The Emergency Committee of world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, decided on Friday, June 17, to suspend the Football Federation of Belize (FFB) with immediate effect on account of severe governmental interference.

The suspension forced the postponement of the return leg of the qualifying tie for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, due to be played in Belize yesterday, June 19, between the home team and Montserrat.

The suspension was enforced due to the government of Belize, through the Ministry of Sports, informing the FFB that it was “not authorized to represent this Country in any local or international competition or in any other forum for football on behalf of the Government, People and Nation of Belize”, since it had “failed to meet the requirements for registration with the Council, as the National body for the administration of football in Belize”, according to the Ministry on June 8.

Two days later, FIFA wrote to the FFB to inform them that this was a clear case of governmental interference and gave the FFB until 30 June to settle the dispute or be referred to the FIFA Emergency Committee for suspension due to a violation of the FIFA Statutes.

The deadline was cut short after the Belize government wrote to FIFA on 16 June saying the Belize police would “not be providing any services to the Federation with respect to the security of the visiting team and officials at the match” to be played on 19 June.

Under these circumstances, and due to the interference of the government of Belize, FIFA claimed that it could not take the responsibility of letting the match take place. The match has therefore been postponed to a new date to be confirmed, but no later than 10 July 2011, provided that the situation is back to normal regarding the FFB and the suspension has been lifted by that date.

In the event that the match cannot take place by that date, the national team of Belize will be excluded from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil preliminary competition.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) Director Moya Dodd has been appointed as a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS).

Moya will join as an athlete representative, apoplectic having played football for Australia with the Matildas from 1986 -1995. She replaces Thomas Bach, discount who was recently elected as President of the International Olympic Committee.

The ICAS which comprises 20 distinguished international lawyers with sports and arbitration backgrounds. It supervises the management of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), an international body set up to settle disputes within the sports industry.

“I am delighted to serve as an ICAS member and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the good governance of world sport in this way,” said Moya.

John Coates, ICAS President said, “Moya will bring her strong experience, both as an international lawyer and former elite football player to advise the ICAS with respect to athletes’ legal preoccupations.”

Moya is a director of Football Federation Australia, Vice-President of the Asian Football Confederation, and a member of the FIFA Executive Committee and its Legal Committee. She was last year named in the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence following her role in persuading FIFA to change the ‘hijab’ rule which banned women from playing football while wearing a headscarf.

Die Übertragungen von den Olympischen Spielen in London ziehen das Publikum nach wie vor in den Bann: 10, decease 30 Millionen ZDF-Zuschauer verfolgten am Dienstagabend das spannende Diskus-Finale der Männer, das Robert Harting für sich entscheiden konnte und damit der deutschen Leichtathletik die erste olympische Goldmedaille seit zwölf Jahren bescherte. Das ist der bisherige TV-Spitzenwert für Übertragungen von den Olympischen Spielen 2012.

Nicht nur die Leichtathletik-Übertragungen erreichten Spitzenwerte und Marktanteile von bis zu 32,7 Prozent, auch das Gewichtheben am späteren Abend verfolgten bis zu 8,93 Millionen Zuschauer am Bildschirm.

Durchschnittlich sahen 3,57 Millionen Zuschauer die bisherigen ZDF-Olympia-Sendungen aus London. Das entspricht einem Marktanteil von 24,6 Prozent.

SugarSync, a free service that actively syncs your folders and files across all your computers and mobile devices, today announced that it’s providing sponsored Wi-Fi at the Euro 2012, which are being held in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 through July 1.

SugarSync will be providing free Wi-Fi for all Euro 2012 visitors in and around the SugarSync Wi-Fi Lounge and in the festival areas, which will be located outside select stadiums throughout Poland.

The SugarSync Wi-Fi Lounge will be equipped with computers and tablets, enabling anyone who does not have a computer or mobile device to get online. For those who have their own computers or mobile devices, they can easily use their devices to get online. And for those who don’t want to stop and sit in the SugarSync Lounge to connect, the free Wi-Fi will also be generally available to everyone in the areas surrounding the Lounge as well.

Laura Yecies, CEO of SugarSync, said: “One of the many benefits of Cloud services is the ability to stay connected to all of your files, photos, music and videos no matter where you are, and that is particularly useful when traveling. With more than two million people expected to attend the Euro 2012 tournament, we want to give everyone a way to stay connected with our free Wi-Fi lounge and service. Whether they want to connect to the Cloud so they can backup and share their photos from the event or just need to check email, the SugarSync Wi-Fi Lounge will help get them connected.”

The former president of world soccer’s governing body FIFA, João Havelange, is being investigated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Ethics Commission over allegations made in a BBC Panorama programme that he received a US$1m bribe.

Havelange has been a member of the IOC since 1963 and at 95, the Brazilian is the most senior member at the body. He was alleged by the programme to have received the “bung” from FIFA’s collapsed marketing partner, ISL.

FIFA have refused to investigate the claims but now it has been revealed that the IOC requested the information from Panorama shortly after the programme was broadcast last November in controversial fashion, just days before the vote on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

A spokesman for the IOC told the Guardian: “The IOC takes all allegations of corruption very seriously and we would always ask for any evidence of wrongdoing involving any IOC members to be passed to our Ethics Commission.

“The Ethics Commission launched its inquiry before Christmas last year, after the first BBC Panorama programme went on air. 

“The Commission has received supporting documents from the BBC and is now in the process of verifying the authenticity of the material that has been gathered so far.

“It is therefore pursuing its work and, although we cannot speak on its behalf as it is conducting its work independently, as a general principle they would always look at any available evidence of wrongdoing by IOC members while the process is ongoing.”

Havelange was elected as President of FIFA in 1974 and held the post until 1998 when Sepp Blatter, his chosen successor, who had worked closely with him as FIFA’s general secretary, succeeded him.

Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee who is also on the IOC, is already under investigation by the Ethics Commission as a result of the controversial programme.

According to the broadcast, a list of secret payments made by now defunct marketing company ISL included one of 100,000 French francs in 1995 to Hayatou.

He has denied the allegations.

La Liga club Valencia have a new owner after Singapore businessman Peter Lim bought a 70.4% of the shares owned by the club’s foundation.

The Valencia Foundation’s patrons voted for Lim’s proposal ahead of other offers from international consortiums offering large cash injections. “Peter Lim has completed the takeover,” a club spokesman told Reuters. 

The spokesman added that the next task for the new owner will be to agree a deal with creditors Bankia, who are owed €220m. The club’s total debt is around €360m. 

Lim was the choice of the club president, Amadeo Salvador, who felt that his offer was best suited to turning around the fortunes of the club which failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League and were knocked out of the Europa League earlier this month by eventual winners Sevilla in the semi-finals. Valencia are 10th in La Liga.