Inside Editorial: The Thinker
Auguste Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’, also displayed in this week’s cartoon (or, at least a variation of it), best qualifies the goings-on in FIFA, where the top floor stays lit up, even late at night these days.
Archive
VW crisis will not pollute Wolfsburg, says Allofs
September 29 – The Volkswagen emissions scandal will not affect the status of Wolfsburg, the Bundesliga club owned by the embattled car manufacturer, according to sporting director Klaus Allofs.
Mourinho moans that Costa ‘witch-hunt’ kills Chelsea’s title challenges
September 29 – Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, battling against his team’s shaky start to defending their Premier League title, has complained about a “witch-hunt” by the footballing authorities against Diego Costa.
Platini writes to UEFA feds saying FIFA cash was for FIFA work
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Just as Sepp Blatter refused to resign in the wake of the criminal proceedings opened against him, so his would-be successor Michel Platini sought to keep alive his election hopes and reputation by protesting his innocence to UEFA’s entire membership over receiving a suspected SFr2 million unlawful payment from his one-time mentor.
Blatter vows to stay on telling FIFA staff he has done nothing illegal
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – A bullish Sepp Blatter has decided to dig in his heels and stand his ground despite the criminal investigation into his activities.
Prince Ali pushes on change agenda with Platini at point of his thrust
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has been quick to seize on Michel Platini’s alleged implication in the ongoing corruption crisis by once again reiterating the need for a fresh start at world football’s governing body.
Arsenal expands into Ethiopia with multi-level Dashen beer deal
By Mark Baber
September 28 – Arsenal have announced a new partnership with the Ethiopian Dashen Brewery in a deal described by Dashen’s CEO as a win for Arsenal, for the brewery and for Ethiopia.
France’s LFP renews host broadcast deal with HBS
By Samindra Kunti
September 28 – France’s Professional Football League (LFP) has extended its partnership with production company HBS (Host Broadcast Services) for a further four years.
Barca’s Neymar has $47m of assets frozen in Brazilian tax case
By Paul Nicholson
September 28 – The struggle that Barcelona’s star players have with paying their taxes has continued with Neymar being the latest to fall foul of the authorities with a Brazilian judge freezing 188.8m reais ($47.6 million) of his assets in a tax evasion case.
Platini’s SFr2m payment puts his FIFA ambitions in jeopardy
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Michel Platini’s dreams of taking over at FIFA face being dealt a hammer blow as a result of the already-infamous 2 million Swiss franc payment he received for unexplained work undertaken on behalf of Sepp Blatter.
Warner wins time as his lawyers head to US to discuss extradition terms
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Disgraced former CONCACAF president Jack Warner has won more time in his bid to avoid being extradited to the United States on corruption charges.
David Owen: Could Platini end up as the big loser of FIFA’s frenetic Friday?
Friday’s shenanigans at FIFA prompted a number of sporting sages to prophesy the demise of Sepp Blatter well before the February 26 Congress that is supposed to elect a new FIFA President. I wonder though if the big loser might not turn out to be Michel Platini.
FIFA’s exco approves Qatar 2022 dates and pushes on women and ethics requests
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – Almost lost in the stunning news that the Swiss attorney general was opening a criminal investigation into FIFA president Sepp Blatter, was the release of information following the two-day FIFA executive committee meeting that “deliberated on a number of forward-looking measures to improve governance as part of the reform process.”
Swiss hammer Blatter with criminal investigation, Platini questioned
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – In the most dramatic development to date in the entire FIFA corruption scandal, Swiss investigators today announced that they had opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter on “suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation”.
Will VW’s emissions scandal pollute Germany’s football sponsorship balance?
By Mark Baber
September 25 – The extent of the fall-out for football from the Volkswagen emissions scandal has been the subject of speculation with analysis focusing on the extent of VW’s involvement in football, the depth of the crisis facing the company, the identities of the company’s top management and the role of football sponsorship in VW’s marketing mix.