more World Cup finals.Romario on Neymar

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the best players in the world

right now, but the time has come for Neymar to take their place.

Ronaldo on Neymar

Players like Neymar need better protection. He was attacked 20 times, and that kind of thing can get under a

player’s skin. Although Neymar is Neymar, we shouldn’t forget that he’s

still only 23 years old.Javier Mascherano on Neymar ’s red card

at the Copa AmericaRya

n Pi

erse

/ FI

FA v

ia G

etty

Imag

es


P l a c e : B u f f B a y , J a m a i c a

Da t e : 9 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4

T im e : 1 . 5 1 p . m .

Ph o t o g r a ph e r : D i e t m a r D e n g e r

First Love


P l a c e : B u f f B a y , J a m a i c a

Da t e : 9 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4

T im e : 1 . 5 1 p . m .

Ph o t o g r a ph e r : D i e t m a r D e n g e r

laif 21T H E F I FA W E E K LY

FOOTBALL FOR HOPE

To fi nd out more, visit the Sustainability section on FIFA.com.

Football for Hope is our global commitment to building a better future through football. To date, we have supported over 550 socially-responsible community projects that use football as a tool for social development, improving the lives and prospects of young people and their surrounding communities

Following recent discussions around the role of medical staff and their relation with the coach, FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer Prof. Jiří Dvořák clarifies FIFA’s position on this important matter.

Whenever an incident happens on the pitch, what is the protocol in place concerning the intervention of medical staff?

If a player goes down and the referee suspects an injury then he’s entitled to call the medical team and the team doctor from the side-line to provide medical assistance. When they are called, the medical team has to run onto the pitch and attend to the player. There are even two situations in football where the team doctor can run to the pitch without being asked, which are if there is a suspicion of sudden cardiac arrest or if there’s the suspicion of a head injury, such as concussion.

Can the coach intervene at that moment?In medical terms, when it comes to medical diagnosis, the coach

has nothing to say. It is at the sole discretion of the doctor and we at FIFA will always endorse that. This is what we teach, this is how we are educating our doctors all around the world. It is our professional rule and our ethical duty to look after the players’ health. If we let coaches intervene, we can end up with a situation where a player suffers a serious health issue as a consequence of a lack of medical attention. And then the one to be held responsible will be the doctor, not the coach.

Does the same rule apply at all levels?Yes, the same rule applies all around the world at all levels of

football, be it an international FIFA competition, a confederation’s competition or a club competition at national level.

How difficult is it for team doctors to balance the needs of their teams with their medical duties?

The team doctor has to be concerned only about medical treat-ment and the health of the players, and we have to protect this. A clear example is the new protocol for concussions introduced last year by FIFA’s Medical Committee and which applies to all FIFA com-petitions. The objective of this new protocol is to reinforce the role of team doctors in order to ensure the correct management of po-tential cases of concussion in the heat of the competition. Under this new rule, whenever a suspected incident of concussion occurs, the referee has the right to stop the game for three minutes, allowing the relevant team doctor to complete an on-pitch assessment and deter-mine if the player has suspected concussion. The referee will only allow the injured player to continue playing with the authorisation of the team doctor, who takes the final decision.

But would there be any situation where the manager could tell the medical team not to enter the field of play?

I can’t envisage such a situation. I think we have to defend our position. Everybody on the pitch – the players, the manager, the as-sistant manager, the representatives of the clubs – they all have to show the appropriate level of respect and accept the decisions of the doctors who are in charge. We have been educated that way, we have years, in some cases decades, of education, training and experience, so we know what needs to be done. Å

tfw

M E D I C A L P R E S I D E N T I A L N O T E

Best wishes, Sepp Blatter

“The team doctor’s decision must be respected”

We are tired of reading reports of fans sparking riots and mayhem, making the headlines at the expense of players and teams, thereby undermining our sport.

Ahead of the German Cup encounter between Arminia Bielefeld and Hertha Berlin, the visitors’ team bus was shot at as it travelled down the street in broad daylight, while another match between Osna-bruck and RB Leipzig had to be abandoned when the referee was hit by a cigarette lighter. Instead of being one-off occurrences, these incidents in Germany are randomly selected examples of an alarming trend. Similar events occur at deplorably regular intervals in almost every country.

This must not happen. Such attacks are criminal violations that make a mockery of respect for the game and its main protagonists and call the integrity of our sport into question. Roles are as clearly assigned in football as they are at the theatre, the opera or a concert, where the stars perform on stage as spectators look on from their seats. Can you imagine a member of the audience suddenly snatching the conductor’s baton at the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year Con-cert or pelting Rodolfo and Marcello with cups at a performance of La Boheme at La Scala in Milan?

Exactly the same rules apply in football as in culture and the arts. The main protagonists must be considered untouchable. Spectators may express their frustration with what’s on offer by whistling or simply choosing to stay at home next time, but they should never interrupt proceedings and become part of the performance them-selves. What’s more, this rule should never be enforced with fences, barriers or police intervention. Our sport can only function through fairness, respect and humility – or education.

Respect is more important than fences!


