New Stade Vélodrome inaugurated
By David Owen
October 17 – The new Stade Vélodrome, complete with undulating white roof, has been inaugurated in front of the new French Sports Minister in the southern French city of Marseille.
World Football
Romania’s Pandurii Targu Jiu unveils €15 million stadium design
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 17 – Pandurii Targu Jiu has announced plans to invest about €15 million to expand and modernise its stadium. The Romanian club is aiming to launch the project in 2015, and carry out the construction over the following 18 months.
AFC’s royal hustings begin in battle for FIFA exco seats
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – The race in Asia for a place at FIFA’s top table has been stepped up with the announcement that Malaysian FA president Prince Abdullah Shah will contest next year’s election for a position on FIFA’s executive committee.
CAF hit by ebola crisis as Morocco set to pull out of AFCON 2015 hosting
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – Once again a new venue looks like being needed for the African Cup of Nations after next year’s hosts Morocco reportedly pulled out because of fears over the Ebola virus.
Albanians on counter-offensive accuse Serbs of violent racism, for starters
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – Albanian football authorities have hit back powerfully at Serb accusations that they were responsible for the politically-fuelled melee that caused this week’s Euro 2016 qualifier between the Balkan rivals in Belgrade to be abandoned after descending into chaos.
Platini raises spectre of revote, but says first vote was transparent
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – Michel Platini, who has openly admitted he voted for Qatar to stage the 2022 World Cup, says he would have no problem with a revote if proof emerged, as a result of FIFA ethics committee investigator Michael Garcia’s report into possible corruption, that there was any wrongdoing during the bid process.
CONCACAF ups the stakes in war on match-fixing with ‘criminalising’ initiative
By Paul Nicholson
October 17 – The fight against match-fixing took the next, and ground breaking, steps in El Salvador this week with meetings to discuss a roadmap that will make match manipulation a crime under the country’s laws. The talks in El Salvador are intended to become a blueprint for discussion with government and agencies region-wide.
Price of Football study, key findings: Prices go up, but so do attendances
By Mark Baber
October 16 – According to a BBC study of 207 clubs, the average price of the cheapest tickets across English football has risen at almost twice the rate of the cost of living since 2011 with the average price of the cheapest match-day ticket from the Premier League to League Two now at £21.49, up 4.4% since last year, over treble the 1.2% rate of inflation.
Nigerians sack Keshi and put anti-gay official in charge of Fair Play and Ethics
By Mark Baber
October 16 – The first meeting of the new Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation, following the disputed but FIFA-supported election of Amaju Pinnick as President, has sacked national team coach Stephen Keshi (pictured) whilst appointing Dilichukwu Onyedinma, who caused international controversy with her campaign to drive lesbians out of Nigerian football, as Deputy Chair of the Committee of Ethics and Fair Play.
IFA releases its Berlin schedule, some places still available
October 16 – The International Football Arena (IFA) has released details of October 30 Berlin conference programme, themed ‘Football’s Digital Transformation’.
Mongolia’s Buyannemekh banned for 5 years in new AFC cash for votes scandal
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – Asian football has been rocked by yet another scandal, with the fallout from former AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam’s disgraced legacy snaring another culprit.
UEFA steps in to separate Serbia-Albania melee, charging both
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – Amid the furore of claim and counter-claim following one of the worst outbreaks of politically-motivated trouble in recent European football history, UEFA as expected have charged both the Serbian and Albanian federations – and will almost certainly come down hard on both of them.
Ebola crisis forces CAF to consider shifting AFCON 2015 in Morocco
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has agreed to discuss a plea by organisers of next year’s African Nations Cup to postpone the 16-nation tournament because of the ebola crisis but stressed there are currently no plans to shift it.
Heineken quenches its US soccer thirst with MLS deal, and looks for more
By Ben Nicholson
October 16 – Heineken has become the official beer sponsor of the MLS. The five-year deal is values at approximately $50 million, which includes media and marketing commitments. More than $3 million will be paid annually for rights to the MLS.
Red Star Belgrade seeks increased Gazprom sponsorship to bring down debt
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 15 – In a move aimed to overhaul the finances of the troubled football club, Red Star Belgrade is in talks with Russia’s natural gas company Gazprom to sign a new sponsorship deal.