Chelsea fans warned for anti-Semitic chanting
February 8 – Not for the first time, Premier League champions Chelsea have been condemned over the use of anti-Semitic language by a section of their fans.
Australia launch bid to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup
February 7 – Despite Australia’s bitterness at not winning the rights to host the 2022 World Cup still seemingly burnt deep into the psyche of the nation, its government and federation have not been put off bidding for FIFA events.
Exclusive: FIFA step in at CAF congress to gag Morocco 2026 from showcasing bid
By Andrew Warshaw
February 7 – FIFA’s obsessive attempt to ensure the 2026 World Cup bid process is fair and clean has blown up in its face following the revelation that Morocco was gagged from making a presentation to its own African region last week.
Spain’s MediaPro secure Serie A TV rights in €1.05bn deal
February 7 – Italy’s Serie A has accepted Spanish’s MediaPro offer for rights to broadcast matches for the 2018-21 seasons at just above €1.05 billion.
Unhappy ending. Thai FA chief Poomunmuang borrowed $9.5m from brothel owner
February 7 – The reputation of Thai football, for years under the control of the now disgraced Worami Makudi, has been rocked yet again – this time involving Makudi’s successor Somyot Poompunmuang, the country’s former national police chief.
Koeman returns to Holland to pick up the national team challenge
February 7 – Ronald Koeman, a legend in his playing days but whose two managerial spells in the English Premier League with Southampton and Everton ended with him being sacked, has taken over as head coach of his national team with a view to restoring credibility after the failure to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
India offers Constantine new contract through to end of 2019 Asian Cup
By Samindra Kunti
February 7 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has offered national team coach Stephen Constantine an extension of his contract up to the end of the 2019 Asian Cup. The Englishman qualified India for the continental championship, but within federation circles doubts rose about his suitability to take India forward.
FC Tuscon and South Georgia Tormenta are first franchises for USL’s new Division III
By Paul Nicholson
February 7 – The fledgling third tier professional division of US football – USL Division III has named FC Tucson as the second fanchise, following the announcement last week of South Georgia Tormenta FC as the first founder member of the league scheduled to kick off in 2019.
Crowd-sourcing platform Tifosy completes €1.5m bond financing for Serie B’s Frosinone
February 7 – The mini-bond launched by sports investment platform Tifosy for Italy’s Serie B club Frosinone, has reached its €1.5 million target.
PepsiCo renews for a second 3-year cycle of UEFA Champions League sponsorship
February 6 – PepsiCo have renewed their sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League for a second three-year cycle taking them from the start of the 2018/19 until 2021. The deal also includes sponsorship of the UEFA Super Cup in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Liverpool overpaid for van Dijk but so did Barca for Coutinho. Costa was overpriced too
February 6 – The three biggest transfers in the winter window - Philippe Coutinho (€160m), Virgil van Dijk (€84m) and Diego Costa (€66m) – were all concluded at a higher value than the real worth of the players, according to analysis by the CIES Football Observatory. Liverpool overpaid by €21 million for van Dijk, but balanced that with Barca’s overpayment of €13 million for Coutinho. Chelsea managed to get an impressive €26 million more than CIES’s estimated real value for Costa.
FIFA sends mission to Spain to discuss life post-Villar and government interference
By Andrew Warshaw
February 6 – Pressure is mounting on Spanish authorities to sort out the aftermath of veteran powerbroker Angel Villar’s demise after yet another intervention by FIFA.
Premier League resistance thaws on idea of a Winter break
February 6 – It’s been a source of debate for years and years. Should English football copy much of Continental Europe and introduce a Winter break? So far the idea has been resisted both for commercial and traditional reasons, but now the Premier League has revealed it is looking at ways of going down that road.
Malaysia cracks down on matchfixing with government promising court action
February 6 – Crime-busting police forces in Malaysia have been directed to flush out matchfixing among players, coaches and the management of league teams.
Saudi Sports Authority and FA look to ditch out-of-favour MBC for Saudi Telecom
By Mark Baber
February 6 – The General Sports Authority (GSA), Saudi Football Federation and the Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding by which STC will have the sole rights for transmission of local football matches and the matches of Saudi national team.