Newsdesk - Spanish PM Meets Blatter to Discuss World Cup Bid

(WFI) Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero emphasizes his government’s support for the Iberian bid to stage the 2018 or 2022 World Cup in talks with FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Monday.

The joint bid by Spain and Portugal was top of the agenda at the meeting held at Zapatero’s residence at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid.

Also in attendance were Ángel María Villa Llona, FIFA vice president and president of the Spanish Football Association (RFEF), and the Spanish Secretary of State for Sport, Jaime Lissavetzky.

National, European and international football matters were also discussed along with football-related development projects in Africa, such as Win in Africa with Africa and 1GOAL: Education for All.

With the Spanish taking over presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2010, Zapatero and Blatter also talked about the best way of implementing the 6+5 rule adopted by FIFA in May 2008.

The rule would mean clubs must field at least six players eligible to play for the national team of the country of the club. FIFA believes the plan to restrict foreign players will protect national teams, preserve the national identity of clubs and help reduce the gulf between rich and cash-strapped clubs.

FIFA is aiming to fully implement the 6+5 rule by 2012/13 but various legal challenges stand in the way before this can happen. Critics maintain the rule falls foul of EU rules on the free movement of workers.

Blatter praise for Warner
Blatter also found time Monday to congratulate one of his closest allies, CONCACAF president Jack Warner, on his Trinidad internal party election victory.

Warner, a FIFA vice president and member of the executive committee, was elected as chairman of the United National Congress party in a vote on Sunday.

"I am certain that you will take this responsibility and that you will rise to the challenge to continue building a better future for Trinidad and Tobago," Blatter wrote in a letter to Warner.

"It gives me great pleasure to wish you the force and all the success for the challenges ahead of you."

In comments on CONCACAF.com, the website of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, Warner said: "People believe that sport and politics are intertwined, but it is not for the reason that has been professed.

"In sport you understand your role as a vehicle for social transformation. I simply adapt that comportment and principle to my politics," Warner added.

2007 “King of Football” shot in Mexico
Paraguay international footballer Salvador Cabanas is critically ill after being shot in the head in an apparently unprovoked attack in Mexico City.

According to Reuters, the attack happened in the bathroom of a bar. The Club America striker, who was expected to play in this summer’s World Cup, was rushed to hospital apparently still conscious and underwent surgery.

The Mexico City attorney general Miguel Angel Mancera told the television station Televisa: "We don't clearly know the motive behind the injury. According to an initial report it was a shot from a firearm with a frontal entry point and without exit.

"The player is conscious but he has a heart problem, which they're trying to stabilize. We're waiting to see what those arrested have to say."

Cabanas, who has scored over 100 goals in the Mexican InterLiga, was part of the Paraguay squad that reached the last 16 of the 2006 World Cup. A year later he was named South American Footballer of the Year and has since been linked with a move to Europe.

Poland and Ukraine name Euro 2012 ambassadors
Oleg Blokhin, the 1986 European Footballer of the Year, has been appointed an ambassador for the 2012 European Championships which the Ukraine are co-hosting with Poland.

Blokhin, who managed his country to the 2006 World Cup, is joined by Polish football legends Zbigniew Boniek and Andrzej Szarmach, and his compatriot, Andriy Shevchenko.

The draw for the qualifying round of the tournament takes place in Warsaw next week.

Written by Mark Bisson (mark@worldfootballinsider.com) and James Corbett
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