England in Germany, FIFA probing Paraguay tickets claims
With four days until the World Cup kicks off here, the England team arrived in Germany while FIFA said it was investigating claims that Paraguay had broken rules by selling tickets to British agencies.
Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, captain David Beckham and the rest of the England squad flew into the wealthy Black Forest spa town of Baden-Baden and were taken to their exclusive hotel.
Wayne Rooney, England’s most influential player, travelled with the team but must return home on Wednesday for a scan on a broken bone in his foot which will determine whether he plays any part in the World Cup.
Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson sounded a positive note ahead of launching England’s bid for a first World Cup trophy since 1966.
“If you ask the other 31 coaches, they all have a lot of respect for England,” said the Swede.
“I have a lot of respect for Brazil, Argentina and other countries but I think the opponents have a lot of respect for England.
“Everything is more or less perfect. The spirit in the squad is fantastic, better than ever. The belief we can do very well is great.”
England start their tournament against Paraguay in Frankfurt on Saturday.
That game is the focus of an investigation launched by FIFA, who confirmed on Monday that they had asked independent auditor Ernst and Young to look into claims that the Paraguayan Football Association had sold some of its ticket allocation to foreign agencies.
B ritish newspaper The Observer reported on Sunday that Paraguay had sold at least 1,500 tickets — around half of its 3,300 allocation — for its opening World Cup match against England in Frankfurt on Saturday to ticket agencies in Britain.
FIFA Secretary-General Urs Linsi said at a press conference in Munich: “These are media reports but there is no hard evidence. We are asking Ernst and Young to investigate.”
Linsi, who has responsibility for the financial affairs of the world governing body, said the investigation also concerned tickets for Paraguay’s second Group B match, against Sweden in Berlin on June 15.
He added that a probe into similar claims concerning the national federation of Ivory Coast had proved “nothing”.
The head of the Paraguayan Football Association, Oscar Harrison, said he knew nothing of the FIFA probe.
Germany take on Costa Rica in Munich on Friday to start the ball rolling on the 64-match extravaganza and the top officials of world governing body FIFA were gathering in the city for their traditional pre-World Cup meetings.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the body had reached agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to adopt a code which would allow drugs cases to be examined on a case-by-case basis.
Blatter also said he wanted to see the creation of an ethics committee which would look into issues such as match-fixing.
Both issues must receive the approval of the FIFA Congress, representing more than 200 national federations, which meets in Munich on Wednesday and Thursday.
Soccer:Soccer News
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