“We have received letters and documents that there has been an agreement between the FA and the Polish government,” Blatter told reporters in Brussels.

“If this agreement comes into force tomorrow it is sufficient for us. We will not impose any sanctions once the agreement comes into force.”

What this means is…

i. Poland can play their upcoming World Cup qualifying games versus the Czech Republic & Slovakia. (Yes, they should definitely play a friendly against Czechosolvakia in between.)
ii. The acronyms, FIFA & UEFA, will formulate an independent committee of representatives to oversee the upcoming Poland FA elections and help usher in some fine, upstanding gentlepeople for the board. Because FIFA is squeaky clean and all that.
iii. Poland will implement a “roadmap”, whatever that means, to eliminate corruption. Much like the one they supposedly implemented in 2007, which obviously worked superbly. (The details of which I can’t quite find right now.)
iv. Poland can continue preparing for Polkraine 2012, something they were surely doing anyway, but need to be on their best behavior.

In short: Nothing has changed for the immediate future, though it might down the road, FIFA got a chance to flex its muscle(s) and UEFA had their feelings hurt.

William Gaillard, special adviser to UEFA president Michel Platini, warned however that the row between the Polish government and world soccer’s governing body FIFA had damaged relations between UEFA and the Polish authorities.

“We will, like FIFA, be monitoring the situation,” Gaillard said. “There is no immediate threat to their hosting of Euro 2012. However a lot of trust has been lost and we need to see if they stick to their side of the agreement this time around.”

So be on your best behavior, Poland, or run the risk of being called the worst FA in Europe.

In the aftermath, coach Raymond Domenech was widely expected to get the sack. It didn’t happen. In July, the Fédération Française de Football (FFF) voted 18-0 with one abstention to retain him as coach of the France National Team.

The Euro fiasco and the vote to retain Domenech have created a heated battle in France over the future of the team, and especially over who will lead it. It’s been portrayed as a pro- vs. anti-Domenech fight, but that’s too simplistic. Underneath it all, this is more about the future of the game in France.

On one side of the battle, we have the traditionalists of the FFF, led by President Jean-Pierre Escalettes. If I understand the view of the traditionalists correctly, one works one’s way up to the job of National Team coach by being an FFF team player. Raymond Domenech is the perfect example of the company man: He paid his dues to the organization by serving as coach of the U-21s for eleven years. The National Team was the reward. The widespread view was that Domenech was retained after Euros because the FFF didn’t have a company man ready to take his place.

On the other side of the fence, we have the reformers. The most outspoken members of this faction are France’s World Cup-winning players from 1998. Among them: Bixente Lizarazu, Cristophe Dugarry, and Emmanuel Petit. And, most recently, Robert Pirès and Zinedine Zidane. I get the impression that these reformers feel the FFF is getting a bit…inbred. After Euros, they lobbied in the press for the NT job go to one of their own, probably Didier Deschamps, or possibly Laurent Blanc.

But neither Blanc nor Deschamps are FFF guys, and Escalettes and the gang were none too happy with what they saw as outside interference. And Escalettes inadvertently fanned the flames recently by publicly discussing how the FFF resisted pressure from the reformers of 1998 — a group he called a “clan.”

That description infuriated a lot of folks, especially the members of that so-called clan. Several, including Zidane, have spoken out, saying that they didn’t act as part of a concerted effort, but instead spoke up as individuals who care deeply about the future of the team. Dugarry went so far as to say that the true clan was the FFF.

The public outcry has been huge. The World Cup winners from 1998 are icons in France. With Escalettes’ criticism, the tide of public opinion seems to have been turning away from the pro-Domenech forces in the FFF.

The FFF has been working to try to shore up support, doing things like naming 1998 player Alain Boghossian as an assistant coach for the NT, and asking France’s beloved and most-capped player, Lilian Thuram, to take a place on the FFF. Will it be enough?

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Domenech didn’t help his own case in France’s first World Cup qualifier against Austria. France’s FIFA ranking was about 100 places higher than Austria’s, but France got thumped, 3-1. Domenech redeemed himself a bit against Serbia with a 2-1 win, but it wasn’t anywhere close to enough to quiet the critics.

And so everything rests on France’s game against Romania on October 11. A decisive win would buy Domenech some more time. With a loss, or possibly even with a draw, though, this powder keg is gonna blow. Domenech will almost certainly be replaced.

The big question is: By whom?

“The FA was offered votes for cash during the bidding to host the 2006 World Cup finals,” claims Davies in his book FA Confidential. “A bribe. An irregular payment. A sweetener. Call it what you like. Those of us at the FA who heard this corrupt proposal were shocked.”

