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.
Crystal Palace beat their stadium capacity, