February 13 – Football has been struck by yet another episode of racism with Inter Milan fined €15,000 euros by the Italian league for abusive chanting by their fans towards Mario Balotelli who has just joined arch-rivals AC Milan from Manchester City.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 13 – World anti-doping authorities believe football should do more to combat the drug cheats even though the sport has no record of flagrant performance-enhancing abuse.
February 13 – Park Jong-woo, the South Korean Olympic team footballer, will be able to receive his Bronze medal from the 2012 Olympic Games after an International Olympic Committee Disciplinary Commission ruled in his favour.
February 13 – Scottish Premier League club Hearts face more financial uncertainty after Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov had the operations of his Ukio Bankas bank suspended and put under temporary administration by Lithuania’s central bank.
By David Owen
So Joseph Blatter doesn’t much care for the “unanimous” package of reform proposals for world football’s governing body published last month by UEFA.
The FIFA President conveyed his disappointment last weekend at a media conference in South Africa just before Nigeria’s triumph over Burkina Faso in the final of the 2013 African Cup of Nations.
I can’t say I am at all surprised.
However,
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – The price of success appears to be resignation for Nigeria’s successful African Nations Cup coach Stephen Keshi (pictured).
By Mark Baber
February 12 – A Special Report on the UK’s Sky Sports News broadcast yesterday (February 11) revealed how a 3 month investigation had filmed racist abuse by five white men at Millwall on November 18 aimed at Leeds forward and Senegal international El Hadj Diouf.
By Mark Baber
February 12 – The English Premier League has signed three year deals for audio-visual broadcast rights in several European markets, taking the decision to go with rights broking agencies rather than selling direct to broadcasters themselves.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 12 – The latest stage in the long-running battle to prevent Portsmouth from being expelled from English football is set to take place on Thursday with another High Court hearing into efforts by fans group Pompey Supporters’ Trust to save the club.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – FIFA’s determination to crack down on illegal activities by agents has been illustrated by Brazilian Renato de Moura Ricardo being fined SFR 7,000 by the world governing body’s Disciplinary Committee, the second time in two weeks FIFA has enforced its rules following last week’s sanctioning of CA Independiente of Argentina and Genoa CFC of Italy for misuse of the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS).
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 12 – Two years after its president Michel Platini admitted that inflated Champions League final tickets were a mistake, UEFA have cut the cost of the cheapest seats for this season’s showpiece finale.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 11 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has selected May 2 for the date of its highly anticipated extraordinary Congress that will elect a new leader in succession to Mohamed bin Hammam and herald what officials hope will be the start of a new era of trust and credibility.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 11 – FIFA’s former head of security, Chris Eaton (pictured), says the recent revelation of a virtual epidemic of match fixing should serve as a wake-up call for authorities across the world.
By Mark Baber
February 11 – Confederation of African Football President Issa Hayatou says if he is re-elected in March it will be his last term as president.
By Mark Baber
February 11 – The Cosafa Cup, suspended since 2010, will return this year with the re-launched tournament being held in Zambia in July, and Castle remaining on board as the main sponsor.