FIFA chief warns corrupt football officials
Kampala: The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, has warned football association leaders not to use money meant for the sport for their own gain.
The FIFA President made it clear that if there were any football federation leaders who wished to enrich themselves with football money, they would be caught and sanctioned, Xinhua news agency reported.
"No one should think of using football money for his own gains," Infantino said in an interview.
The FIFA chief was in Nouakchott, the largest Saharan city and the Mauritania capital, to attend the seventh FIFA Executive Football Summit.
Infantino said that with the increased funds FIFA was giving to it's member associations, there was also increased evaluation and monitoring.
"We are asking each football federation to sign a contract with FIFA that focuses on accountability. We are monitoring and auditing centrally to make sure funds are used appropriately," he added.
He also stressed on the merits of having FIFA summits all over the world.
Infantino said the summits were organised so that football leaders could thrash issues instead of coming to FIFA congresses to simply endorse things they do not understand.
"I wanted to change the aspect of football associations just endorsing views during FIFA assemblies. Instead (I want them to) come and sit down and discuss football freely together with the FIFA President," he added.
The summit in Mauritania that ended on Sunday discussed a range of issues pertaining to football, with the focus being on the FIFA Forward programme as well as youth and women's competitions.
Launching the series of summits in Paris in November 2016, Infantino, who made it clear that the game could only develop successfully if FIFA cooperates closely and communicates regularly with its 211 member associations.
Since then, 12 strategic summits have been held around the globe in the 2016-2017 series.
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HP Cong Minority Morcha delegation meets with party leader Venugopal over mosque row
Shimla (PTI): A delegation of the Himachal Congress Minority Morcha apprised the party's central leaders on Thursday of the atmosphere of fear created in the state by targeting a particular community and staging demonstrations near mosques.
The delegation led by Iqbal Mohammad, president of the state Congress Minority Morcha, also comprised imams of various mosques. It met with Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and its Minority Morcha national president Imran Pratapgarhi in New Delhi.
In a statement here, the state Congress Minority Morcha said the situation has become tense due to demonstrations by Hindu outfits in front of mosques and efforts were being made to vitiate the atmosphere and instill fear among Muslims.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is trying to take people of all religions along but some elements are trying to spoil the atmosphere and malign the government, it added.
According to the statement, Venugopal spoke to the chief minister over the phone over the issue.
Ten people were injured during a protest demanding the demolition of a portion of a mosque in Shimla's Sanjauli area last week. In Mandi, police used water cannons on protestors demanding the demolition of an unauthorised portion of a mosque in the town.
On Tuesday, residents of Kasumpti in Shimla submitted a memorandum to demolish a mosque in the area and similar demands are also coming in from Sunni and other areas in the state.
A dispute between a barber from the minority community and a local businessman in the Malyana area in the suburbs of Shimla on August 30 turned into a communal issue with Hindu groups demanding the demolition of unauthorised mosques and residents calling for the identification and verification of outsiders coming in the state.
