FIFA Moves Against Trafficking Against Young African Footballers

When he was 15, Maurice Koné dreamed of becoming a great footballer. Adored for his technical skill and eye for goal by fans in Koumassi, 

FIFA Jack Warner Keeps His Two Jobs

Austin ‘Jack’ Warner will hold on to both his job in the Trinidad and Tobago Cabinet and his position on the executive of world football governing body, FIFA.

FIFA – Investigations Into Empty (SA World Cup) Seats Underway

Investigations as to why certain seats were unoccupied at the opening match between Bafana Bafana and Mexico on Friday are still underway, FIFA said on Sunday.

World Cup Profiteers

On June 11, South Africans start partying like no time since liberation in April 1994, and of course it is a huge honor for our young democracy to host the most important sporting spectacle short of the Olympics.

2010 World Cup Opening Ceremony

The much anticipated 2010 World Cup football hosted by South Africa will open tomorrow June 10th with a celebration concert (2.00pm Barbados time).

South Africa FIFA World Cup 2010

The talk in football land is David Breckman’s injury caused by his snapped Achilles tendon in a Sunday match between AC Milan and Chievo at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy and his non-appearance in a fourth successive World Cup finals for England.

How Hosting The 2010 World Cup Has Transformed A Nation

Now is a hell of a time to be a South African or in South Africa.

Murder & AIDS – Threats To 2010 World Cup

  With the 2010 World Cup less than a year away, South Africa has two major problems to resolve before 500,000 foreign football fans descend on the country: the rising murder rate, which   makes it second only to Colombia in the world ranking, and the risk of a spread of Aids through football fans visiting HIV-infected prostitutes.

On the crime front, President Jacob Zuma has ordered police to shoot first when confronted with guns. “Once a criminal takes out the gun the intention is clear,” he said after a 39-year-old white police officer, Charl Scheepers, died in a shootout with a robber in a Pretoria shopping centre.

But Zuma was also reacting to new figures which show that 50 people on average are murdered every day in South Africa – a total of more than 18,000 a year.

FIFA Jack Warner Spellbound After Meeting Obama

“I was able to see his daughter play football, they call it socer,on the lawns of the White House. I saw where he (Obama) dines with his family, where he holds his press conferences …..I am spellbound,” he said.

Trinidad Express reports that FIFA President Sepp Blatter and  FIFA vice president Jack Warner were treated to a tour of the White House before sitting down and having a gentleman’s chat with Obama. This chat discuss issues of tertiary education, ‘sports and the US bid to host the 2018 World Cup.’

Some 2010 World Cup Games Already Sold

Hey, if you are planning to head down to South Africa to watch the opening match and haven’t brought a ticket yet, you are out of luck.

Football’s governing body FIFA says tickets are sold out for the opening and final matches of the 2010 World Cup, as well as for all games involving England, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands. FIFA said in a statement on Thursday that, with just over a year before play begins, the semi-finals and all the matches in Cape Town, Nelspruit and Pretoria are also sold out. The first match is on June 11, 2010 in Johannesburg.

Source: www.fifa.com

FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner Narrowly Escape Death From China Earthquake

On Thursday 29th 2007 Barbados experience a 5.0 earthquake that was felt as far as Peurto Rico in the North to Venezuela in the South. For some it was a frightening experience. A wake up call. One house in St.George was extensively damage at the base. For days Barbadians traded stories on What, Where, When, Why and How. Experts and ordinary citizens voice their opinions as to what measures Barbadians should take in the likelihood of a repeat.

So are we better off today than 6 mths before. Can Barbados handle a massive 7.8 earthquake? Do we have a mass evacuation plan in place for persons displace by such?. What open areas can we used ‘house’ persons who have lost their homes to an earthquake? During the 2007 World cup Cricket, it was stressed that the emergencies services were capable to handle any unforseenable events. Are those systems still in place but more importantly are there ‘up to stracth’. Like for a 7.8 magnitude earthquake?. 

We have heard of stolen/missing hospital supplies. Will there be enought emergency supplies to go around?. What we are asking about folks is, is there any contingency plans in place?. Or have we not learn anything from the Brittons Hill cavein?.

Having survived a narrow escape from death as a result of a 7.8 earthquake in China on Monday afternoon, FIFA Vice President and Trinidad MP Jack Warner noted,

“After this experience in a large country like China which is supposedly prepared for calamities like this and to see what they are going through now, I am convinced more than ever that in my country Trinidad… we are not prepared for such a disaster. And it is one of the first things I intend to bring up at my next Parliament meeting.”  

Is Barbados prepare?.