LONDON (Reuters) – This month’s Confederations Cup is far more than just a straight dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup finals because nothing is straightfoward as far as football in Brazil is concerned.

Controversies involving the government, FIFA, local sports bodies, construction companies, politicians and the police have hampered preparations since Brazil, the only candidate, was formally announced as World Cup host in October 2007.

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – This month’s Confederations Cup is far more than just a straight dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup finals because nothing is straightfoward as far as soccer in Brazil is concerned.

Controversies involving the government, FIFA, local sports bodies, construction companies, politicians and the police have hampered preparations since Brazil, the only candidate, was formally announced as World Cup host in October 2007.

LONDON, June 7 (Reuters) – Tahiti will take their place on soccer’s world stage for the first time at the Confederations Cup in Brazil this month – but it won’t be their last because in September the Pacific Ocean island is hosting FIFA’s Beach Soccer World Cup.

“Many people are surprised we actually play football on grass and not just on the beach for fun, but we do, and we are improving at it,” Henri Thierry Ariiotima, the president of the Tahiti FA, told Reuters at last week’s FIFA Congress in Mauritius.

LONDON (Reuters) – On his first day at Chelsea nearly nine years ago, Jose Mourinho declared himself “a special one” and he will have to do something rather special on his return there to disprove the old adage that you should never go back.

Time and again, managers who have returned for a second, or even in rare cases, a third or fourth spell at their old English clubs have failed to achieve what they did first time around.

LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) – On his first day at Chelsea nearly nine years ago, Jose Mourinho declared himself “a special one” and he will have to do something rather special on his return there to disprove the old adage that you should never go back.

Time and again, managers who have returned for a second, or even in rare cases, a third or fourth spell at their old English clubs have failed to achieve what they did first time around.

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius (Reuters) – A new set of statutes based on wide-ranging reforms aimed at cleaning up FIFA’s tarnished image were passed by huge majorities at its annual Congress on Friday – but with discontent as ever rumbling in the background.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was “delighted with what we have achieved” after a marathon Congress lasting nearly eight hours as tough anti-racism measures were added to the rulebook.

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, May 31 (Reuters) – A new set of statutes based on wide-ranging reforms aimed at cleaning up FIFA’s tarnished image were passed by huge majorities at its annual Congress on Friday – but with discontent as ever rumbling in the background.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was “delighted with what we have achieved” after a marathon Congress lasting nearly eight hours as tough anti-racism measures were added to the rulebook.

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius (Reuters) – Lydia Nsekera of Burundi became the first woman to be formally voted on to FIFA’s executive committee on Friday but her election was not without its critics.

Nsekera, 46, president of the Burundi FA and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was co-opted on to the FIFA executive a year ago, becoming the first woman to sit at the top table since FIFA’s formation in 1904.

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius (Reuters) – Workers’ rights demonstrators protesting against the 2022 World Cup finals being held in Qatar were arrested and detained for seven hours by police while the FIFA Congress was being held on Friday.

The demonstration was taking place in the Mauritian capital of Port Louis about 24 km (15 miles) from the Swami Vivekananda Convention Centre where the Congress of FIFA’s 209 member nations, including Qatar, was taking place.

PORT LOUIS, Mauritius, May 31 (Reuters) – Lydia Nsekera of Burundi became the first woman to be formally voted on to FIFA’s executive committee on Friday but her election was not without its critics.

Nsekera, 46, president of the Burundi FA and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was co-opted on to the FIFA executive a year ago, becoming the first woman to sit at the top table since FIFA’s formation in 1904.