Davies says the offer was made to the FA’s former chief executive Adam Crozier by “an individual well-connected in international footballing circles”. Davies says Crozier refused the offer. “That would never be the FA’s way. Some countries could take short cuts, could walk in the sport’s shadows. Not us.”

How very noble. But why didn’t the FA make this public when it happened?

And not to be too cynical here, but I think the key part of that quote is “claims Davies in his book FA Confidential.” Basically, scandal sells.

Davies claims the incident was reported to FIFA at the time, but FIFA is denying all knowledge. Even less encouraging, a current FA spokesman has said they won’t be looking into the matter:

“This is an anecdotal story by someone who left the organisation two years ago about a phone call to someone [Crozier] who left the organisation six years ago, from an unnamed individual who was not on Fifa’s executive committee.”

This whole mess is a good example of exactly how corruption happens in football. It happens because the people at the top (ie FIFA) are happy to look the other way and because people who could shine a light into dark corners choose to keep it all on the down low. Until they have a book to sell.

The gestures of the Guatemalan pair at the Futsal World Cup are just dripping with emotion. What do you think they’re saying? (FIFA/Foto-net)

All kinds of problems in Polish football this week, both in the stands and in the offices.

There was the above insanity where Wisla Plock fans went mental while visiting Flota Swinoujscie and attacked the home fans. All because Wisla lost 4-1. Seriously, it’s not Flota Swinoujscie’s fans’ fault that Wisla Plock are useless.

Of more concern to FIFA and UEFA, the management board of the Polish FA was suspended by the Polish government for its failure to deal with corruption. You’d think that was a good thing, no? But FIFA famously hates it when governments interfere with football. That’s their job.

So FIFA are refusing to recognize the new Polish FA administrator appointed by the government, which right now means that all faxes sent from Warsaw to Zurich go straight in the recycle bin. But FIFA are also considering the rather more dramatic option of banning Poland from all levels of competition, which could conceivably see Poland lose it’s role as Euro 2012 co-host. Gulp.

If you’re not familiar with futsal, then all you need to know is this: it’s brilliant. It’s basically five a side football, on a small, hard-surface court with a smaller, heavier ball that has a very low bounce.

The result is a game that’s all about possession, passing and tricks, as you can see in FIFA’s eye-catching promotional video here:

The big name to watch at the 2008 tournament is Brazil’s legendary Falcao. He’s widely recognized as the best futsal player in the world, but has yet to win the Futsal World Cup. The 31 year old Falcao will apparently retire from futsal after the World Cup, so this is his last shot to win the tournament with Brazil. So what better way to go out than winning the World Cup on home soil? (or should that be home plastic?)

Here’s a montage of the #12 in action:

Not too shabby, eh?

Brazil’s biggest threat will be holders Spain, who beat them in both the 2000 and 2004 Futsal World Cup final.

Here are the 20 teams qualified for the 2008 Futsal World Cup, drawn into four groups of five:

Group A: Brazil, Russia, Japan, Cuba, Solomon Islands
Group B: Italy, Portugal, Thailand, Paraguay, USA
Group C: Argentina, Ukraine, China, Guatemala, Egypt
Group D: Spain, Czech Republic, Iran, Uruguay, Libya

After a round robin, the top two teams from each group go through to the second group stage: where the eight remaining teams are drawn into two group of four (wouldn’t quarter-finals be easier?)

The top two from those two groups then progress to the semi-finals, and it’s straight knockout from there.

You can watch the games live via the FIFA website, but only in certain countries (UK: yes, US: no, Australia: no)

Good news if you live in a country not on FIFA’s good list: looks like every game will be streamed live online by your friendly neighbourhood internet pirates.

“if a player takes part in an official match despite being ineligible, his team will be sanctioned by forfeiting the match.”

This is true unless you’re Qatar, apparently.

Back in March, Qatar beat Iraq, 1-0, knocking Iraq out of the early stages of World Cup qualifying. If Qatar had lost the game, by play or by forfeit, Iraq would have advanced to the next qualifying round. The problem was, Qatar used an ineligible player. Everybody agrees on this. The question was what FIFA would do about it.

The final answer? Nothing, other than sanctioning the player. Qatar advances, Iraq is out, and Iraq loses its final appeal because they were late in paying a $2800 (3000 Swiss franc) fee.

The story begins a few years back, when a certain Marcio Passos De Albuquerque, later to be known as Emerson, played as a U-20 in Brazil. When he got a bit older, he decided to try his luck abroad — first in Japan (including a long stint with the Urawa Red Diamonds) and then in Qatar with al-Sadd.

