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GENEVA — The two sides of being FIFA President Sepp Blatter are on display just before the troubled World Cup kicks off on June 12, acclaimed by world football leaders but held in contempt by many football fans.

Blatter should arrive at the Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo to watch host Brazil play Croatia confident that this tournament — his fifth as president — won't be his last leading the world's favourite sport.

One day earlier, the 78-year-old Blatter should ask for, and get, consent from the 209 FIFA member federation bosses to seek another four-year presidential term.

"Yes, I would like to do it," Blatter said earlier this month about his expected candidacy for the secret ballot scheduled May 29, 2015. "My mandate is almost over but my mission is not finished."

The endorsement at the Transamerica Expo Centre might be a personal high point of Blatter's stay in Brazil, a country which loves football but not the cost levied on taxpayers to stage the month-long show.

When Blatter appears on a public stage he faces inevitable boos and jeers — just as at previous World Cups and the Confederations Cup held in Brazil last June.

The fact FIFA pays no tax to Brazil's public finances from its $4 billion revenue for broadcasting and commercial deals tied to the 2014 World Cup is an added provocation, even if it is a standard demand on countries wanting to host a World Cup or Olympic Games.

Blatter, who often travels and is feted like a head of state, is a useful target for social activists and for football fans familiar with the corruption cases that have involved some of its senior officials in recent years.

A change to usual World Cup protocol means that presidents of FIFA and the host nation will not make speeches in the stadium during the formal opening ceremony.

Not after he and state President Dilma Rousseff were booed when addressing the crowd before Brazil's match which opened the Confederations Cup last year in the new Brasilia Stadium.

"Friends of Brazilian football, where is the respect and the fair play, please?" the multilingual Blatter asked spectators in their Portuguese language, as their head of state stood beside him.

So, no chance in the 65,000-capacity Sao Paulo stadium for spectators to upstage the presidents.

"If you know that these things could happen, that at the end the two persons who are giving a speech will feel bad, why [do] you put them in this position?" FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said.

Still, the protocol plan calls for Blatter and Rousseff — who faces her own reelection contest within months — to jointly present the trophy on July 13 to the winning captain in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium.

Four years ago, Blatter and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma both had a hand on the gold trophy which they passed to Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas without any public disapproval.

That came three hours earlier when the FIFA leader's name was announced as he entered the Soccer City pitch during pre-match introductions to the players.

"I was only aware there were less vuvuzelas," Blatter said the next day. "We went on the field of play and it was a great moment."

In 2006, Blatter skipped the on-field trophy presentation to the Italy team in Berlin.

"History will say that it was an error" he acknowledged to Italian media several months later. "I wanted to avoid creating an ugly scene because the Germans had shown they would whistle at the word FIFA."

Blatter should face no such disrespect on June 11 at the FIFA Congress, an event which the skilled Swiss administrator controls with mastery.

In the depths of public disdain with FIFA in June 2011, Blatter was reelected as the only candidate. 

He got 186 of 203 votes cast despite a turbulent few months of bribery scandals and widespread doubts about the integrity of awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

"We have been hit and I personally have been slapped. I don't want that ever again," Blatter said from the congress stage in Zurich, committing FIFA to a reform programme which critics saw as richly ironic that he would lead.

"The FIFA ship is in troubled waters but this ship must be brought back on the right track," he said before the poll. "I am the captain of the ship."

When the England delegation broke ranks and tried to postpone the vote, Blatter marshalled a global spread of loyal members to march up and join a brutal verbal attack on the founding football association.

Blatter can surely expect similarly support in less tempestuous times in Sao Paulo.

Apart from some wealthy member nations, few of FIFA's 209 seem anxious to change a system and leadership which has let millions of World Cup dollars trickle down to them during Blatter's 16-year rule.

NYON, Switzerland — Match-fixing is not a major problem in European football despite recent high-profile cases, Europol said on Tuesday.

The anti-crime agency has signed a cooperation agreement with the sport's European governing body UEFA to deal with the issue of fixing.

