August 3, 2022

The brief from today:

CONMEBOL nations plan joint bid

With the 2022 World Cup roughly four months away, and the 2026 edition set to be hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the US, early planning is now commencing for 2030. FIFA plans to make the final decision for that tournament in 2024 so more nation bids are trickling in. Today, a joint bid was announced by CONMEBOL nations: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. The 2030 World Cup will mark 100 years since the tournament’s first edition, which was hosted in Uruguay. With nostalgia in mind, Uruguay, along with some of their fellow South American neighbors have launched this campaign to bring the World Cup “home”. This joint bid adds to others that have formally applied individually and also as co-hosts including: Spain/Portugal, as well as Morocco. FIFA rules state that a confederation is unable to bid for the World Cup if they hosted either of the two previous editions, so this rules out the AFC (Asia) because of Qatar, and CONCACAF (North and Central America) due to the 2026 tournament. So far there are currently bids from CAF, UEFA, and CONMEBOL, but there could be more pending with two years still remaining until final selections are made.

Dignitaries announce the Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile joint bid

Napoli president makes reckless comments

Aurelio De Laurentiis, Napoli’s president, never one to hold his tongue, made some statements today that didn’t go down well. Speaking on the Wall Street Italia show, the club supremo discussed business in football and his club’s financial state, but it was his comments on the AFCON that drew great ire. Regarding Africa’s continental competition, De Laurentiis said, “Enough of African players, or they should give up playing the African Cup. I won’t buy any more of them for this reason. We pay the salaries to send them around to play for the world in the middle of the league championship.” While he didn’t say anything overtly racist, the undertones are certainly there. The unfortunate part of this tirade is that he’s not the first to hold such sentiments regarding the AFCON. There is constant negativity towards the tournament from club sides, even in England, due to the fact that the competition is typically staged mid-season. CAF has even tried to placate clubs by switching the scheduling to the summer, but the reason January/February is the ideal time is because of the summer rainy season in various African nations. In fact, this same issue has already caused next year’s edition, originally scheduled for the summer, to be pushed back to January 2024. To De Laurentiis’s point, of course there are grounds to not being pleased with paying players while they are away during the club season. It is odd, however, that similar compensation frustrations aren’t mentioned when the Euros or World Cup take place during the summer. These tournaments, despite not being mid-season, still pose injury risks for players while they are away from their club sides, all while they are still being paid their salaries. Napoli, prior to Koulibaly’s departure this summer, had three eligible players for the AFCON. In addition to the Senegalese captain, Cameroon’s Anguissa, and Nigeria’s Osimhen, were the other two African players. Koulibaly responded to the comments saying, “You cannot speak for African national teams like this, I think. You have to have respect, like you have for other national teams. As captain of Senegal, I think that this is not a good way to speak about African national teams.” Unfortunately, Koulibaly isn’t the first to be forced into such comments, and likely won’t be the last. What impact De Laurentiis’s comments will have on Osimhen and Anguissa, and whether he sticks to this new “policy” of his remains to be seen.

De Laurentiis’s reckless comments show the double standard regarding AFCON

Bayern plan to reward Salihamidzic

Former Bayern Munich player, now Sporting CEO, Hasan Salihamidzic, may be on the verge of a contract extension through 2026. Bayern have been very active in this summer’s transfer window, and with Salihamidzic at the helm, the club have managed to rejuvenate the squad quite impressively. The German champions have signed future prospects Ryan Gravenberch, 20, and Mathys Tel, 17, for €18 million and €28.5 million respectively. In addition to those two, Matthijs de Ligt, still only 22 but with much more experience at a high level, was brought in for €77 million. Alongside de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, 24, is another addition to the defense. Of course, there was also the first purchase of the summer, which could have the most immediate impact: Sadio Mane from Liverpool for a potential €41 million including add-ons. Salihamdzic also managed, after some tough negotiating, to get Barcelona to part with a potential €50 million, including add-ons, for Robert Lewandowski despite the now ex-Bayern forward about to turn 34. With one month of the transfer window remaining, Salihamdzic’s dealings may not be done quite yet, but he has already done enough for the club to reward him.

All smiles for Salihamdizic and Bayern currently