Polish star Iga Szwiłtek announced her withdrawal from the Ningbo Open Tennis Championship in China, due to suffering from an injury in her left thigh, which reduces her chances of qualifying for the final tournament of the current season, which will be held next month.
Šwijontek, winner of six Grand Slam titles, lost in the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open last week to her compatriot Maya Šwalinska, who later won the title, as she suffered from some physical difficulties during that match.
Shevuntek said in a statement published by the Ningbo Championship account on social media, today, Tuesday: “After careful consideration, I have decided to withdraw from the tournament. “I have been suffering from a persistent problem with my left thigh over the past weeks, and I believe that giving myself time to rest and recover is the right decision.”
Shevyontek was one of three players competing for the final seat in the final tournament of the Women's Tennis Association, which includes eight players, along with the Czech Karolina Muchova and the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, before the start of this week's competitions.
In its review of the Ningbo Championship, the Women's Tennis Association stated that if Shevuntek does not reach the quarter-finals, and Kostyuk does not qualify for the final match in this competition, Karolina Muchova will guarantee the remaining seat in the final tournament, which will start on November 8.
Swiss Gianni Infantino's campaign for re-election as President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is scheduled to move this week to Japan, where he will hold a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) with the Asian Football Confederation.
This step comes in the wake of an apology made by Infantino last week, in the Swiss city of Zurich, before the FIFA Council. The governing body, which he heads, which includes 37 members, expressed “mistakes” he made while preparing a plan, which was later cancelled, to sell commercial rights related to the World Cup for a value of $4.2 billion.
The FIFA Council is the main decision-making body in the federation, and includes officials from around the world.
It is expected that the meeting with Asian football leaders will be held in a hotel in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, amid an almost complete absence of the media.
The Athletic Network reported that Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, President of the Asian Football Confederation, who had previously expressed his opposition to Infantino and his plan to establish a subsidiary to manage World Cup affairs, may now have become closer to the FIFA President.
In an effort to allay criticism, Infantino offered to conduct an independent and transparent review of the decision-making mechanisms within FIFA.
Associated Press estimates indicate that Infantino is close to obtaining a simple majority of the votes of the 211 FIFA member associations, which is the majority required to win a fourth term in the elections scheduled for next March, and perhaps a portion of the decisive votes will come from the continent of Asia.
The Asian Football Confederation joined the voices criticizing Infantino after the proposal to sell World Cup rights was revealed, but it seems that its members are not on a unified position. Qatar, the host country for the 2022 World Cup, expressed its support for the FIFA president, while Jordan announced its opposition to him.
The FIFA Council is scheduled to hold its next meeting on December 16, in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Associated Press statistics show that 87 of the 211 FIFA member associations expressed their support for Infantino, whether through individual statements or by supporting statements of support issued by their continental federations, while the largest bloc of opponents comes from the continent of Europe.
No current FIFA president has lost the elections for the presidency of the International Federation for the most popular game in the world since 1974, and November 18 is considered the deadline for any candidate to submit his candidacy papers to compete with Infantino.
FIFA rules stipulate that the candidate must have “exercised an active role in football (for example: as a player, or official within FIFA, or in one of the continental or national federations, etc.) for at least two years during the five years preceding his nomination.” The candidate must also submit “declarations of support” from at least 5 members out of 211 members.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Jules Boykoff, a professor of political science at Pacific University and a former professional soccer player, said: “FIFA is a huge network based on a patronage system. He makes billions of dollars from the men’s World Cup, then distributes them to football federations around the world in exchange for loyalty.”
Boykov added: “The money that FIFA distributes to football bodies around the world is allocated to developing the game, but it is subject to very weak oversight. “So, to say that FIFA needs structural reform is a significant understatement.”
Getafe snatched a valuable draw from its guest Rayo Vallecano, 1-1, on Monday, in the ninth round of the Spanish Football League, despite playing most of the match with ten players.
Rayo Vallecano opened the scoring early through Alvaro Garcia Rivera in the 11th minute, before Getafe's task was complicated after their player Djene Dakonam was sent off in the 28th minute, so the hosts continued the confrontation with a numerical disadvantage.
Despite the numerical superiority of its opponent, Getafe succeeded in returning to the match and equalizing in the 56th minute, through Martin Adrian Satriano, to preserve a valuable point in front of its fans.
With this result, Rayo Vallecano raised its score to nine points in thirteenth place in the table, ahead on goal difference over Getafe in fourteenth place, which has the same score.