At some point in the process he decided that being Marcio Passos De Albuquerque limited his options, so he falsified his birth certificate, changing his name to Márcio Emerson Passos and his birth year from 1978 to 1981.

Lo and behold, this new Emerson was asked to play for Qatar — perfectly legal according to FIFA rules, except for the fact that the real Emerson had previously played for the Brazil U-20s. (Alternatively, if my memory is correct here, he could have played for the Qatar if he’d switched nationalities and allegiances before his 21st birthday.) He played three games with the Qatar National Team, including the one against Iraq.

Iraq didn’t discover that Emerson wasn’t who he’d claimed, but China did. They protested, and Emerson was ruled ineligible to play for Qatar. The question then became, what to do about that Iraq game?

The result?

FIFA banned Emerson but cleared Qatar of any wrongdoing, despite article 55 of its disciplinary code stating that “if a player takes part in an official match despite being ineligible, his team will be sanctioned by forfeiting the match.” Article 31 of the code states that a forfeit is considered a 3-0 defeat — a result which would have seen Iraq take Qatar’s place in the current qualifying stage.

FIFA’s disciplinary committee said the code penalties should not apply because the Qatari federation was given false information.

It rejected two Iraq attempts to appeal on technical grounds.

And now, in what I believe is the final ruling:

The Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed with governing body FIFA that Iraq had no right to make an appeal because it was late in paying a 3,000 Swiss francs ($2,800) fee.

I have mixed feelings about the result. On the one hand, if it was the player who did the falsifications, why punish the team? But on the other, look back at the top, to Article 55. If they meant this to apply only when the team was aware of the ineligibility, shouldn’t the rule say that?

Poor Iraq. Back in 2007, when they won the Asian Cup, it looked like they’d finally recovered from the Saddam Hussein days, when Hussein’s son Uday used to torture the team when it lost.

Now, though, with 2010 out of the picture… Well, at least they they still have the memories.

Small consolation.

First he was supposed to win the Olympic gold in Beijing, but that didn’t happen. Then he was supposed to re-ignite a struggling Milan team, but instead he’s been spending some time on the bench.

Remains to be seen whether ‘Dinho will be involved in Sunday’s big Milan derby, but his teammates Kaka and Pato will be joining up with the Seleção for October’s big big World Cup qualifying games against Venezuela and Colombia, while Ronny stays home. Was 2006 really only two years ago?

But Ronaldinho’s international days aren’t over yet. Or at least I hope not.

“Ronaldinho is a player in who we have great confidence,” Dunga told a media conference.

“He had a very good period with us during the Olympic Games and it’s perfectly normal that, after changing club, he needs time for training.”

“Now, he’s going to have more time to train and improve.”

“We’re going to do all we can to help him get back to being the Ronaldinho that everyone knows.”

I’m tempted to think there’s a bit of subtext here. It’s widely suspected that Ronaldinho was included in the Olympic squad by the CBF against Dunga’s wishes, a move which may or may not have contributed to Brazil’s relatively poor performance. So is this Dunga taking a bit of revenge? Or am I reading far too much into this?

Full Brazil squad:

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma)

Defenders: Lucio (Bayern Munich), Alex Costa (Chelsea), Juan (AS Roma), Thiago Silva (Fluminense), Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Juan (Flamengo), Kleber (Santos)

Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg), Mancini (Inter Milan), Lucas (Liverpool), Kaka (AC Milan), Julio Baptista (AS Roma), Elano (Manchester City), Anderson (Manchester United)

Forwards: Robinho (Manchester City), Jo (Manchester City), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla).

(most represented club team? - Manchester City)

More on Milan’s #80 at Ronaldinho Offside

Bruno Metsu resigned as head coach of the UAE naional team earlier this week, only to take a trip up north to Qatar for the same job there yesterday. Despite recent failings, his mystique is still high after that run with Senegal in 2002 (in those parts). But no pressure or anything. Not like the spotlight is solely on him… (Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images)

1) The official UEFA vendetta against Arsene Wenger will be rubberstamped. President Michel Platini to take the lead on this one.

2) An official report will criticize the Euro 2010 progress in Poland and Ukraine. But they won’t pull the plug on Polkraine 2012. So that should be useful.

3) Expansion of Euros from 16 to 24 teams to be confirmed.

“The expansion will happen,” the UEFA official said. “This will give teams a better chance to qualify, the fans more matches and we are confident the quality will only increase.”

We’ve already had a vote on whether this is a good idea or not, and it seems most were in favour of sticking with just 16 teams.

But looks like it’s going to happen from 2016 onwards, so clearly no one at UEFA reads World Cup Blog, though someone at FIFA obviously does.