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Morning Ticker: FIFA reforms on track, Cassano nears return and more

Sepp Blatter (Reuters)

By FRANCO PANIZO

FIFA president Sepp Blatter may not be delivering on some of his promises, but a cleaner FIFA could be in store in the near future.

A FIFA anti-corruption adviser said the process to clean FIFA up is on track despite Blatter announcing last week that a limited number of reforms were approved by his executive committee. The adviser added that while things are not perfect, progress is being made.

Still, several of the requests made by the anti-corruption panel were not addressed by Blatter during his press conference last Friday in Zurich, Switzerland.

Here are more stories from around the soccer world:

CASSANO COMEBACK NEARS

AC Milan forward Antonio Cassano is closer to playing games again. Having undergone minor heart surgery in November, Cassano passed medical tests on Monday to restore his playing license. Cassano has recently been training with Milan, but needed approval in order to partake in games.

Cassano had surgery last fall to repair a small heart problem that had caused him stroke-like symptoms in Milan's match versus Roma on Oct. 29.

HYPPIA HIRED BY LEVERKUSEN

A day after firing coach Robin Dutt after less than a season in charge, Bayer Leverkusen appointed Sam Hyppia as one of two interim coaches for the club. Hyppia, along with U-19 coach Sacha Lewandowski, will be in charge for the remainder of the season. The Finnish Hyppia spent time with Leverkusen during his playing career.

NINE EX-BARI PLAYERS UNDER INVESTIGATION

Former Bari and current Atalanta defender Andrea Masiello was arrested Monday after being connected with an alleged match-fixing incident in Serie A last season. The Italian federation (FIGC) said in a statement that eight other former Bari players were also being investigated by police over possible match-fixing.

The allegations are believed to be about last year's match between Bari and Lecce in May in which Masiello scored an own goal in the 80th minute. Bari, now playing in Serie B, lost the game, 2-0.

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What do you think of the FIFA reform? Expecting Cassano to make much of an impact for Milan during the rest of the season? What is your take on the latest match-fixing allegations in Italy?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. It is a late April Fools joke….I am reading something that says FIFA will not disclose salaries and opposed term limits on another page. Is there ANYONE, one person, that thinks this isn’t business as usual.

    I will hold my breath waiting for a yes response.

    Reply
  2. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from time in lovely desert locales in the middle east, its that corruption is almost impossible to root out without completely emptying the system of the corrupt individuals and putting strict systems in place to detect and prosecute corrupt persons. FIFA hasn’t done that, and they’ll likely be as successful as those lovely desert locales I spoke of earlier

    Reply

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