"I still don't think it's a major problem in European football, not from what I see," Rob Wainwright, director of the European anti-crime agency, told reporters at UEFA headquarters.

"But we are sending a message that we want to make sure it doesn't become one."

Wainwright revealed that Europol was working on nine investigations into match-fixing, but he declined to go into detail.

Last year, Wainwright said that hundreds of football matches had been fixed in a global betting scam run from Singapore.

He said about 680 suspicious matches had been identified by European police forces and Europol, including qualifying games for the World Cup and European Championship, and the Champions League.

UEFA says it monitors around 32,000 professional games in European club competition and national leagues each year for suspicious betting patterns that could indicate a match has been manipulated.

"It [match-fixing] is the scourge of football because we are talking about the soul of the sport," said UEFA President Michel Platini.

Austria, Italy, Croatia, Turkey, Finland, Estonia, England, Czech Republic and Slovakia ar among European countries to have been hit by match-fixing in recent years.

In Italy, dozens of players have been suspended and a number of clubs have had points deducted over attempts to manipulate matches in Serie B and its third tier, Lega Pro, during the 2010/11 season.

In another high-profile case, Fenerbahce were banned from European football for two seasons last June for their involvement in a domestic match-fixing scandal, while compatriots Besiktas were given a one-season ban.

AMMAN –– The national football team regrouped on Monday following the end of most matches on the local agenda.

The national team  is slated to play Columbia in their first high level friendly in Buenos Aires on June 6 in preparation for the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Asian Cup 2015 in Australia. 

Technical director Hosam Hassan has named the preliminary lineup who trained on Monday to face the world's 5th ranked team. Jordan is 64 in the latest FIFA rankings, and sixth among Asian Football Confederation teams.

Jordan Football Association (JFA) Secretary General Fadi Zureiqat said the match is set to give the players "competitive  experience against leading teams". 

Hassan excluded team star Amer Shafie, league top scorer Hamzeh Dardour, Amer Deeb and Ahmad Samir. 

Missing from the squad due to injury and other personal reasons were Shadi Abu Hashhash, Khalil Bani Atiyeh, Anas Jbarat and Thaer Bawab.

Hassan said the match against Columbia would be vital ahead of other matches aimed at getting the team ready for their third participation in the Asian Cup. 

The JFA announced that Jordan would play South Korea on November 14 after facing Uzbekistan and China in September, as well as the UAE and China in January 2015 ahead of the kickoff in Australia.

Jordan advanced to the Asian Cup finals after finishing second in Group A qualifiers behind leaders Oman. 

AMMAN –– FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter on Monday lauded the efforts of HRH Prince Ali, FIFA Vice President representing Asia, in developing football in Jordan and the continent, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said.

At a press conference in Amman, Blatter said that Prince Ali has "successfully"  removed many obstacles that hindered the development of the sport in Asia, citing the efforts of Prince Ali, who is FIFA's youngest vice president, to overturn the ban on the hijab in football. 

FIFA had prevented women wearing the headscarf on safety grounds, but Prince Ali successfully convinced the football's governing body to lift the ban as wearing hijab is related to personal freedom.
The Prince, who also heads Jordan Football Association (JFA) has also founded the Asian Football Development Project, which assists football associations across Asia, focusing on grass-roots, youth and women.

"We at FIFA, and I the president appreciate the work of HRH Prince Ali," Blatter said.

Prior to the press conference, FIFA president joined Prince Ali and the board members of JFA in a meeting to discuss Jordan's preparations for the U17 FIFA Women's World Cup in 2016, as well as the development of the sport in the Kingdom and the ways to move ahead, a statement issued by the office of Prince Ali said.

"I'd like to welcome President Blatter in his second home and I thank him for his continuous encouragement and support not only for Jordanian football but also for West Asia and worldwide," Prince Ali said. 

Blatter congratulated the JFA on the success of its recent board elections and described Jordan as a "hub for peace".

Later on the day Blatter travelled to Palestinian territories where he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and football officials there. 

