Ex-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger determined to push on with radical plans to change football including BANNING throw-ins

ARSENE WENGER might have been thrown under the bus in Qatar last month – but he managed to avoid injury and is still seeking to remake football in his own image.

The former Arsenal boss was the frontman for the dumped biennial World Cup plan.

But Wenger, Fifa’s head of global football development, remains keen on changing the Laws of the game to make football more entertaining.

Wenger’s plans to trial a new “daylight” offside law, giving a huge advantage to the attacking team, have been iced pending the potential introduction of “semi-automated offsides” calibrated near-instantly by skeletal “limb-tracking” technology for the World Cup.

The Frenchman, though, still believes allowing kick-ins instead of throw-ins in the defensive half, if they are within five seconds of the ball going out, will speed up play.

Wenger’s mantra is “one thing at a time” but it is still on his agenda.

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FIFA FEARING REVOLT

FIFA bosses have been put on edge over the growing closeness between the international players’ union and the organisation representing the game’s major leagues.

Fifpro and the World Leagues Forum are now united on most major issues and determined to try to force Fifa to bend to their will.

The initial demand will be for no new competitions – despite Fifa intending to introduce its expanded 24-team Club World Cup and the latest plan for a World Cup every three years.

But the two organisations – which were previously frequently locked in conflict – are also understood to back the idea of minimum rest periods between games for players of at least 72 hours worldwide.

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There is also an emerging consensus of the need for an enforced maximum number of matches any player can play in a single year, to prevent stress injuries and burn-out.

And with a formal pact between the two bodies being whispered about in the corridors of footballing power, the possibility of a significant challenge to Fifa’s authority over the global game is genuine.

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DROGBA DECISION DATE

Former Chelsea star Didier Drogba will finally discover on April 23 if he is the new head of Ivory Coast football.

Presidential elections for the Ivorian federation FIF were due to be held in September 2020 but continually put off amid internal rows that saw Fifa install a “normalisation committee” 16 months ago.

The delayed vote was supposed to be last month before being postponed at the 11th hour. 

And after the committee agreed Drogba is eligible to stand – no surprise given he is the preferred candidate of Fifa’s high command and African football chiefs – he is confident of victory.

RUSSIA IN COURT WIN

Russia has won an outrageous legal victory after its ban from international luge competitions was overturned.

Despite Ukrainian athletes writing an open letter to the sport’s legal chiefs, Russia’s appeal against the ban to the International Luge Federation’s Court of Arbitration was successful.

It has left the sport’s leaders scrambling to rewrite their own rulebook to reinstate the ban for next season.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Olympic boxing ban, imposed despite the country’s former chief executive Umar Kremlev still heading the International Boxing Association, is being appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Russia’s unwillingness to see what most of the world does remains remarkable, even after CAS upheld Fifa’s decision to boot the nation out of the World Cup, citing that the “integrity” of the competition would have been “severely damaged” if they were allowed to play.

DAVIES QUIT SHAME

British weightlifter Sarah Davies has quit her role on the world body’s athletes commission – after being ordered to apologise for a “discriminatory” remark to a fellow competitor.

Davies admitted the “unacceptable” comment which saw her ordered to make a written apology.

British Weightlifting also demanded world, European and Commonwealth silver medallist Davies, 29, attends a diversity and inclusion course and gives a “follow-up presentation” to other athletes.

Davies was axed from the GB team for the upcoming European championships but will be allowed to represent England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

WORLD CUP 2026 STADIUM DECISION LOOMS

Decision day looms for the 2026 World Cup organisers with a final decision on the expected 11 US stadiums due next month.

But the big issue for Fifa’s movers and shakers is the location of the main tournament headquarters.

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Despite expectations that New York will be chosen, senior officials at Concacaf suggested Miami and Dallas were also options.

Not sure the blazers who promised their wives shopping in Madison Avenue will appreciate a trip to Southfork instead.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk