According to information on site, the police were on duty on Friday evening and are in contact with the association to clarify the incident. Further details about the extent of the theft or possible perpetrators were initially not available. The incident comes at a bad time for the Three Lions: England starts the World Cup on Wednesday evening (10 p.m. CEST/ZDF and MagentaTV) and faces Croatia at the start in Dallas.
Infantino angers Italy with joke
Fifa President Gianni Infantino sparked criticism in the country of the four-time soccer world champion with a joking remark about Italy’s great World Cup misery. In an interview with the Brazilian broadcaster CazéTV, Infantino spoke about the renewed failure of the Italian national team in the World Cup qualification when he said with a grin about a possible increase in the World Cup to 64 teams: “Maybe Italy will qualify for a World Cup with 64 teams – or we can even go up to 228 teams.” In total, FIFA only has 211 member associations.
According to the Italian news agency Ansa, Italy’s Sports Minister Andrea Abodi appeared irritated and announced that he wanted to talk to the FIFA boss. “Given the long distance between Italy and Mexico, a telephone conversation to clarify the situation is best, depending on his commitments. I am interested in his direct thoughts,” Abodi said.
Dispute over Rüdiger jersey
The German group opponents Curaçao are apparently arguing about which player can swap which jersey after the first game against Germany. The focus should be on Antonio Rüdiger’s jersey for the two defenders Roshon van Eijma and Jurien Gaari.
Brazil: Neymar misses the start of the World Cup
The Brazilian striker hasn’t played for his home country in two and a half. Now Neymar will have to miss at least the first World Cup game. Read more about this here.
FIFA defended spectator numbers despite empty stands
In the run-up to the World Cup, FIFA spoke of half a billion people interested in tickets. Nevertheless, seats remained empty at the game between South Korea and the Czech Republic. Read more about this here.
Iran: Infantino failed to keep promises
The Iranian Football Association accuses FIFA President Gianni Infantino of not keeping promises. Infantino had promised unrestricted access for all association members to Iran’s three World Cup games in the USA, Iranian World Cup team manager Mahdi Mohammad Nabi told the Reuters news agency on Friday. Nabi is one of 15 Iranian officials who did not receive a US visa for the World Cup games. “We hope that Mr. Infantino will actually walk his talk and keep the promises he made to the Iranian national team,” Nabi said.