Football news: Flick awaits Yamal’s case, UEFA sanctions on Fenerbahce, and FIFA investigations

Barcelona's German coach, Hansi Flick, hopes that the young star, Lamine Yamal, will be ready to face Valencia in the Spanish Football League, on Sunday, after suffering a bruise.

The 19-year-old winger did not train with his teammates on Saturday, and was content with a solo session in the training center.

Flick told reporters on Saturday: “We have to wait until tomorrow. I cannot be sure today.”

He added: “We have to decide whether it is better for him to rest, or to start the match. I will talk to him and we will make the decision.”

He continued: “Lamine is a player who loves playing football.”

Flick explained that Yamal will accompany the team to the Mestalla Stadium, where Barcelona seeks to continue its ideal start and achieve its fourth successive victory.

He said: “He trained separately and everything was good. He will travel with us tomorrow.”

He added: “He was hit and was feeling some pain. “So we said it would be better for him to train separately.”

He continued: “After training, he said that everything was fine; So he will travel with us and we hope he will be able to play tomorrow.”

The world champion with Spain excelled in the 5-2 victory over Rayo Vallecano on Monday, scoring his first two goals this season.

The loss of rival Real Madrid to Real Betis, 0-1, on Friday, gave the defending champion the opportunity to take the lead.

Flick said: “When you watch yesterday’s match, you see that Real Madrid also played well... They created very big chances.”

He added: “This is football, stumbling is always possible. For us, the most important thing is to focus on ourselves.”

Brazilian newcomer Gabriel Jesus is likely to start on the bench, with Rafinha continuing in the outright striker position, after scoring five goals in three matches while playing outside his usual position.

Flick explained: “Right now, (Rafinha) is performing great.”

He concluded by saying: “It is the best option for us currently in this center.”

The European Football Association (UEFA) decided to ban Matteo Guendouzi, the Turkish player from Fenerbahce, for two matches in the Champions League due to his provocations and insults during and after the exciting match at the French Olympique Lyon stadium in the preliminary round of the continental championship.

Guendouzi, a former Arsenal and Marseille player, was at the heart of the events that took place in the match in which Fenerbahce won 2-1 on August 26, a result that led the Turkish team to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 18 years, before events escalated into mass clashes after the match.

Guendouzi, 27 years old, will miss Fenerbahce's first two matches in the Champions League, against its Italian guest, Roma, next Thursday, and then against its English host, Aston Villa, on October 14.

UEFA also imposed a fine of 50,000 euros ($58,000) on Guendouzi, after convicting him of violating the rules of appropriate behavior, insulting players or people attending the match, and provoking the fans.

Guendouzi raised his middle finger in the face of Lyon fans during the warm-up and after the match, before he entered into other controversial scenes after the end of the match. The player later said that Lyon fans insulted members of his family before and during the match.

UEFA also imposed a one-match suspension on Mason Greenwood, the Fenerbahce striker, due to his participation in the events, and fined him 30,000 euros ($35,000) after convicting him of violating the rules of appropriate conduct.

On the other hand, UEFA suspended Antonio Ferreira, Lyon’s goalkeeper coach, for 3 matches in the European League, with two additional penalties suspended, due to “serious assault.”

Ferreira sent a kick while jumping towards Guendouzi during a clash that took place after the match near the tunnel leading to the players’ rooms.

UEFA also imposed a fine of 50,000 euros on Fenerbahce for violating the rules of appropriate behavior, in addition to another fine of 45,000 euros due to the misbehavior of its fans.

Lyon, in turn, received a total fine of 108,500 euros due to a series of violations.

The French team begins its European League campaign against its Belgian host Anderlecht next Thursday.

The Ethics Committee of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has refused to provide the Norwegian Football Association with any updates regarding its complaint against Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA, against the backdrop of allegations that he violated the rules of political neutrality related to awarding the “FIFA Peace Prize” to US President Donald Trump.

According to “The Times”, the Norwegian Federation joined an ethics complaint filed by the “Fair Square” human rights group, and requested in a letter to the FIFA Ethics Committee to be informed of the progress of the case and any important procedural developments, in addition to asking it to publish any decisions issued regarding it.

Martin Nguga, a former Rwandan diplomat and politician who heads the investigation chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee, responded to the Norwegian Federation, refusing to fulfill its request, despite stressing that he “understands the importance of transparency.”

In his letter, Nguga explained that only persons subject to the proceedings are considered “parties” to them, and therefore, given the confidential nature of the Ethics Committee proceedings, updates on the existence or status of any proceedings cannot be provided.

The letter added that decisions related to publishing the results are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the applicable regulatory framework.

Ngoga stressed that the Ethics Committee investigators will “carefully and comprehensively study all the information presented to them.”

The Norwegian Federation is also preparing to file a separate complaint with the FIFA Ethics Committee regarding the case of Folarin Balogun, the American national team striker, whose World Cup suspension was lifted after a call made by Trump to Infantino. The FIFA president insists that the decision was made independently.

An analysis of social media platforms showed a complete collapse in the level of public support for Infantino after the cancellation of the project to sell part of the World Cup rights.

Data from the social media analytics company Ravenio, which tracked more than 6,500 posts on Instagram in 33 markets around the world, revealed that posts related to the FIFA president were few earlier this year, and the majority of them were positive.

The scene changed completely after the negative reactions to World Cup ticket prices, the Balogun case, and finally the “FIFA Forward Enterprise” project.

Since The Times revealed the project on July 28, negative posts about Infantino have outnumbered positive ones 55 to one.

According to Rafinio's research, the crisis has led to more than 418 million video views and 44 million interactions around the world.