By Paul Nicholson
February 19 – If sport, and football in particular, wants to get rid of the increased presence of organised crime both within their ranks and profiting from their activity, then sport must allocate some of its revenue to tackle criminals head-on.
February 18 – Football-related racism doesn’t usually hit the United States but FC Cincinnati head coach Ron Jans (pictured) has resigned in the wake of an incident in which he is accused of making “extremely inappropriate comments”.
By Paul Nicholson in Rome
February 18 – Money confiscated from the prosecution of sport crime should be returned to sport, says Franco Frattini, Justice and Chamber President to the Italian Supreme Administrative Court and the leading judge tackling mafia and organised crime in Italy.
February 18 – FC Barcelona have lurched from one crisis to the next this season. The latest controversy is over local media reports that the Catalan giants contracted the services of I3 Ventures, a social media company, to damage the reputations of key players, including Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.
February 17 – Yet another top-flight footballer has walked off the pitch in protest at being racially abused with monkey chants.
February 17 – With sponsorship of football by gambling firms very much on the radar of UK regulators, Everton have become the first Premier League club to announce they are ending their deal with Kenyan online gaming giant SportPesa.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – In a move that has split opinion among the Jewish community and fans of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, the Oxford English Dictionary has changed its definition of the word Yid to include a “supporter of or player for” the north London club.
February 12 – In a significant escalation of the gender equality pay dispute in the United States, the US men’s national team has leaped to the defence of their female counterparts, urging their federation to triple the pay of the women’s team and accusing the federation of “working very hard to sell a false narrative” in an effort to limit the wages of the reigning women’s world champions.
February 13 – Details have been published by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) revealing that Manchester City sought damages from UEFA for what the club alleged were “unlawful” leaks to the media over an inquiry into possible breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP).
February 12 – Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani is to take part in a dedicated session at the 6th SIGA Sport Integrity Forum in New York on March 24.
February 7 – In the latest crackdown on resurging racial abuse, all 20 English Premier League clubs have agreed to extend any bans on fans watching their team at home to the entire league.
February 6 – The president of French Ligue 1 club Angers, Said Chabane (pictured), was detained and questioned by French police on Wednesday after allegations of sexual assault by an employee at the club. Chabane denies the accusations, but is under formal investigation and is police custody.
February 6 – Spanish-owned sports agency Mediapro has won another court battle against the Spanish FA (RFEF) in the Provincial Court of Madrid. The court reconfirmed its initial ruling to dismiss the RFEF’s attempt to have the agency excluded from tendering for rights to the Copa del Rey final.
February 6 – With the Beach Soccer Mundialito de Clubes set to kick off in Moscow next week, Beach Soccer World Wide (BSWW) has announced a new partnership with the United Nations to promote the UN Alliance Of Civilizations’campaign (UNAOC), ‘One Humanity’.
February 4 – Turkish club Trabzonspor have filed a criminal complaint after former Nigerian international captain John Obi Mikel was the target of racist abuse from Fenerbahce supporters on Sunday.