Zurich: Midfielder Valon Behrami is set to become the first player to represent Switzerland at four World Cups after being included Monday in the final 23-man squad. The 33-year-old however, will still have to battle youngster Denis Zakaria for his place in the team after an injury-plagued season at Italian club, Udinese. “Yes, he (Behrami) is in front of a unique achievement. But then he will have to fight and earn his place in the playing XI,” Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic said.
FIFA files complaint
Geneva: FIFA said Tuesday it had filed a criminal complaint against secondary ticketing firm Viagogo’s sale of 2018 World Cup tickets, opening a new battle between sports organisations and websites seeking a share of their profits. “As part of its efforts to protect the fans and prevent unauthorised ticket resales for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, FIFA filed a criminal complaint on 4 June 2018 based on a breach of the law on unfair competition against Viagogo AG with the public prosecutor’s office in Geneva,” world football’s governing body said in a statement. “Over the past months, FIFA has received numerous complaints from individuals, consumer protection bodies and other market players over the opaque and deceptive business conduct of Viagogo AG,” it added.
Innovative gesture
Sao Paulo: Mastercard said it was changing a campaign in which thousands of free meals were to be given to the needy every time football superstars Neymar and Messi scored goals. Under the scheme, every time the Brazil and Argentina strikers scored, 10,000 meals would be donated to the United Nations World Food Programme. However, Brazil coach Tite criticized the move as counterproductive because it put too much pressure on individual stars. The credit card giant, however, said that both Neymar and Messi will continue to cooperate for the campaign.
Jolt for Poland
Warsaw: Poland’s World Cup preparations suffered a blow Tuesday when defender Kamil Glik seriously injured his shoulder in training. He had been named in coach Adam Nawalka’s 23-man squad for the Russia World Cup only a day before. Nawalka had already submitted his squad list to FIFA before Glik fell awkwardly after attempting an overhead kick and jarred his shoulder. The Polis coach said should the 30-year-old not recover to travel to Russia, he will be replaced by VfB Stuttgart’s Marcin Kaminski. “If Kamil is not able to play this will be a big loss for our team,” Poland captain Robert Lewandowski said Tuesday.