Football Asia – Inside World Football

India sets minimum wage structure for top tier women’s league

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 05:33:16 +0000

April 17 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is to set a minimum wage for players in the country’s women’s top flight, the Indian Women’s League (IWL).

The top eight participating teams in the IWL will be required to have a minimum of 10 Indian players on an annual contract worth a minimum of ₹3.2 lakhs ($3,908), said AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey following an AIFF executive committee meeting.

“We believe these decisions will attract more girls to play football and will help the growth of the women,” said Chaubey.

Minerva owner Bajaj reports match-fixing attempt saying it is ‘rampant’ in India’s lower leagues

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 13:11:45 +0000

April 14 – A bookmaker has allegedly approached two players at Delhi FC in the Indian I-League Second Division in an attempt to fix matches, Minerva club owner Ranjit Bajaj has claimed.

In March the players were contacted multiple times and promised they could “make a lot of money” by the match fixer, who even wrote to the players explaining that I-League 2 matches are beamed into betting shops and so attract interest from punters.

Mongolia feels the warmth of FIFA with opening of Air Dome

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:06:38 +0000

April 14 – Mongolia opened its Air Dome last week with its U-17 women’s national team playing Hong Kong in a friendly.

It was the first use of the FIFA-funded facility that will provide cover for the National Team Training Centre. For seven months of the year the country experiences temperatures that dip below zero. For five of those months temperatures never go above zero.

Terbaatar Dambiijav, General Secretary of Mongolian Football Federation (MFF),

Indonesia’s Arema and Persebaya return to disaster hit Kanjuruhan Stadium to complete fixture

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 05:46:55 +0000

April 12 – The rematch of an Indonesian club fixture that ended in one of the world’s worst stadium disasters was played on Tuesday behind closed doors.

Last October, 135 people died in a crush following a match between fierce rivals Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya at Arema’s Kanjuruhan Stadium.

Many perished in a deadly stampede as they fled for the exits after police fired tear gas into the crowd –

AFC releases new dates and confirms eight stadiums for Asian Cup Qatar 2023

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 07:59:50 +0000

April 6 – The Asian Cup Qatar 2023 will be played January 12 to February 10, 2024 in eight stadiums across the country.

The AFC and the Local Organising Committee confirmed the dates for the 18th edition of the Asian Cup and the second to be held with 24 teams, saying that the competition “will be held across 30 days, two more than the 28-day 2019 edition in the United Arab Emirates as part of efforts to enhance the experience for Asia’s passionate fans as well as the stature and commercial value of the competition.”

Six of the eight stadiums were used at the Qatar 2022 World Cup –

Video footage shows Israeli attack on Palestinian stadium, AFC condemns unprovoked aggression

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 06:55:42 +0000

By Paul Nicholson

April 3 – Video footage of the Israeli attack on the Faisal Al Husseini international stadium on March 30 has been released (see below) as well as more detail of the attack itself and the use of rubber bullets fired into the VIP area.

The rubber bullets were fired into an area where the Turkish ambassador to Palestine was being hosted by Palestinian FA president Major General Jbril Rajoub.

AFC draws groups from U27 Asian Cup Thailand 2023

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 04:01:37 +0000

April 3 – The Asian Football Confederation has completed the draw for the finals of AFC U17 Asian Cup 2023 to be played in Thailand.

The top four sides will qualify for the U-17 World Cup Peru 2023 in November.

The 16 teams were divided into four groups for the AFC’s June 15-July 2 tournament.

Hosts Thailand, champions in 1998, will have Malaysia, Laos and Yemen for company.

Two-time champions Korea Republic were drawn with Islamic Republic of Iran,

Israeli forces storm Palestine’s Faisal Al Husseini stadium in unprovoked tear gas attack on players and fans

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 31 Mar 2023 03:34:36 +0000

By Paul Nicholson

March 31 – Israeli forces broke into the Faisal Al Husseini international stadium last night and fired tear gas on to the pitch and into the stands, halting the final of the Abu Ammar Cup for an hour while players and fans were treated.

The Israeli attack appears to be unprovoked and the Israeli authorities have not issued a statement regarding the incident or who ordered the troops to attack players and fans in the stadium.

Indonesian U-20 World Cup draw postponed as local politicians protest Israeli participation

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 14:02:43 +0000

By Samindra Kunti

March 27 – FIFA have postponed the U-20 World Cup draw amid a protest against Israel’s participation in the tournament.

The draw for the youth tournament was scheduled for Friday (March 31) but the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) said the draw was cancelled. Indonesia is due to stage the U-20 World Cup in May and June, but the debut of Israel is causing unease in the host nation,

Russia finds friends. Iran and Iraq play friendlies as team preps for Central Asian Championship

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 27 Mar 2023 13:13:35 +0000

March 27 – They may be still banned from FIFA and UEFA tournaments because of the invasion of Ukraine but Russia has nevertheless managed to manoeuvre its way back into international football.

Back-to-back games against Iran and Iraq over the past few days have given the Russians something to crow about though the friendly encounters generated little or no interest to the outside world from a footballing standpoint.

Last Thursday, the Russians were hosted by long-term political ally Iran in a game that finished 1-1 in Tehran.