London – FIFA are set to reintroduce licences for player agents and has adopted, in principle, a limit on player loans.
FIFA’s ‘Football Stakeholders Committee’ approved “the introduction of licences and exams for agents” at a meeting in London, according to a source close to the discussions.
The governing body of world football did away with agent licences in 2015.
While the committee, chaired by the Canadian Victor Montagliani, the Canadian head of CONCACAF, approved a limit on player loans, they could not agree a number.
FIFA had proposed a maximum of six loans per club as part of plans to reduce the stockpiling of players by leading clubs.
The committee also agreed to the creation of a clearing house, managed by a bank, to handle the solidarity payments from transfer fees due to clubs that trained players in their youth systems.
The committee was voting on proposals prepared by a five-member “task force” chaired by Montagliani and made up of representatives of UEFA, the European Club Association (ECA), the professional players union FiFPro, and the World Leagues Forum (WLF).
The recommendations are expected to be ratified at the next FIFA Council meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, on October 25-26.
TAMPA, Fla. — Winning overshadows all drama. The Steelers said it all week, then proved it to be true — barely — with a performance that, at least temporarily, quells swirling concern in Pittsburgh.
Ben Roethlisberger was brilliant in a 30-27 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, and the defense coupled its quarterback’s best road performance in years with a four-turnover night.
Most of the positives came in the first half. The second half was a near-implosion thanks to the Bucs’ 17 unanswered points and the Steelers’ barrage of mental mistakes.
Fitzmagic morphed back into Ryan Fitzpatrick, then back to Fitzmagic late, but a defense that looked woefully unprepared in Week 2 against Kansas City got to the quarterback early.
Instead of panicking over a winless start through two games, the Steelers — winners of six straight on Monday Night Football — hunkered down and stuck to their plan.
Roethlisberger said during the week he would try to set a tone, and 353 yards later, the Steelers offense can imagine the possibilities. Decisive and aggressive, Roethlisberger completed 26 of his first 31 passes and 30-of-38 overall, including a sidearm, falling-down dime to JuJu Smith-Schuster in the final minutes to seal the game.
Roethlisberger starts a season with back-to-back-to-back games of 300 or more yards for the first time in his career, thanks in part to a masterful two-minute drill to end the first half. With 1:17 left, Roethlisberger smoothly completed 8-of-9 passes for 75 yards and a 1-yard touchdown to Ryan Switzer.
This is the 56th 300-yard game of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s career, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
Without much of a running game, Roethlisberger and the passing offense has more than 800 yards over two weeks.
The offense wanted to utilize McDonald’s speed to offset Tampa’s speedy linebackers. McDonald used that speed after he trucked safety Chris Conte with an open-field stiff arm on his way to a 75-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
On defense, cornerbacks wanted to keep Tampa Bay playmakers in front of them, avoiding the chunk gains and reducing mental errors. The defense is at its best when rushing the passer and creating turnovers. Sacking Fitzpatrick three times and creating four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble) offset Fitzpatrick’s big yardage day.
The latest FIFPro World XI was revealed at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in London on Monday and, as usual, it drew anger from many wanting to see their favorite players among a lineup of the globe’s greatest.
Related – FIFPro World XI: French trio named alongside Messi, Ronaldo
Here, theScore picks out the most glaring omissions from the XI as voted for by 25,000 professional footballers.
Thibaut Courtois
JAVIER SORIANO / AFP / Getty
This one is pretty simple: How can Manchester United’s David De Gea be named between the sticks for the FIFPro World XI, but not be deemed The Best FIFA Goalkeeper?
That distinction was reserved for Courtois, who spared further blushes for Chelsea during a limp defense of their Premier League title in 2017-18, and was then elastic for Belgium en route to a third-place finish at the World Cup. He made more saves (27) than any other goalkeeper at the tournament – De Gea made only one stop in four appearances for Spain.
He is now donning the gloves for Real Madrid after grabbing two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, and League Cup while at Chelsea.
Harry Kane
IAN KINGTON / AFP / Getty
By Kane’s standards, he was shot-shy at the World Cup; Aleksandar Mitrovic and Toni Kroos fired more efforts at the onion bag despite bowing out at the group stage. Still, the Tottenham Hotspur idol eased to the Golden Boot with six goals in six appearances, three of which were penalties.
With Monday’s individual awards weighing so heavily on World Cup showings, it will be a surprise to some that he’s omitted from the world’s best starting lineup.
And that’s without taking his Spurs feats into consideration. Although he was outmuscled by Mohamed Salah for the Premier League top-scorer honor, he struck 30 goals in 37 outings in the top flight and helped shrug off Tottenham’s struggles on the continent with seven tallies in seven matches.
Toni Kroos
Juan Manuel Serrano Arce / Getty Images Sport / Getty
If one German should be spared blame for the country’s disastrous group-stage exit at the World Cup, it is Kroos.
The midfielder’s passing accuracy stood at 93.1 percent when he left after three matches, and he fired an absurd, curling free-kick past helpless Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen in the dying seconds of their vital meeting. Eventually, it counted for naught, but it appeared Kroos had breathed life into Germany’s defense of its World Cup title.
His understated class alongside The Best FIFA Men’s Player, Luka Modric, for Real Madrid is a joy and arguably just as crucial. No La Liga regular completed more passes per 90 minutes (82.1) than the Bayern Munich product last season, and he bested all of his teammates for total key passes (64). He was similarly influential on continental duty, putting in pragmatic displays that toughened the foundation for another Champions League triumph.
