FIFA World Cup

Qatari sports executives, in a bid to refute calls for depriving Qatar of its 2022 World Cup hosting rights, have asked their human rights and trade union critics, as well as world football body FIFA, to give them more time to address criticism of the Gulf state's kafala or sponsorship system that puts employees at the mercy of their employers.

ZURICH - The Serbian men's national football team has moved up eight positions in the latest FIFA world rankings and is set to end the year in the 38th position.

Serbia now have 713 points and are behind Scotland (729) and Ghana (714), and ahead of Guinea (706) and Cape Verde (693).

Luis Suarez is free to make his long-awaited debut for Barcelona when the La Liga leaders travel to face Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the season on Oct. 23.
      

At the restaurant on the ground floor of the Stanglwirt Hotel in the Austrian town of Kitzbühel, a sports summit was held on Sept. 1. The top people included Joseph Sepp Blatter, Nawal el-Moutawakel, Dr. Thomas Bach, Franz Beckenbauer, Gianni Infantino, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Marcus Höfl and several heads of numerous sports federations...

Both Qatar and the UAE have been in the firing line for human rights violations and eyes to imrove their image in the US with help of football Gulf States seeking to polish images tarnished by allegations of violations of human rights and their critics are employing football in an effort to shape American perceptions.

Beşiktaş will assume its difficult task of qualifying for the Champions League group stage tonight when it welcomes Premier League giant and perennial continental challenger Arsenal to Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium.

Pope Francis has reportedly invited Fenerbahçe captain Emre Belözoğlu for a charity match in Rome on Sept. 1, Turkish media reported Aug. 15.

Pope Francis personally spoke with Belözoğlu over the phone and the 33-year-old midfielder immediately accepted the offer, according to daily Habertürk.

Three Turkish little brothers, who carry their father’s admiration for the all-time football star Diego Armando Maradona in their first names, were circumcised in the northwestern province of Balıkesir Aug. 6.

Father Tekin Şentürk and mother Sevcan Şentürk told Anatolia Agency they were happy to hold the circumcision ceremony at their house.

Bulgarians who visited the 2014 FIFA World Cup have spent at least EUR 104 000 with bank cards during the sports event of the year.

The data provided by international payment system VISA suggests a total of EUR 3250 were spent each day.

Over 1160 transactions were made with a VISA, the company says.

After flight MH17 crash, German politicians question Russia's role as host of the FIFA World Cup in 2018, report German-language media. 

Despite the ongoing debate concerning sanctions against Russia, Europe and the US are unanimous that Russia is to blame for the Malaysia Airlines crash over eastern Ukraine, which killed all 298 passengers.