B L I N D A N D C E R E B R A L PA L S Y F O O T B A L L

Ball wizard Jefinho shows off his skills. All of the players wear blindfolds to balance out their different levels of vision impairment. Pedr

o Pa

ulo

Ferr

eira

/ Fo

toA

rena

F


Whenever Jefferson da Conceicao Gon-calves, or Jefinho for short, receives the ball he is the centre of attention, regardless of whether he is playing in his home city of Candeias or else-where around the world. The ball

appears to just stick to his feet as he caresses it, dribbling it lovingly, while his astonishing technical ability makes it seem as if he is one with the ball. The 26-year-old was born with glaucoma and has been completely blind since the age of seven. Yet that has not stopped the Brazilian from living his dream, having made his senior debut in Brazil’s blind national team when he was 17. “Football is my life,” he said. “I just want to play. It’s like an escape from the problems I otherwise have due to my lack of sight.”

The Paralympic PeleJefinho, who is also called the Paralympic Pele in reference to the Brazilian footballing legend, is quite a player. He demonstrated as much at the Parapan American Games for athletes with physical disabilities in Canada from 7-15 Au-gust, which served as qualification for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil dominated the group stages and alongside their South American neighbours Argentina, played captivating football on the University of Toron-to pitches. It was therefore no surprise when the two teams met in the final.

“I saw their ability as individuals, their in-tensity and their desire,” said FIFA technical advisor Dick Howard. “They played great foot-ball and all the fans were very impressed.” It is something of a revelation to witness the inter-play and astonishing moves put together by footballers who rely solely on sound and touch to play the game.

“Team work and adapting to your team-mates are the foundations for success,” said Jefinho, whose talents were again evident in the final against Argentina, where he scored the opening goal in a 2-1 victory. Now he and his colleagues are focusing on winning gold at the Paralympics on home soil, a feat that would see them successfully defend the crowns won in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

Anything is possibleeverything for me – nothing else matters,” said captain Hodgson, who has over 70 caps for Can-ada.

The competition in Toronto was an extra special occasion for Hodgson and his team-mates given that they were playing on home turf. “It was a great experience to have so many family members watching on pitch-side,” said 18-year-old Stanley, while 17-year-old Charron added that their presence also increased the amount of pressure he felt. Ferguson, meanwhile, believes the two teen-agers were one of the highlights of the tour-nament and an important symbol for the future of the sport.

Ferguson, who himself used to play for Canada, has been in charge of the national team for ten years and is one of the main rea-sons why CP football has developed in the country. Making progress is not easy and there are always many obstacles to be overcome.

Tough competitionCoaching courses are expensive and financial support is limited. “I’m impressed by the players’ attitude: they work hard and are com-mitted,” said Ferguson, citing that as one of the reasons why he cannot imagine there be-ing a better job. He is keen to nurture his players further, not only because he recognis-es their huge potential on the playing field, but also because he has observed that foot-ball has increased their self-confidence off it. “Now they feel more secure when driving a car or on a flight to South America,” he said. Jan Francisco Brito da Costa, one of the best players in Brazil’s CP team, agrees: “For me it’s a dream to play football and to improve my life as a result.”

Brazil not only dominated the blind tour-nament in Toronto but also the CP competi-tion, thanks in part to the performances of Brito da Costa, who has been involved with the national team for five years. They beat Argentina 3-1 in the final, and also finished third behind Russia and Ukraine at the 2015 World Championships in England in June. Next year’s Paralympics will therefore be a closely fought contest.

By delivering top perfor-mances at the Parapan

Am Games, 11 teams pro-ved that impaired vision

and cerebral palsy cannot stop them from following their passion, as Annette

Braun reports.


Par apan A m Games15 di f ferent spor t s featured at the Para -pan Am Games for athle tes wi th disabi l -i t ie s . Be t ween 7 and 15 Augus t 2015, 1,600 compet i tor s bat t led i t out in To -ronto for a p lace at the 2016 Paralympic Games in R io de Janeiro. Footbal l was also represented as teams f rom 11 coun -t r ies gathered to contes t f i ve - a - s ide and seven - a - s ide b l ind and cerebral palsy tournaments .

bra

Olympic feverQualifying for the Olympics is a universal dream shared by athletes the world over, and Sam Charron, Liam Stanley and Dustin Hodg-son from the Canadian cerebral palsy team are no different. CP football, which is played by people who have impairment of motor function due to a neurological disorder, was the second football tournament staged at the games in To-ronto and, at Rio 2016 at least will still be a Paralympic sport. Canada needed to finish on the podium in order to book their ticket to Bra-zil but coach Drew Ferguson’s side lost 2-1 to Venezuela in the third-place play-off. While that means the team will not compete in Rio, their enthusiasm for the sport and dedication to the game remain unaffected. “Football is

Pedr

o Pa

ulo

Ferr

eira

/ Fo

toA

rena

F


Canada’s bright futureCanada’s hopes for a successful future rest on a number of players, with four members of their squad in Toronto under the age of 19. The reach of social media has helped raise aware-ness of the sport and the countless messages on Facebook and Twitter are proof of the in-creased interest potential players have in tak-ing up the game. “Sometimes scouting is just about going to the shopping centre and observ-ing people, keeping an eye out for prospective CP players,” said Ferguson.

