FIFA Updates

Young Milan forward Dominic Adiyiah is being courted by Hannover over the possibility of spending the next season with them on loan, Bild reports.

Having been snapped up by the Rossoneri from Fredrikstad in January, the 20-year-old has yet to make a league appearance in Serie A and could be allowed to depart on a temporary basis in order to gain valuable senior experience.

Mainz have already been linked with a loan deal that would take Adiyiah to the Bundesliga, though Hannover are keen to compete by offering a similar move. Crucial to any temporary switch, which is said to be worth €300,000 and could include a purchase option, could be Goran Milanovic, who is an advisor of the young African.

“Dominic is my boy,” he affirmed. “I would prefer he went to Hannover 96, which was my first club outside of Serbia. I am sure he would be a plus for Hannover and that the club would also be good for him.”

Such words would appear to indicate there is a new leader in the race to sign the striker.


For all the latest transfer news visit Goal.com’s Transfer Zone and join Goal.com USA’s Facebook fan page

Wesley Sneijder’s agent, Soren Lerby, has moved to quash speculation in relation to his client’s Inter future, insisting he will not be leaving the club.

Sneijder, who won the treble with the Nerazzurri and finished as a runner-up at the World Cup with the Netherlands, was linked with Manchester United for a brief period.

However, Lerby insists there is no reason to leave, and is fully confident his man will remain at the club.

“This is one of those years in which everything is beautiful and perfect. It’s difficult that Wesley will forget everything that has happened this year,” the agent told Calcionews24.com.

“He has made history and everyone is happy for that. His future? That is with Inter, there are no doubts or problems about this.”

Click here to follow the Goal.com Twitter feed and join Goal.com USA’s Facebook fan page

Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez is closing in on a move to MLS side New York Red Bulls according to Sport.

Red Bulls sporting director Erik Soler has hinted in recent weeks that former Barca striker Thierry Henry would not be the club’s only big name addition of the summer and coach Hans Backe could be set to renew acquaintances with the versatile stopper having previously worked with Marquez as assistant to Sven Goran Eriksson during his brief reign at the helm with the Mexico national side.

It is claimed that the 31-year-old’s move to the MLS could be closed in a matter of days with Marquez confirming that he would leave the Catalan giants in search of regular football.

“I want to leave Barcelona in a good way, I hope to get my passage to solve my future soon in the MLS or outside of MLS,” is quoted as saying.

“I want to continue playing in the United States, Mexico or wherever the opportunity presents itself to me.”

For all the latest transfer news visit Goal.com’s Transfer Zone and join Goal.com USA’s Facebook fan page

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Government agencies in South Africa have spent more than 110
million rand ($14.1 million) on World Cup tickets and related expenses, more
than double the amount they had publicly admitted to spending, according to a
newspaper report.

Eskom, the national power utility, spent about 12 million rand ($1.5
million) on football tickets for the tournament despite the threat of a strike
from workers unhappy with their wages and housing allowances.

“They spent 17,000 rand ($2,200) per executive FIFA ticket,” one employee
who works in the finance department and has knowledge of the expenditures told
The Associated Press. “The workers are incredibly emotional about managers
getting enormous wage increases and housing allowances while they are seeing
little of these benefits.”

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because employees are not allowed
to speak to the media.

Although the strike was averted Sunday, the National Union of Mineworkers,
which represents about 16,000 of the Eskom staff, said employees were still
upset with the amount of money spent on tickets.

“Only the executives and their wives and their children received tickets,”
NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told The Sunday Times.

Seshoka said Eskom workers would get a 9 percent wage increase and a 1,500
rand ($190) minimum housing allowance for all employees.

“We will be taking up these two issues with Eskom to ensure that the
workers are treated fairly in the future,” Seshoka told the AP.

South African Airways is the biggest spender on World Cup tickets, spending
23 million rand ($2.95 million), according to The Sunday Times report. The
national airline bought 1,749 tickets only two months before receiving a 1.6
billion rand ($2 billion) government bailout in December 2008.

Also, PetroSA and Transnet spent a combined 24 million rand ($3.1 million),
and the Free State provincial government and the Mangaung municipality spent
almost 22 million rand ($2.8 million).

According to the report, the total of 111.4 million rand ($14.3 million)
could increase as more figures are released.

“It’s the most selfish way of spending money and it is recklessness of the
worst kind,” said Zwelinzima Vavi, the general secretary of South Africa’s
biggest trade union federation, COSATU. “SAA is hardly recovering from
disastrous years of bailouts from government. I don’t think they are out of the
woods yet, but they have the audacity to buy tickets.”

SAA spokesman Fani Zulu said the airline gave out 1,633 tickets to tour
operators, used another 20 tickets for staff, donated 28 to needy children and
gave SAA sales teams and executives a further 68.

“SAA also used the hospitality packages to enhance its brand value,
especially among tour operators, to enhance sales of flight tickets during the
tournament,” Zulu said.

Last month, the National Health and Allied Workers Union said that state
entities, such as national broadcaster SABC, the South African post office and
other government departments, should pay back more than 10 million rand ($1.3
million) that they have spent on World Cup tickets.

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—South African companies lost more than $850,000 (6.5 million
rand) in World Cup ticketing scams, a report in a local newspaper said Sunday.

The Sunday Times said the companies, along with many South African and
foreign fans, had lost large amounts after buying tickets that were later
canceled because they were not bought through FIFA-accredited agents.

The report said Clifford Green, a lawyer acting for FIFA and accredited
ticket sales company Match, had a dossier of affidavits from seven companies,
including petrochemicals group Sasol, detailing their losses.

The affidavit reportedly showed that Sasol had paid $434,000 (3.3 million
rand) to a ticketing company for 110 tickes to group games, the semifinals and
the final.