question: FIFA's opposition to all things British includes having no representative from the Home Nations on the technical study group that analyses all 64 matches of the World Cup. Instead the 13-strong group, whose report after the tournament always has much importance attached to it, includes representatives from football outposts such as Sudan and Hong Kong who have never been near a World Cup finals. Other countries whose delegates will be running the rule over England’s methods in training as well as games include El Salvador, New  Zealand, Romania, Japan, Nigeria and Jamaica. Thinker: Roy Hodgson was due to take part in UEFA's TSG for Euro 2012. Former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh had been a long-time member of FIFA’s TSG at six previous World Cups while England boss manager Roy Hodgson helped compile the technical report for the 2006 World Cup and was due to be part of UEFA’s TSG for Euro 2012 until taking over the national team beforehand. However, the only member of the 2014 report team with any allegiance to English football is France’s Gerard Houllier, the former Liverpool manager. Asked about the conspicuous absence of a. British representative, a FIFA spokeswoman said: ‘The TSG members are. alternating from World Cup to World Cup. This time there is no British. as other countries are represented.’ Running the rule: Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is among the 13-man group. lt has taken only one day for the police-escorted England commute from Rio hotel to training base to take longer than the time considered acceptable. That was 30 to 40 minutes and after a 39-minute trip on Monday, the route took 45 minutes on Tuesday. The FA blamed the police outriders turning up late and a spokesman said: ‘The manager is happy with the journey, which is the most important thing.’ Pele, interviewed by Gary Lineker for Tuesday night’s BBC documentary The Beautiful Game, said it would be no surprise to see England in the World Cup final because of their experience. However, this is the same Pele who had Nicky Butt as player of the tournament in 2002 before England’s quarter-final exit. Looking tidy: The FA are looking to extend their kit deal with Nike. The FA are planning to start talks about a new kit deal with Nike well in advance of the Euro 2016 finals despite the contract running until 2018. And the FA will want far more control in future following concern inside Wembley at how they copped the blame for the £90 replica kit, including the wrath of Prime Minister David Cameron, rather than the kit suppliers. All signs are pointing to the 2014 World Cup being the most shambolic tournament in FIFA history. FA delegates, including chairman Greg Dyke, took up to four hours to travel from Sao Paulo airport to the FIFA congress location outside the gridlocked city with others taking even longer. The gift of a Longines watch and a  Brazuca football will not compensate. And a mass demonstration by more than 100,000 locals — disgruntled at the cost of the World Cup — is due to take place in Rio on Thursday to coincide with the opening game. Delayed: Greg Dyke was among those held up in Sao Paulo. No wonder FIFA officials are keeping their passes out of sight, VIP transport has no FIFA branding and president Sepp Blatter has a huge security detail around him. The chaos is summed up by Helio Gurovitz, the editor of local weekly magazine Epoca: ‘We are the country of winging it. We plan poorly, monitor even worse, leave everything to the last hour and believe it will work out in the end. Until, one day, it doesn’t.’ The odious Ricardo Teixeira, English-hating former overlord of Brazilian football who severed all connections from the game in 2012 under the weight of corruption scandals, is understood to have used what remains of his influence to shore up his daughter Joana’s executive director position on the World Cup’s local organising committee. Her place was under threat following her rash Twitter comment — especially given her father’s situation — about World Cup money being ‘stolen’.

answer: No British representative in 13-strong study group for Brazil. Home Nations snubbed in favour of minnows who have never been to finals. Former Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier the only one with any allegiance to English football among group.


question: Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor will play no part in Thursday's Europa League match against Besiktas. The Togolese forward has been given the go-ahead to leave Istanbul and fly home to deal with a personal issue. Tottenham announced on Twitter on Wednesday morning: 'We can confirm that Emmanuel Adebayor has been given permission to return home for personal reasons. This is a private matter and so we will not be providing any further comment.' Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor has been allowed to fly home from Istanbul by the club. Adebayor celebrates after scoring the opening goal for Tottenham against Newcastle in October. The Premier League club are certain to qualify from Group C alongside their Turkish opponents, and avoiding defeat would ensure they finish top. Adebayor has made 12 appearances for Spurs this season and has scored twice. The former Arsenal frontman has not played for Spurs since the November international break when Togo failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. While Adebayor has endured struggles on the field; he has also had problems off it. The 30-year-old Togolese forward has struggled for form in a Spurs shirt this season. The former Arsenal striker shows his frustration during Tottenham's loss to Stoke in November. Adebayor reacts after a near miss against Aston Villa as the forward continues to struggle for form. In November, Adebayor's older brother Kola claimed the striker had been brainwashed by Islamic spiritual healers into thinking their mother used black magic to sabotage his form on the pitch. Kola, 42, a truck driver based in Bremen, Germany, told the Sun on Sunday: '[Emmanuel] has been brainwashed by these Muslim alfas - spiritual men - who prophesise when he scores goals and why he is not playing well. 'They have convinced him his sister and mother put juju curses on him. My mother is very sad. Every day she is crying. I just talked to her on the phone and she was crying again.' Juju is a word used in West Africa to refer to spells used as part of witchcraft. Juju is said to have started during the days of slavery but is still part of African tradition. Adebayor was then moved to deny accusations from his sister Maggie that he had kicked their mum Alice out of his house in Africa because he thought she had performed curses on him. Maggie claimed on radio station Peace FM in Ghana that the Premier League striker was refusing to give his mother money and has not seen her in over a year. She said their mum was selling 'polythene bags, padlocks and other things' to provide for her family however Emmanuel says his mother left the house of her own accord. Adebayor, in action for Togo, takes on Algeria defender Essaid Belkalem during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. Adebayor, speaking to Peace FM, said: 'I never sacked my mum from the house. She decided to leave the house. 'How am I going to be in touch with my mum if my mum is the one telling everyone that my work will not go forward, so I will just be on my side and do my thing. 'They should stop talking, they should stop doing Juju on me, they should leave me alone. 'I bought a $1.2m house in East Legon for the one talking and calling herself my sister. Can you imagine that sister went to rent the house without my knowledge?'

answer:
Emmanuel Adebayor will leave Istanbul to fly home. The Togolese forward has been ruled out as he deals with a personal issue. Tottenham need only a point to finish top of their group. Adebayor has scored only twice in 12 appearances for Spurs this season.