Charron is one such player, having been discovered by chance after participating in a game that took place next to a CP football training session. Today he is a pillar of the na-tional team, despite his young age. Neverthe-less, keeping track of the organisational side of things is not always easy given the size of the country. Fifteen members of the current team receive support from Sport Canada and train daily with their clubs, which are spread from the east coast over to the west. The players also take part in regular camps and tournaments with the national side.

Commitment to the causeCharron, Stanley and Hodgson are among that group and train anywhere between 14 and 20 hours each week for their respective clubs Bays United Victoria, Cumberland Cobras Ot-tawa and KWL United Burnaby. Youngsters Charron and Stanley are students, while Hodgson works for the city of Vancouver. At 31, the latter has a wealth of experience to draw on and after learning exactly how his body copes over the years he views his biggest challenge as staying fit in order to continue playing at such a high level.

Although Canada were unable to win the Parapan American Games, all three players drew positive conclusions from the tourna-ment. The 2-1 group stage victory over USA in particular will live long in the memory, and Charron lists scoring against their big rivals and neighbours in that game as his personal highlight.

It is moments like those that spur the play-ers on to overcome hardships. Goalkeeper Damien Wojtiw’s story is a case in point. The 33-year-old played football as a child until two blood vessels burst in his brain. He continued his playing career in the CP team and refuses to even consider retiring from the game despite the risks involved for him.

Source of inspirationThe participants in Toronto were united by their love of the sport and the belief that an-ything is possible with the will to succeed. Charron, Stanley and Hodgson stand as tes-tament to that tenacity, having dealt with


Se v en - a - s ide : CP f oo t ba l lCerebral palsy footbal l or ig inated in the Uni ted K ingdom and the Nether lands and is now played on ever y cont inent . P layers have impairment of motor func t ion due to

a neurological d isorder and are graded in c lasses ranging f rom C5 to C8, depending on the ir leve l of d isabi l i t y. The seven team members may not inc lude more than one c lass C8 p layer at any t ime, whi le the s tar t ing l ine - up mus t feature at leas t t wo p layers f rom c lasses C5 and C6. There is no of f s ide rule , and one - handed throw - ins are permit ted . A match las t s 60 minutes , w i th a 15 - minute inter val bet ween the halves . In cases where a w inner has to be determined, a drawn match resul t s in ex t ra t ime being p layed, fo l lowed by a penal t y shoot - out i f necessar y.

Success the world overCerebral palsy footbal l made i t s Paralympic debut in 1984. Be lgium won the f i r s t tournament , fo l lowed by the Nether lands three t imes in success ion (1988 in Seoul , 1992 in Barce lona and 1996 in At lanta) . Eas tern European teams have dominated

the Paralympic tournaments in the new mil lennium. Cur rent wor ld champions Russ ia won the gold medal in Sydney in 2000, wi th Ukraine c l inching v ic tor y at the nex t t wo Games (2004 in Athens and 2008 in Bei j ing) before Russ ia managed to regain the ir Paralympic t i t le in 2012.

bra

Captivating Teams captured the imagination with their talent on the University of Toronto pitches. Nat

han

Den

ette

/ Th

e C

anad

ian

Pres

s

Pedr

o Pa

ulo

Ferr

eira

/ Fo

toA

rena

, Mar

ta Iw

anek

/ To

ront

o St

ar v

ia G

etty

Imag

es



Five-a-side: Blind footballIn b l ind footbal l , teams of f ive p layers

compete agains t one another. The four

out f ie ld players are either bl ind or par t ial -

ly s ighted. They al l wear bl indfolds in or -

der to ensure that those who retain some

measure of s ight do not have an unfair

advantage. There is one except ion to this

rule, however : the goalkeepers are sight -

ed, although they must remain within their

respec t ive areas at al l t imes. Bl ind ath -

le tes re ly on their hear ing and sense of

direc t ion, so the bal l makes a noise to

help players locate i t by sound. Spec tators

are enjoined to keep quiet so as not to

compromise the game. The ball , which re -

sembles that used in futsal, is smaller and

much heav ier than a tradit ional football

to ensure that i t does not s tray too far

f rom the players and cannot bounce too

high. The coaches and assis tants on the

sidel ines ac t as guides, direc t ing the play -

ers and init iat ing at tacks. The pitch is sur -

rounded by rebound boards, which are

ac t ively used in the game. Matches con -

sis t of two halves of 25 minutes.

Brazil the team to beat

South Amer ica’s his tor y of bl ind football

ex tends as far back as 1980, when the

f ir s t tournament was held in Brazi l . The

European or igins of the game can be

found in Spain, which held the f irs t bl ind

football nat ional championships in 1986.

The spor t is now played in over 40 coun -

tr ies around the globe.

Cont inental championships have been

held ever y other year f rom 1997 onwards,

whi le the Bl ind Footbal l Wor ld Cup has

taken place ever y four years since 1998.

