Neymar for moral support
Teresopolis: Brazil’s injured striker Neymar will attend Saturday’s third place play-off when the battered World Cup hosts take on The Netherlands.Brazil were consigned to the ignominy of fighting out a game Dutch coach louis van Gaal has attacked as “unfair” after their 7-1 semi-final mauling by Germany. Neymar’s absence dominated the build-up to Tuesday’s humiliation. The Barcelona striker missed out after fracturing a vertebrae in the quarter-final win over Colombia. “Neymar will come here (to Brazil’s World Cup base), he’s going to accompany the team to Saturday’s match,” confirmed Brazil football federation spokesman Rodrigo Paiva to R7.Com.Paiva announced the news at Brazil’s World Cup headquarters in Teresopolis, near Rio de Janeiro. The Barcelona superstar’s absence and as importantly that of suspended defender and captain Thiago Silva contributed to Tuesday’s shocking Belo Horizonte battering by a Germany side that now faces Argentina in Sunday’s final. Van Gaal’s Holland find themselves in the play-off after Wednesday’s 4-2 penalty shoot-out loss to Argentina. Afterwards van Gaal attacked the play-off, saying: “I think this match should never be played. “It’s unfair also because we have one less day to recover, so that’s not fair play but the worst thing is that chances are you lose twice in a row.”
FIFA rejects Suarez appeal
Rio de Janeiro: FIFA has rejected luis Suarez’s appeal against his lengthy ban for biting an opponent in a World Cup match. Football’s international governing body on Thursday said its appeals committee rejected the appeal by Suarez and the Uruguay football federation in its entirety. Suarez can still appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The liverpool star was banned for nine competitive international matches, four months from all football and fined 100,000 Swiss francs (USD 112,000) for biting the shoulder of Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Italy in a group-stage game in Brazil. It is the third time Suarez has been banned for biting an opponent, after similar incidents at both Ajax in the Dutch league and liverpool in the English Premier league. The incident was missed by match officials, and FIFA’s disciplinary committee studied video evidence before charging the Uruguay forward. The ruling to uphold the sanctions was expected, as FIFA’s appeals panel seldom changes disciplinary verdicts. Suarez can now ask the CAS to freeze his sanctions during his appeal process.
South Korea coach resigns
Seoul: South Korean football coach Hong Myung-Bo announced his resignation Thursday following a disappointing World Cup showing that saw his team jeered and booed on their return from Brazil. “As of today, I am leaving this post”, Hong told a press conference in Seoul. “When we left for the World Cup, I said we would give hope to the people but we ended up giving them disappointment. I really feel sorry about that”, he said. Hong’s decision to step down came just a week after he received a vote of onfidence from the Korean Football Association (KFA) who said he should coach the national side through the 2015 Asian Cup tournament. The coach and his players were criticised by the South Korean public and media for failing to advance beyond the group stage in Brazil, managing just a draw with Russia and then two defeats to Algeria and Belgium. When the team returned home, angry fans unfurled a banner at the airport saying “Korean Soccer is Dead” while others pelted the players with toffees — a particularly insulting gesture in South Korea. Hong had offered to step down immediately, but last week KFA vice president Huh Jung-Moo said the association had persuaded him to stay.
FIFA suspends Nigeria
Rio De Janeiro: FIFA has suspended Nigeria from international competition after football leaders were fired by the government following the team’s World Cup exit amid a dispute over player bonuses. The suspension took effect immediately on Wednesday, with Nigerian teams and officials barred from international matches and meetings. FIFA has set a July 15 deadline to resolve the problem, or Nigeria faces exclusion from the Under-20 Women’s World Cup that starts in August in Canada. Nigeria’s government ousted the football federation leadership and arrested its president Aminu Maigari after he returned from Brazil last week. The government blamed officials for embarrassing the country by not settling the dispute of player payments. FIFA rules protect its 209 member federations from influence by third parties, including politicians. The Nigerian government has issued a legal order for the sports ministry to appoint new federation leaders.