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Thursday, July 19, 2001 - Web posted at 13:08:34 GMT Football seasons to be synchronised ALL football playing countries affiliated to International Football Federation (Fifa) will as from next year have to adjust their domestic seasons to avoid clashes with international football competitions. This was revealed to Nampa by the President of the Namibia Football Association Petrus Damaseb, on his return from Fifa's Extraordinary Congress in Argentina. The congress decided to implement a co-ordinated international calendar for all 204 members of Fifa, to ensure that no conflicts occur with national team players engaged in league matches when major international competitions are on, Damaseb said. " Namibia is one shining example of the particular problem. It has happened on several occasions that when Namibian soccer players plying their trades abroad are called up for national duty, they are unavailable due to club commitments," he said. He noted that it was a big problem all over the world and through the congress the members decided to have the international calendar implemented as soon as possible. The creation of an Arbitration Tribunal was also discussed at the congress. "No country, club or player will be taken to court on football issues from now on. To keep the disputes within Fifa, an arbitration board consisting of independent judges, who specialise in soccer, will solve all disputes like player transfer regulation issues, that may arise within the Fifa family," Damaseb said. He added that the issue of player transfers has particular significance to Africa and Namibia to stop the exploitation of players by European clubs. This means no club can sign a player younger than the age of 18 years to play professionally unless Fifa grants special approval, Damaseb explained. The NFA boss said Namibian youngsters under the age of 18 have in the past been approached by foreign clubs, but he noted that this must come to an end. The congress also reaffirmed a decision of a meeting held last year, on the rotation of the World Cup competition every four years with effect from 2010 when one of the African countries will host the world's most prestigious soccer event. Damaseb was adamant that the Congress on Racism in Football came at a right time as many black players, playing for clubs in Europe are the targets of racism. Fifa now binds all its members to stop racism for the good of the game and equality of all humankind. - Nampa |
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