Bl ind football made i t s debut at the Ath -

ens Paralympics in 2004, with teams f rom

Argent ina, Brazi l , France, Greece, South

Korea, Russia and Spain ac t ing as trai l -

b lazers for the spor t . The Brazi l ians tr i -

umphed agains t their Argent inian coun -

terpar ts in the f inal . Having retained their

t i t le at the Bei j ing Paralympic s in 2008

and the London Paralympics in 2012, Bra -

z i l wi l l doubt less be the team to beat in

Rio in 2016.bra

the difficulties of the condition since birth but nevertheless played the game since early childhood.

Players who were on course to become pro-fessionals before an accident curtailed their careers share the same conviction, as do those who have encountered many hindrances, with tasks that were once straightforward, such as maintaining balance, now hugely problematic. Cerebral palsy football gives them the chance

to live out their dream of following in the foot-steps of their idols Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ron-aldo and Ronaldinho.

It is for that reason that Barito da Costa has just one wish: greater public awareness of the sport and an accompanying increase in match-es on the international stage. However, CP foot-ball is not scheduled to be an event at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Given that finan-cial support increases with the status of being a Paralympic sport, there are difficult times ahead for teams everywhere. But if the players have learned one thing, it is that giving up is definitely not an option. Å

”Football is every thing for me – nothing else mat ters.”Dustin Hodgson, captain of Canada’s cerebral palsy national team.

At home Dustin Hodgson (r.) led Canada on to the pitch in Toronto.

Nat

han

Den

ette

/ Th

e C

anad

ian

Pres

s

Pedr

o Pa

ulo

Ferr

eira

/ Fo

toA

rena

, Mar

ta Iw

anek

/ To

ront

o St

ar v

ia G

etty

Imag

es


F I F A W O M E N ’S W O R L D C U P C A N A D A 2 015

All Stars Megan Rapinoe (top) and her USA teammates Hope Solo (left) and Carli Lloyd.

Successful introduction The vanishing free-kick spray reaches the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Social media Marie-Eva Nault poses for a selfie with fans.

Ale

x Li

vsey

/ FI

FA v

ia G

etty

Imag

es, K

evin

C. C

ox /

Get

ty Im

ages

, Stu

art F

rank

lin /

FIFA

via

Get

ty Im

ages


Some surprise selectionsFive of the players were part of the US side that won the tournament, including adidas Ballon d’Or winner Carli Lloyd and the recipient of the adidas Golden Glove, Hope Solo. German striker Celia Sasic, who won the adidas Golden Boot award and subsequently announced her retirement from football, also features.

In addition, the saves of goalkeeper Nadine Angerer (Germany), the defensive performanc-es of Lucy Bronze (England) and Kadeisha Buchanan (Canada), the vision of Amandine Henry (France) and Aya Miyama (Japan), and the attacking nous of Ramona Bachmann (Switzerland) and Lisa De Vanna (Australia) saw those players earn a place in this expanded “Dream Team”.

Successful debutsThe FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 broke new ground in many ways. Some of the innova-tions introduced at the tournament had little to do with the game itself but were neverthe-less influential in one way or another. For ex-ample, it was the first time that all matches

The majority of players who showcased their skills to the world in June and July are now back with their clubs, their minds still brimming with treasured moments. And now 23 of them will have a new memory to cherish.

On 17 August 2015, FIFA’s Technical Study Group (TSG) published the FIFA Technical Re-port and unveiled the members of the Canada 2015 All-Star Squad, which features among the main findings and comprehensive statistics of the 52-match analysis along with various re-ports. These include technical and tactical analyses, trends, a confederations analysis, refereeing report, a goal-line technology report and a medical report. The All-Star Squad is made up of 23 players whose performances in the tournament particularly impressed the TSG experts. Mirroring an official tournament squad, it comprises three goalkeepers and 20 outfield players, in this case seven defenders and 13 midfielders and forwards. It goes with-out saying that any of the world’s top coaches would be delighted if they were lucky enough to have these talented stars at their disposal.

F I F A W O M E N ’S W O R L D C U P C A N A D A 2 015

Over a month has passed since the curtain came down on the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, but the stars that shone so brightly continue to sparkle. FIFA has published its

Technical Report on the tournament, as well as announcing the All-Star Squad.

Top performances, big stars

ALL-STAR SQUAD CANADA 2015Goalkeepers:Nadine Angerer (Germany), Karen Bardsley (England), Hope Solo (USA)

Defenders:Saori Ariyoshi (Japan), Lucy Bronze (England), Kadeisha Buchanan (Canada), Steph Houghton (England), Julie Johnston (USA), Meghan Klingenberg (USA), Wendie Renard (France)

Midfielders and forwards:Ramona Bachmann (Switzerland), Lisa De Vanna (Australia), Amandine Henry (France), Elise Kellond-Knight (Australia), Eugénie Le Sommer (France), Carli Lloyd (USA), Anja Mittag (Germany), Aya Miyama (Japan), Megan Rapinoe (USA), Mizuho Sakaguchi (Japan), Celia Sasic (Germany), Elodie Thomis (France), Rumi Utsugi (Japan)

were played on artificial turf, and some inside a covered arena.

