{
  "id": 13792065,
  "title": "Messi’s retirement: FCTA ex-spokesman proposes FIFA Over-40 World Cup",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/messis-retirement-fcta-ex-spokesman-proposes-fifa-over-40-world-cup",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-11T19:51:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Premium Times",
    "slug": "premium-times",
    "url": "https://www.premiumtimesng.com/sports/football/916210-messis-retirement-fcta-ex-spokesman-proposes-fifa-over-40-world-cup.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "An ex-spokesman for the FCTA, Mr. Ogbuenyi, has proposed the creation of a FIFA Over-40 World Cup following Lionel Messi's retirement. According to Premium Times, the tournament is intended to encourage fitness among former players, offer them a new source of income, and maintain their visibility to the public after they retire from professional play.\n\nIn other news, internal documents reviewed by Le Monde indicate that FIFA failed to take action after an ineligible Congolese player participated in multiple World Cup qualifying matches. The outlet reports that FIFA disregarded its own legal precedent, disciplinary code, and recommendations provided by its law experts regarding the matter.\n\nMeanwhile, the South China Morning Post reports that 60,000 fans attended the Arabian Gulf Cup in Jeddah on Tuesday. The gathering highlighted the vulnerability of major sporting events in Gulf monarchies to regional conflicts, occurring one day after Saudi Arabia resumed strikes on Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi rebels following the collapse of a four-year ceasefire.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "Can Saudi Arabia’s 2034 Fifa World Cup survive the Middle East’s escalating wars?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/can-saudi-arabias-2034-fifa-world-cup-survive-the-middle-easts",
        "published": "2026-10-11T08:00:13.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Le Monde English",
        "title": "How FIFA broke its own rules to boost the DRC's chances of World Cup qualification",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/how-fifa-broke-its-own-rules-to-boost-the-drcs-chances-of-world-cup",
        "published": "2026-10-11T12:00:12.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}