AMMAN –– Mohammed Hujair and SinanTamimi on Friday were crowned champions of the 2nd Jordan Qarashai Tournament held at Orthodoxi Club tennis court in Amman with the participation of more than 40 players representing various diplomatic missions, professional and amateur players. Hujair and Tamimi beat Omar Farahid and Osama Saleh in the doubles final 9-3 and won the championship which is held for the second time with the aim of giving a real opportunity for amateurs to rub shoulders with professional players. Jordan tennis player Nancy Qarashai, who has plans to develop tennis in the Kingdom starting with players at early age, told The Jordan Times that this year’s tournament saw more players from diplomatic missions. “It is great to see more foreigners interested in competing this year which means that the tournament is achieving some of its goals and we hope next year we will try to include more players and extend the tournament for two days,” she said.

LISBON –– When Real Madrid’s team of Zinedine Zidane-inspired “galacticos” won the Spanish club’s ninth European crown in 2002 it was supposed to mark the beginning of another golden era of European domination.

As it turned out, and despite hundreds of millions of euros spent on players, it took the world’s richest club by income another 12 years to win the coveted 10th title, or “decima”, a record-extending feat they finally achieved with Saturday’s 4-1 extra-time win against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final in Lisbon.

This time around, big-spending Real president Florentino Perez will be desperate to consolidate the club’s position at the summit of European soccer and avoid the mistakes that led to him stepping down in 2006 after  poor run of results.

Since the construction magnate’s return in 2009, Real have splashed more than 600 million euros ($818 million) on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, both of whom scored in Saturday’s showpiece.

The massive investment finally paid off and in coach Carlo Ancelotti, Perez also appears to have found the right man to lead his project for European domination.

The Italian succeeded in winning the Champions League in his first season in charge, outdoing predecessor Jose Mourinho, whose Real team were eliminated in the semi-finals in Europe during each of his three seasons in charge.

Ancelotti, whose Real side also won the King’s Cup by beating arch rivals Barcelona in the final, has brought a sense of tranquility back to the club after the divisive Mourinho years and has wasted little time in moulding his expensively-assembled squad into an impressive unit.

A Champions League winner with AC Milan as both a player and a coach, the 54-year-old has fostered a harmonious atmosphere at Real that allows Ronaldo, Bale and their teammates to perform and he showed against Atletico he has the tactical sense to outwit his rivals.

Real were struggling to create chances against some typically resolute Atletico defending so Ancelotti threw on attacking midfielder Isco and zippy fullback Marcelo and the game immediately turned in their favour.

Limitless resources 

Ancelotti signed a three-year contract when Perez lured him from Paris St Germain last year and it would be little surprise if the president moves to tie him to the club for longer after Saturday’s triumph.

Perez had tried to sign Ancelotti before and now that he has his man he is unlikely to let him slip away, especially if he continues to deliver in terms of silverware.

“He has come and he has brought us the ‘decima’,” Perez said in a television interview after Saturday’s final.

“He arrived and he has already hit the heights,” he added.

“I am sure that the fans are already thinking about the 11th. 

That is why Madrid will go on forever.”

Perez has been burned in the past when a team of highly-paid superstars failed to deliver what he craved, a repeat of Real’s greatest run when they won five consecutive European Cups between 1956 and 1960 with a team featuring Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Paco Gento.

With Ancelotti at the helm and almost limitless resources to splash in the transfer market he will be confident that this time will be different and the 11th European crown is just around the corner.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Ali, FIFA vice president representing Asia and president of the Jordan Football Association, will meet FIFA President Joseph Blatter on Monday. Blatter is set to visit Jordan on Monday. Blatter is scheduled to meet with the executive committee at the Jordan Football Association, a statement issued by the office of Prince Ali said Saturday. 

AMMAN — HRH Crown Prince Hussein on Friday attended the closing ceremony of the 9th Allgau Orient Rally in the Dead Sea. The rally started on May 3 from Staufen City in Germany passing through Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Cyprus and finally Jordan, with the participation of 600 Europeans in 285 cars.