The vanishing spray used to mark the dis-tance that the wall must stand from a free-kick also celebrated its FIFA Women’s World Cup debut, as did goalline technology, which proved to be a valuable aid to the referees on a number of occasions, not least for Japan’s winner against England in the semi-final. An-other change at this year’s tournament was the increased number of teams competing, which resulted in more matches and an addi-tional knockout stage.

Of the 24 teams that took part, exactly a third had female head coaches. Three were with more established nations Germany, Swe-den and USA while the other five oversaw teams that were playing in the competition for the first time (Côte d’Ivoire, Costa Rica, Ecua-dor, Switzerland and Thailand). All coaches, male and female, took a very active role in the matches, giving instructions that were often decisive, and for the third time in the history of the tournament, the winning team was coached by a woman.

Another noticeable feature of the tour-nament was the higher performance levels. Although it was clear that some nations are more developed than others, 72% of all match-es were either drawn or won by one goal. The tactics and playing styles varied from team to team but all had at their heart a col-lective spirit. Only a few teams, mostly from Africa and South America, relied heavily on the skills of individual players, and largely without success. Å

tfw

You can f ind more information on this topic at http://www.fifa.com/womens-footballA

lex

Livs

ey /

FIFA

via

Get

ty Im

ages

, Kev

in C

. Cox

/ G

etty

Imag

es, S

tuar

t Fra

nklin

/ FI

FA v

ia G

etty

Imag

es


© 2

015

adid

as A

G. a

dida

s, th

e 3-

Bar

s lo

go a

nd th

e 3-

Stri

pes

mar

k ar

e re

gist

ered

trad

emar

ks o

f the

adi

das

Gro

up.

# B E T H E D I F F E R E N C E

+140200_FIFA_Beach_Soccer_World_Cup_2015_Ad_BTD_Bale_Oezil_215x289.indd 1 10.06.15 14:59

The week ly column by our s t a f f wr iters

F R E E K I C K S P O T L I G H T O N

GENERAL INFORMATION

Country:

Singapore

FIFA Trigramme:

SIN

Confederation:

AFC

Continent:

Asia

Capital:

Singapore

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Surface area:

718.3 km²

Highest point:

Bukit Timah 163 m

Neighbouring seas and oceans:

Indian Ocean,

South China Sea

MEN’S FOOTBALLFIFA Ranking:

155th

World Cup:

No appearances

WOMEN’S FOOTBALLFIFA Ranking:

142nd

World Cup:

No appearances

LATEST RESULTSMen’s:

Japan - Singapore 0:0

16 June 2015

Women’s:

Malaysia - Singapore 2:0

19 October 2013

FIFA INVESTMENTSSince 2003:

$ 5,033,793

As humans, we possess a few characteristics that repeatedly get us into hot water. For example, we love to be able to control as

many aspects of our lives as possible. One of the most ridiculous sayings ever devised for the working world says: “Trust is good but con-trol is better”. In other words, the best way to get on in life is to trust nobody.

Bayern Munich place their trust in their coach despite this saying, and after their first match of the season they will be glad they did. It was Pep Guardiola who pushed through his preferred transfer despite encountering scepti-cism from all sides. Having pleaded with club officials to be able to sign Douglas Costa, a play-er he had been watching for years, it now seems as though the Brazilian could be his new go-to player on the right wing, or at least a replace-ment for Arjen Robben. Despite being yet to feature in national coach Dunga’s plans at al-most 25 years old, Costa dazzled on his Bunde-sliga debut, prompting German newspaper Sud-deutsche Zeitung to refer to him as a “DC-11 rocket”. The Spaniard wears the same No.11 shirt previously worn by Stefan Effenberg, Lukas Po-dolski and, most recently, Xherdan Shaqiri.

Nevertheless, this first wave of positive re-views should be taken with a pinch of salt as,

while Bayern Munich were igniting their latest secret weapon on 14 August, their opponents could barely generate a spark. As the nation looked on, Hamburg seemingly took their cue from club officials in the week leading up to the match and relinquished control of the en-counter. Last week HSV sporting director Peter Knabel had his rucksack, containing the club’s payroll details, stolen. The documents were subsequently found scattered in a Hamburg park. A few days later the club was forced to stop selling a fan shirt featuring a choreo-graphed display by Hertha Berlin supporters. As HSV dealt with this series of setbacks, sati-rists across Germany had a field day.

Although both cases appear to be a case of misplaced trust, this is no reason to revert to patriarchal adages about control that only breed mistrust. Instead, perhaps Hamburg – who came close to relegation in 2014 and 2015 and for whom so many things have gone wrong over the past seven years or so – simply need to take a sabbatical. After all, history teaches us that the sabbatical year is traditionally the last in a series of seven years. Å

Alan Schweingruber

Making the best of a hellish week

Mar

io W

agne

r / 2

Age

nten


M I R R O R I M AG E

T H E N

Braunschweig, Germany

1975

A young street footballer… sl

g. R

aiss

/ fo

togl

oria

(2)


M I R R O R I M AG E

N O W

2015

…and his play mate.

Hamburg, Germany

slg.

Rai

ss /

foto

glor

ia (2

)


Co

ca-C

ola

and

the c

onto

ur

bo

ttle

are

reg

iste

red

tra

dem

ark

s o

f th

e C

oca-C

ola

Co

mp

any.

sharecocacola.com#shareacocacola

Share a

with

N E T Z E R K N O W S ! Q U O T E S O F T H E W E E K

“I wanted to go up earlier but was told to wait until 90 minutes had passed. I didn’t think the chance would come.

When it came, we just tried to create as much chaos in the box as possible. It was just instinct. Crazy. Unbelievable.

Words can’t describe it. Even now I keep thinking, ‘Did that really happen?’”

Goalkeeper Martin Hansen after his equaliser for Ado Den Haag versus PSV – a diving back-heeled

flick into the bottom corner

“You can have as many tactical plans as you want, but if Eden Hazard starts

running it ’s chaos. He’s at a level where he decides how good his team are.

Messi and Ronaldo are stats animals. If you look at their talent, you can

compare Eden to them.”Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) ahead of

the match Manchester City versus Chelsea

“It is clear and I can’t deny it that there were certain things I was uncomfortable with. I never said that I wanted to leave Madrid but I couldn’t continue like that.

You can see the economic part is the last thing I mention, but there were

things we needed to talk about.”Sergio Ramos on his new contract

with Real Madrid

“For me, it was a big surprise to see how many supporters welcomed me with

warmth and enthusiasm at the opening league game against Tottenham at Old

Traf ford – it gave me goosebumps.”Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United)

after his first match at Old Trafford

“It ’s an honour to have Turan with us. He’s a phenomenon. Furthermore, he’s been very funny in the camp. Our team

needs crazy men like him.”Dani Alves (FC Barcelona) on his

new team mate Adra TuranWhat have you always wanted to know about football? Ask Gunter Netzer: [email protected]

Club loyalty is still valued very much, but the princely salaries on offer have changed the market. You can’t blame a player for

accepting a deal that multiplies his income. In 1973 I moved from Monchengladbach to Spain with Real Madrid. Part of the appeal was defi-nitely that the club was already very famous back then, but the financial terms were also very attractive. I moved into a new sphere and tripled my wages from one day to the next.

A player can reject a better offer if he feels a connection with his hometown club. Decisions like that deserve respect, because in those cases he weighs up the conditions and realises that the overall package isn’t worth it. That is to say, he wouldn’t feel com-fortable in his new surroundings despite an improved salary.

Team members like that are highly val-ued, especially at big clubs, because they stand for identity. You can’t forget that sup-porters don’t want to get to know a new team every season. Fans appreciate players’ loyalty

because they themselves are loyal to the club their entire lives.

There are so-called footballing nomads too; players who go through 14 or 15 clubs during their careers. In principle that’s not a bad thing because in my opinion living abroad expands your horizons. However, clubs would be well advised to thoroughly vet potential new signings. Å

Is club loyalty no longer valued today?

July 1970 Gunter Netzer showcases his heading ability.

imag

o


FIFA PARTNER

NameAlan McInallyDate and place of birth10 February 1963, Ayr, ScotlandPositionStrikerClubs1980–1984 Ayr United1984–1987 Celtic 1987–1989 Aston Villa1989–1992 Bayern Munich1993–1994 KilmarnockMajor honoursScottish Cup winner 1985 (with Celtic)Scottish champion 1986 (with Celtic)German champion 1990 (with Bayern)DFB Supercup winner 1990 (with Bayern)Scotland national team 8 caps, 3 goals

I got a wonderful opportunity to leave Aston Villa and go to Germany to play for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, if not the world, when Bayern Munich called. That was a huge step forward for me.I was never someone who liked to stay at

home and hope for the best. I wanted to get out there and do my best, and I thought it would be great to join Bayern. My first season there was fantastic because we were crowned champions, but the first half of my second year in Munich was tougher. I suffered an ankle injury in November and I’d scarcely recovered from that setback when I sustained another injury, this time to my knee.

It happened at Bayern’s Sabener Strasse training ground. I wasn’t even tackled; I just fell awkwardly and in no time at all my knee had swollen up. Although I didn’t realise it at the time, that was a turning point. Players be-gan to call me a walking disaster, and they were right. What began as meniscus damage ended with a kneecap and knee joint replace-ment. I visited several surgeons, including Dr Richard Steadman in Vail, Colorado, and he operated on my knee twice.

He was the one who told me unequivocal-ly that my knee would never quite heal com-pletely. He said: “Alan, I think you need to call it a day.” That was the biggest blow of my entire life – it hit me like a hammer. Although I wanted to get back out there and fight, there was no point. I could no longer work my knee any harder than 80 per cent, and that meant I couldn’t play for Bayern Munich any more.

Despite that, the club were fantastic to me. They stuck by me for as long as possible and kept giving me more time to recover. Bayern president Uli Hoeness was like a father to me.

You tend to think you’re invincible as a professional footballer, but one bad afternoon is all it takes to spell the end of your career. Despite having played in the semi-finals of the European Cup for two successive seasons, it was time for me to contemplate my next move. I could just as easily have ended up with two continental triumphs. Instead I was hanging up my boots for good.

