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Executive of scandal-plagued Fifa to meet

Scandal-plagued Fifa will be in the spotlight again this week during the first meeting of the world football body's executive committee since the suspension of secretary general Jérôme Valcke.

Executive of scandal-plagued Fifa to meet
Photo: AFP

The executive committee of the Zurich-based organization will be updated on the US and Swiss corruption investigations which involve some of its own members, football's governing body said.
   
President Sepp Blatter will also “very likely” take part in the press conference following the two-day meeting, a Fifa spokesman told AFP.
   
The session which will open on Thursday at 2pm local time and close on Friday afternoon, will be overseen by deputy secretary general Markus Kattner, who has stepped in to replace Valcke.
   
Valcke was put on indefinite leave last week over accusations that he agreed to let World Cup tickets be sold at a vastly inflated price.

The Frenchman strongly denied the allegations.
   
His eviction has only served to heighten the suspicion which is swirling around Blatter's final months in office with the election of his successor set for February 26th.
   
Fifa said in a statement that the executive committee agenda would include “an update on the Swiss and US investigations” as part of the corruption probe.
   
The 25 committee members, including vice-president Michel Platini, the UEFA president and favourite to succeed Blatter, will also receive a first update of the work of Swiss lawyer Francois Carrard, appointed by FIFA to carry out reforms in the wake of the corruption scandal that erupted last May, when seven football officials were arrested at a Zurich hotel on the eve of a Fifa Congress.
   
The seven Fifa officials were among 14 people facing charges in the United States over more than $150 million (137.87 million euros) of bribes for marketing and broadcasting contracts.
   
In parallel, Swiss investigators are looking into the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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