Kevin De Bruyne
Michael Regan / Getty Images Sport / Getty
As Pep Guardiola would attest, Manchester City’s record-breaking Premier League title win was a team effort. However, if one player had to be singled out as the most instrumental member of the collective, De Bruyne would get the most recognition.
He led England’s first tier in assists (16) and key passes (106), completed just one fewer take-on than roaming teammate Raheem Sterling (64), and obsessively found space in his manager’s schematic to pot and skim deliveries across the park with aplomb. His work ethic and willingness to stick his foot in has also won admirers.
Then he went to the World Cup, blasting an unstoppable hit against Brazil in the quarterfinals and counting two assists overall. Eden Hazard took the majority of the plaudits for Belgium’s run to the semifinals, but De Bruyne’s achievements over the much-longer domestic term must outstrip those of his compatriot.
Thomas Meunier
PAUL ELLIS / AFP / Getty
Right-backs Dani Carvajal and Kyle Walker were actually named in the second team behind the FIFPro World XI. There are legitimate arguments for that pair to be in the main squad. Joshua Kimmich was then in the third team, Kieran Trippier in the fourth lineup, and Sime Vrsaljko in the fifth.
But what about Meunier?
The Belgian was another standout for his nation at the World Cup, has a knack for scoring outstanding goals, and, most tellingly for Monday’s best XI vote, was much, much better than Dani Alves over the 2017-18 campaign for Paris Saint-Germain. Maybe it was sheer habit for Alves to get a nod for the FIFPro World XI by his contemporaries, but Meunier, along with plenty of other right-backs employed in Europe, has a right to feel aggrieved.
Mohamed Salah
Alex Livesey / Getty Images Sport / Getty
The records stacked up for Salah in his debut season for Liverpool, the most celebrated of which was his 32 goals in a 38-match Premier League campaign. He stands alone with that number, despite arriving on Merseyside with an adequate 15 Serie A goals in the prior term for Roma, where he was mainly tasked with teeing up Edin Dzeko.
He’s not even a striker. He also made a number of assists across the domestic and continental game. He previously flopped under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. The script was written for him to lead Liverpool to glory in the Champions League final, but his start was cruelly cut short when he was involved in a coming together with Sergio Ramos. The Real Madrid defender will never be brought a pint in the extensive red pockets of Merseyside.
Salah was clearly nursing his injury from that tangle with Ramos at the World Cup, contributing to a disappointing group-stage elimination for Egypt. After sitting out the first match, Salah was able to register on the scoresheet against both Russia and Saudi Arabia. Little victories.
DETROIT — Marvin Jones had just caught the pass from Matthew Stafford at the end zone, beating Stefon Gilmore across the field. He let go of the ball, ran to the back of the end zone and opened his arms up wide.
Almost like a signal of welcome in, Detroit is going to be here, too. That the bottom of the NFC North, which seemed like it could be where the Lions were headed based off performances against the Jets and 49ers, was not a certainty.
Not after Sunday night, after a 26-10 win over New England on national television that looked almost as dominant in a win as they looked dominated by New York in a Week 1 loss.
After two weeks of poor football, of questions about whether or not the Lions could be good at all this year, Jones’ touchdown and welcoming arms felt like a cathartic moment for a team frustrated for weeks.
The league’s best team over the past decade inside Ford Field, the legendary coach that taught this Detroit staff much of what it knows on the other sideline, this seemed so bad for the Lions entering Sunday night. Bill Belichick usually decimates his pupils. Not on this night, with the Lions desperately needing a win to reverse momentum on a season that started sour. Matthew Stafford hit passes early. The Lions, in the combination of Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount, found a run game. The Lions’ defense held New England to three straight three-and-outs to start the game.
Games like this just weren’t contests Detroit won over the last half decade. The Lions mostly feasted on teams in the bottom half of the NFL, without much pedigree to build on. Good teams? Nah, Detroit couldn’t beat them and often times struggled to hang with them.
Lions receiver Marvin Jones looks toward the stands after scoring on a 33-yard pass reception against the Patriots on Sunday. AP Photo/Rick Osentoski
But this was different. This was strong football on offense — with almost perfect balance of 33 runs and 36 passes. There was diversity and creativity in formations. Detroit even had a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 70 games, Kerryon Johnson’s 101 yards snapping the fourth-longest streak without a 100-yard rusher in NFL history.
This was the type of game the Lions had hired Matt Patricia for in the first place, to find a strong complement of offense and defense. To have a team that limited mistakes. To have a team that won big games on its schedule, ones that were in the national spotlight. Sunday night was all of these things — and Detroit played its best game, considering its opponent, since maybe that Thanksgiving game in 2013 when the Lions beat the Packers, 40-10, and Detroit had its last 100-yard rusher, Reggie Bush. Even in that game, though, the Lions trailed for much of the first half.
Here, on Sunday night, there was none of that. Detroit led the entire game and felt like it controlled it from the start, too. There is a lot of season left, to be sure, and as the NFL showed this week — with Minnesota losing at home to Buffalo and Green Bay falling to Washington and then Detroit’s win over New England — unpredictability often rules in this league.
But if the Lions can play closer to the way it did Sunday night than the first two weeks of the season, they should be a competitive team for most of the season.
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