My knee replacement means I can no longer run or play football, not even for the Bayern, Aston Villa or Celtic veterans’ teams.” Å

Alan McInally was speaking to Perikles Monioudis

Alan McInally reached the semi-finals of the European Cup with Bayern Munich on two separate occasions. A short time later, a knee injury signalled the end of the Scot’s playing career.

“One bad afternoon is all it takes.”

In Turning Point , personali t ies re f lec t on a decisive moment in their l ives .

T U R N I N G P O I N TC

hris

tian

Nils

on /

13 P

hoto


1 Argentina 0 1425

2 Belgium 1 1244

3 Germany -1 1226

4 Colombia 0 1218

5 Brazil 1 1186

6 Portugal 1 1177

7 Romania 1 1166

8 England 1 1157

9 Wales 1 1155

10 Chile 1 1124

11 Spain 1 1110

12 Netherlands -7 1032

13 Croatia 1 1023

14 Slovakia 1 1016

14 Austria 1 1016

16 Italy 1 1001

17 Switzerland 1 997

18 Uruguay -5 988

19 Algeria 0 941

20 Czech Republic 0 933

21 Côte d’Ivoire 0 912

22 Albania 14 888

23 France -1 882

24 Iceland -1 877

25 Denmark -1 876

26 Mexico 14 838

27 Ghana -2 827

28 Bosnia and Herzegovina -2 819

29 USA 5 816

30 Ukraine -3 791

31 Russia -3 782

32 Scotland -3 774

33 Poland -3 769

34 Tunisia -2 768

35 Hungary -4 763

36 Ecuador -1 758

37 Sweden -4 752

38 Costa Rica 3 728

39 Senegal 0 722

40 Northern Ireland -3 721

41 Iran -3 718

42 Cameroon 0 667

43 Congo 4 666

44 Greece 0 661

45 Turkey 3 627

46 Slovenia 3 626

47 Israel 4 620

48 Venezuela -3 617

49 Peru -3 612

50 Cape Verde Islands 2 608

50 Republic of Ireland 2 608

52 Egypt 3 606

53 Nigeria 4 601

54 Korea Republic -2 599

55 Jamaica 21 596

56 Trinidad and Tobago 8 595

56 Japan -6 595

58 Paraguay -2 588

59 Congo DR 1 555

60 Guinea -2 552

61 Australia -2 551

62 Equatorial Guinea 1 546

63 Mali -2 545

64 Gabon 1 544

65 Panama -3 528

66 Serbia -23 523

67 Bolivia -1 515

68 Norway -1 495

69 Bulgaria -1 489

70 United Arab Emirates -1 484

71 Burkina Faso 1 482

72 South Africa -2 478

73 Zambia -2 465

74 Uganda -1 463

75 Faroe Islands -1 456

76 Uzbekistan -1 452

77 Montenegro 4 423

78 Estonia 4 420

79 China PR -2 416

80 Togo 3 415

81 Honduras -1 409

82 Cyprus 3 391

82 Morocco 2 391

84 Haiti -5 387

85 Iraq 1 386

86 Latvia 1 377

87 Sudan 3 375

88 Armenia 1 373

89 Angola 3 371

89 Finland 1 371

91 Rwanda -13 369

92 Jordan 0 357

93 Saudi Arabia -1 351

94 Libya 2 345

95 Qatar 1 344

96 Belarus 4 341

97 Mozambique -2 339

98 Malawi 10 335

99 Ethiopia 2 330

99 Oman 3 330

101 Canada 2 323

102 Niger -6 312

103 FYR Macedonia 2 311

104 Sierra Leone 7 304

105 Antigua and Barbuda 2 303

106 Azerbaijan 2 302

107 Lithuania 3 301

108 Zimbabwe 4 299

108 Guatemala -3 299

110 El Salvador -22 289

111 Namibia 3 284

112 Bahrain 1 282

113 Mauritania 15 273

114 Benin -18 269

115 St Vincent and the Grenadines 0 268

116 Kenya 0 266

117 Syria 0 259

118 Palestine 1 255

119 St Kitts and Nevis 1 254

119 Cuba -15 254

121 Botswana -1 253

122 Madagascar 0 251

123 Belize -5 242

124 Korea DPR 5 240

125 Philippines -1 239

126 Kuwait -3 237

127 Moldova -3 236

128 Lesotho 3 229

129 Dominican Republic -3 224

130 Lebanon 0 223

131 St Lucia -4 220

132 Swaziland 6 218

132 Burundi -1 218

134 Afghanistan 0 212

135 Bermuda 1 209

135 New Zealand 1 209

137 Aruba -2 201

138 Barbados 3 198

139 Thailand 1 197

140 Tanzania -1 194

141 Kazakhstan 1 193

142 Gambia 1 191

142 Guinea-Bissau -9 191

144 Nicaragua -1 188

145 Luxembourg 1 187

146 Guam 8 185

147 Liechtenstein 0 182

148 Curaçao 1 173

149 Turkmenistan 3 172

150 Puerto Rico 0 169

151 Hong Kong 3 168

152 Guyana 7 167

153 Vietnam -10 166

154 Georgia -1 165

155 Singapore -5 162

156 Kyrgyzstan 1 160

156 India 0 160

158 Tajikistan -10 159

159 Malta -1 157

160 Grenada 0 153

161 Liberia 0 150

162 Myanmar 0 142

M E N ’ S W O R L D R A N K I N G

Rank Team +/- Points

163 Timor-Leste 2 130

