World Football Archives - Page 627 of 888 - Inside World Football

Nigerian chaos as now Pinnick is stripped of presidency but refuses to go

Amaju Pinnick

By Mark Baber
December 5 – The day after members of the Nigerian Football Federation Electoral Appeals Committee (NFF) broke ranks with their own chairmen to issue “decisions” purportedly upholding the legitimacy of the disputed September 30 elections which produced the current Amaju Pinnick-led (pictured) executive, the committee chairman, Okechukwu Ajunwa, has ruled that those same elections are nullified and Amaju Pinnick should cease to parade himself as NFF president.

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UEFA integrates new Nations League format into 2020 Euro qualification slots

uefa flag

By Andrew Warshaw
December 5 – UEFA has formally outlined how its new Nations League competition – being brought in to replace meaningless friendlies and featuring promotion and relegation – will work.

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Argentinian Franco Nieto brutally beaten to death after league match

Franco Nieto

December 5 – Argentine football has been stunned by another shocking fatal tragedy after a player was brutally attacked. Franco Nieto (pictured), captain of regional club Tiro Federal was struck on the head following a third-tier match against rivals Chacarita Juniors in the town of Aimogasta, in north-west Argentina.

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Bundesliga votes to bring in goal-line technology

Hawkeye goal-line technology

December 5 – Having backed away from goal-line technology because of the costs involved, Germany’s Bundesliga has decided the time is right to implement its introduction to settle contentious decisions over whether the ball has crossed the line.

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UEFA ban Crimean clubs from playing in Russian leagues

UEFA headquarters

By Andrew Warshaw
December 5 – Clearly exasperated that months of talks failed to achieve the hoped-for breakthrough, UEFA have taken the ultimate step of banning clubs in the annexed Crimea region of Ukraine from playing in any Russian-organised football competitions.

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CIES updates player valuation calculator for new transfer window

Cash

December 5 – With the European transfer window opening January 1, the CIES Football Observatory has updated its online calculator that gives a transfer value to players in the ‘Big-5’ European leagues; England’s Premier League, France’s Ligue 1, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s Primera.

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Belgian clubs fear academy exodus over drop in compensation fees

Club Brugges academy players

By Samindra Kunti
December 4 – Belgian top clubs are fearing an exodus of their homegrown talent after FIFA reduced the international training compensation from €75,000 to €10,000 a year for players aged 12 to 15 in the summer.

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Celtic to appeal to CAS over Tonev ban for racial abuse

Tonev and Logan

December 4 – Scottish champions Celtic are prepared to go all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in their appeal against Bulgarian Aleksandar Tonev’s racism charge.

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Red carded Moldovanov gets 10-match ban for bottle throw

Bulgarian flag

December 4 – A Bulgarian player who tried to strike a referee with a bottle after being sent off has been banned for 10 games by his country’s football association.

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Valencia hunt for ‘Messi-bottle’ thrower

Messi bottle incident

December 4 – Valencia have promised to ban for life the fan who threw a plastic bottle that struck Lionel Messi on the head – if the club can ever discover who the culprit was.

Africa

Nigerian chaos as NFF says all appeals quashed, but no-one tells chairman

By Mark Baber
December 4 – Hopes the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Electoral Appeals’ Committee would return football in the country to at least a semblance of rational rule-based administration were dashed on Wednesday as members of the committee broke ranks with their Chairman, Barrister Okey Ajunwa, failing to publish a report but signing a press statement “deciding” to dismiss all appeals against the highly disputed elections of September 30 which brought the current leadership of the NFF to power.

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Garber tells Beckham to speed up his Miami MLS franchise plans

Miami MLS franchise group

December 4 – David Beckham has been urged by Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber to start making firm progress over establishing his Miami-based franchise.

Africa

AFCON draw turns focus back on to CAF’s January showpiece

AFCON draw

December 4 – After months of turmoil and tension surrounding the venue for January’s Africa Cup of Nations, the tournament has finally got down to the real business of the draw, throwing up a juicy group of death.

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Bayern is world’s biggest club, by membership

Bayern Munich fans

December 4 – FC Bayern Munich is the world’s biggest club if you take into account membership numbers only. Portugal’s Benfica comes second, followed by FC Barcelona, Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund.

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UEFA meet to decide National League format

uefa flag

December 3 – The exact format of UEFA’s new Nations League competition tops the agenda at this week’s executive committee meeting at their Swiss headquarters.