Participants arrived in Jordan last Tuesday starting from Kian Khana in Mafraq and passing Katraneh, Maan, Wadi Mujib, Karak, Maain, Madaba and the Dead Sea, their final point.

Participants provided aid to underprivileged families, an ambulance and fire truck for Civil Defence Department, cars for the Gendarmerie and Public Security Departments, and stationery, books and university scholarships for students. Prince Hussein watched a short movie about the rally’s journey from Germany to the Kingdom.

AMMAN –– Wihdat won the Jordan Premier League on Thursday by beating That Ras 2-0.  Monther Abu Amarah scored for Wihdat in the 11th minute and Rafat Ali doubled the score in the 88th minute. Needing three points to finish ahead archrivals Faisali, the win gave Wihdat the title with a week still to go in the season. Wihdat have 43 points, while Faisali, who beat Sheikh Hussein 1-0 on Wednesday, have 39 points.

LISBON –– Carlo Ancelotti promised a heady mix of spectacular football and trophies when he took over at Real Madrid, the holy grail for coaches handed the reins of the world’s richest club by income.

Although he has not consistently managed the former in his debut season at the Bernabeu, the Italian is on the verge of delivering the record-extending 10th European crown — that has eluded Real since their last continental triumph in 2002 — to add to this term’s King’s Cup success.

Real are through to the Champions League final — where they will play Atletico Madrid on Saturday in the only European showpiece to feature teams from the same city — for the first time since they were crowned European champions in Glasgow 12 years ago.

Obsessed with winning what is known as the “la decima” (the tenth), Real President Florentino Perez lured Ancelotti from Paris St Germain following the ignominious exit of Jose Mourinho, three years before the end of his contract, after a season without major silverware.

Ancelotti, labelled “the pacifier” in Spanish media, is an entirely different character from the combative Portuguese, who clashed with key players, divided fans and had a testy relationship with journalists.

With one quizzical eyebrow almost perpetually raised, Ancelotti deals with even the most brainless of media questions with a gruff charm and has been far more amenable to interviews than Mourinho, who rarely spoke outside his obligatory media commitments.

Perhaps one of Ancelotti’s most impressive achievements is the way he has united a dressing room that became bitterly divided under Mourinho.

Cristiano Ronaldo, one of several key performers who clashed with compatriot Mourinho, in particular has thrived under the new regime.

The Portugal captain has a chance to add to his record 16 goals for one edition of the continent’s elite club competition against Atletico in Lisbon.

“Ancelotti deserves all the credit,” Ronaldo said after Real thrashed holders Bayern Munich 4-0 in Germany last month to secure their place in the final.

“He has changed everything. He has altered the mentality of the players.”

Great intelligence 

A tough midfielder with clubs including AS Roma and AC Milan, Ancelotti, now 54, is one of only six people who have been European club champion as player and coach.

He won consecutive European Cups with Milan in 1989 and 1990 before beginning his coaching career with AC Reggiana.

After taking over at Milan in 2001, he led the club to Champions League triumphs in 2003 and 2007, also reaching the final in 2005, and went on to win an English Premier League and FA Cup double with Chelsea in 2009-10.

Dismissed after two seasons in London, he led PSG to their first Ligue 1 title in 19 years in 2012-13 before agreeing a three-year contract at Real.

He now has a chance to join former Liverpool coach Bob Paisley as the only man to win the European title three times as a coach.

Former Milan and Italy defender Paolo Maldini is one of many who has singled out Ancelotti’s ability to unify his players as what sets him apart.

“Of all the coaches I have had, he was the one who managed the dressing room with the most serenity,” Maldini said last year when Ancelotti was named Real coach.

“The secret of our success was his normality. He isn’t one of those who works alone and this shows great intelligence.”

Napoli coach Rafa Benitez, who has locked horns with Ancelotti several times including the Champions League finals in 2005 and 2007 when he was in charge at Liverpool, echoed Maldini in an interview with Spanish radio.

“He [Ancelotti] is a polite, educated person, a good professional who knows his work and does it well,” Benitez said.