164 Bhutan 2 128

165 Suriname -2 124

165 Indonesia -1 124

167 New Caledonia 0 118

168 Malaysia 0 116

169 Central African Republic 1 111

170 Bangladesh -1 102

171 Pakistan 1 101

172 Chad 1 100

173 Dominica 1 98

174 Yemen -3 96

175 Maldives 1 90

176 US Virgin Islands -1 88

177 Laos 0 86

178 Montserrat 0 74

179 Chinese Taipei 0 72

180 Cambodia 1 66

181 Mauritius -1 63

182 Sri Lanka 1 62

183 Brunei Darussalam 1 61

184 Nepal 1 57

185 Seychelles 1 56

186 Comoros 1 50

186 Tahiti 2 50

188 Macau -7 49

189 São Tomé e Príncipe 0 48

189 Cayman Islands 0 48

191 Solomon Islands 0 47

192 San Marino 0 40

193 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 33

194 British Virgin Islands 0 27

195 South Sudan 0 22

196 Vanuatu 1 20

197 Samoa -1 19

198 Fiji 1 17

198 Tonga -1 17

200 American Samoa 1 12

201 Papua New Guinea 1 9

201 Andorra 1 9

203 Eritrea 1 8

204 Mongolia 1 6

204 Somalia 1 6

206 Djibouti 1 4

206 Cook Islands 1 4

208 Anguilla 1 0

208 Bahamas -8 0

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/index.html

Rank Team +/- Points Rank Team +/- Points Rank Team +/- Points

LeaderMoves into top tenMoves out of top tenMatches played in totalMost matches playedBiggest move by pointsBiggest move by ranksBiggest drop by pointsBiggest drop by ranks

Argentina (unchanged)Chile (10th, up 1)Netherlands (12th, down 7)29Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, USA (6 matches each)Albania (up 166 points)Jamaica (up 21 ranks)Germany (down 185 points)Serbia (down 23 ranks)

Last updated:6 August 2015


P U Z Z L E

8 7 3 5 9

7 9 2

6 5

4 5 7 6

9 7

6 4 8 9

8 1

3 9 2

9 8 4 7 2

2 5 7

1 4 9

4 5 8

4 9 1 8

7 2 4 5

5 2 1 4

1 8 6

7 6 1

8 2 4

2 7 5

6 9 1 2 8

3 4

8 3 1 4 6

7

2 9 5 3 8

6 4

3 4 5 8 7

7 3 2

1

2

3

EASY

MEDIUM

HARD

The objective of Sudoku is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each of the numbers from 1 to 9 appears exactly once in each column, row and 3x3 sub-grid.

Published weekly by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

PublisherFIFA, FIFA-Strasse 20, PO box, CH-8044 Zurich

Phone +41-(0)43-222 7777, Fax +41-(0)43-222 7878

PresidentJoseph S. Blatter

Secretary GeneralJérôme Valcke

Director of Communications and Public Affairs

Nicolas Maingot (a. i.)

Chief EditorPerikles Monioudis

Staff WritersAlan Schweingruber (Deputy Editor),

Annette Braun, Sarah Steiner

Art DirectionCatharina Clajus

Picture EditorPeggy Knotz, Andreas Wilhelm (Deputy)

LayoutRichie Kroenert (Lead), Tobias Benz, Susanne Egli

Proof ReaderNena Morf (Lead), Martin Beran, Kristina Rotach

ContributorsRonald Dueker, Luigi Garlando, Sven Goldmann, Andreas Jaros,

Jordi Punti, Thomas Renggli, David Winner, Roland Zorn

Editorial AssistantsAlissa Rosskopf

ProductionHans-Peter Frei

Project ManagementBernd Fisa, Christian Schaub

Translationwww.sportstranslations.com

PrinterZofinger Tagblatt AG

[email protected]

Internetwww.fifa.com/theweekly

Reproduction of photos or articles in whole or in part is only permitted with prior editorial approval and if attributed

“The FIFA Weekly, © FIFA 2015”. The editor and staff are not obliged to publish unsolicited manuscripts and photos.

FIFA and the FIFA logo are registered trademarks of FIFA. Made and printed in Switzerland.

Any views expressed in The FIFA Weekly do not necessarily reflect those of FIFA. Pu

zzle

s co

urte

sy: o

pens

ky.c

a/su

doku


GRASSROOTS

FIFA’s Grassroots programme is the core foundation of our development mission, aimed at encouraging girls and boys around the world to play and enjoy football without restrictions. Grassroots focuses on the enjoyment of the game through small-sided team games, and teaching basic football technique, exercise and fair play.

For more information visit FIFA.com

FIFA inspiring girls and boys to play football

the fifa weekly 2015 08 21

Documents