War in Iraq could postpone U-20 World Cup

[Daniel]

[Beurk...]

War in Iraq could postpone U-20 World Cup

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/story/10 ... 5914259899

(posted Feb. 18, 1:01PM EST)
NEW YORK -- The world under-20 soccer championship, scheduled to begin next month in the United Arab Emirates, could be postponed if military action is taken against Iraq, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Tuesday.

Blatter said soccer's world governing body has no intention of moving the event to another country if there is a war in the Middle East.

"If something should happen in the region or in the country ... we will postpone the competition," Blatter said. "We will not shift it."

Canada is scheduled to compete in the 24-country tournament. Its first-round games are based in Dubai.

Blatter also spoke about the Confederations Cup and the poor refereeing at last year's World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

"I wouldn't say the refereeing was bad, but it wasn't the best," said Blatter, who blamed the poor officiating at the World Cup on the Referee's Committee, which he said appointed referees unfamiliar with each other to work together for the first time.

Blatter said the 2006 World Cup in Germany will only use referees that have worked together in the past.

The Confederations Cup, a 10-team tournament of soccer confederation champions scheduled for June in France, has been criticized for making already-overloaded European seasons even longer.

But Blatter, who said the 10 days of competition have been set aside for international purposes, thinks the teams' top players will play.

"I'm sure the players are coming, because they like to play," he said.

World Cup champion Brazil is to play the United States, Cameroon and Turkey while host France takes on Japan, Colombia and New Zealand. The final is set for June 29 in Saint-Denis.

Blatter was in New York to receive the American-Global Award for Peace for his efforts in bringing together traditional enemies South Korea and Japan, the first time two countries co-hosted the World Cup finals.

"People said it wouldn't work, but it worked," Blatter said. "It worked `magnifico."'

Blatter called it the "Smiling World Cup," largely due the friendly attitude of the co-hosts.

"There was no room to fight. There was no room for violence," he said. "They were smiling. How can you fight with smiling people?"

The International Amateur Athletic Association gave the award to Blatter, who has been president of FIFA since 1998. Past recipients include Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, George Bush and Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Blatter, who fought against allegations of corruption to be re-elected as FIFA president last year, has worked to make soccer a more global sport, giving money to national federations around the globe.

He has also guaranteed that Africa, which has never hosted a World Cup finals, will get the next available tournament in 2010. Six African countries have said they will bid for that tournament: Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia.

But Blatter said FIFA has not decided which confederation will get the next tournament in 2014, but he said the eastward movement will likely bring it to South America, which has not hosted the competition since 1978 in Argentina.
© The Canadian Press, 2002