Yahoo – AFP,
Ben Simon, January 22, 2016
 |
UEFA is to
allow goal-line technology starting from Euro 2016 (AFP Photo/
Adrian Dennis)
|
Nyon
(Switzerland) (AFP) - UEFA on Friday approved the use of goal-line technology
(GLT) for its competitions, as the body's acting chief Gianni Infantino vowed
to win FIFA's upcoming presidential vote.
The
greenlight for GLT, which has been expected, was given the final nod at UEFA's
executive committee meeting, with the technology to be introduced at the
France-hosted Euro 2016 championship.
Meanwhile,
with the campaign heating up to replace Sepp Blatter as the head of world
football's scandal-tainted governing body, UEFA's executive committee
unanimously backed Infantino's candidacy for FIFA's February 26 vote.
"We
are certain he is the right man to take FIFA forward now,” an executive
committee statement said.
Infantino,
UEFA's secretary general who entered the race following the suspension of
European football's fallen president Michel Platini, voiced confidence of an
election win.
Asked how many votes he expected to get from the 209 FIFA member-associations who will pick the body's next leader, Infantino said: "at least 105, which is the number needed to become the president of FIFA."
 |
UEFA
General Secretary Gianni Infantino smiles during a press conference closing
an
UEFA Executive meeting at the European football body’s headquarters on
January
22, 2016 in Nyon (AFP Photo/Alain Grosclaude)
|
Asked how many votes he expected to get from the 209 FIFA member-associations who will pick the body's next leader, Infantino said: "at least 105, which is the number needed to become the president of FIFA."
UEFA's
national associations have also "overwhelmingly" backed Infantino's
candidacy, but each nation will disclose its individual endorsement "in
due course," the executive committee statement said.
Goal-line
technology
Infantino
said the decision on goal-line technology was ultimately made because the game
did not benefit from uncertainty over goals.
"We
looked at it seriously," he said. GLT "will dispel any doubt about
whether a goal has been scored."
UEFA's top
body approved use of the technology for this summer's continental championship
and then for the 2016/17 Champion's League, with GLT expected to ultimately
extend to all UEFA competitions.
The
technology is already used in the English Premier League, Italy's Serie A, the
German Bundesliga and Ligue 1 in France. FIFA also brought it in for the 2014
World Cup in Brazil after a series of successful trials.
"The
system will work alongside additional assistant referees who will continue to
monitor all activity in and around the penalty area," UEFA said.
No vote
to replace Platini
UEFA also
said that it will not hold a vote to replace Platini until the Frenchman's
appeals against his ban have been exhausted.
 |
A general
view of the interior of the Stadium in Toulouse, southern France, is
pictured
on January 13, 2016, ahead of its official inauguration, following several
months of renovation for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2016 European football
championship (AFP Photo/Pascal Pavani)
|
Platini was
initially suspended from football by FIFA in October over a 2 million Swiss
franc ($2 million/1.8 million euros) payment that Blatter authorised for him in
2011.
In
December, FIFA judges banned him for eight years.
Platini,
who had been the favourite to win FIFA's presidency, has denied wrongdoing and
vowed to appeal his ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
UEFA said
"there will be no presidential election scheduled" until sports
appeals bodies have ruled on Platini's case.
The French
football legend withdrew from the FIFA presidency race on January 7.
The
'football' candidate
Infantino
is facing tough competition from four rivals in the contest to become the most
powerful man in football.
But, he
said, those clamouring for an end to the scandals and allegations that have
tarnished the game should have confidence in his leadership, dismissing the
notion that he was a regional candidate.
"I am
not the UEFA candidate. I am not the European candidate...I am the football
candidate," he said.
 |
A giant
screen in the stadium shows a replay of France's Karim Benzemas shot
using new
goal line technology during a football match between France and
Honduras in
Porto Alegre during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil on June 15,
2014 (AFP
Photo/Franck Fife)
|
Thirty-nine people have been charged by the United States with corruption in football going back decades, while Swiss prosecutors have also opened investigations targeting Blatter and the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, won by Russia and Qatar respectively.
Top
corporate sponsors of the World Cup like Visa and Coca-Cola have demanded
sweeping change in global football's management.
"They
know me," Infantino said when asked if he had made contact with these
corporations during his campaign. "They know how I work. They know who I
am."
FIFA
presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al Hussein of Jordan has already sounded
an alarm over impropriety in the campaign.
Hussein
said a development deal agreed between the Asian and African confederations
looked like a scheme to secure Africa's backing for Asian football chief and
FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa of Bahrain.
Asked about
fears of vote buying, Infantino said "he had no concerns at all with
regards to this election."
Meanwhile,
Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko confirmed his backing for Infantino to win
the FIFA vote.
"Undoubtedly
we have a candidate of Europe -- Infantino. He is our candidate. Europe is
acting as a united front. Therefore we support him as the candidate of
Europe," Mutko told R-SPort news agency by phone.
"Infantino
has been in UEFA for 15 years, he is the secretary general, a respected
person."
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.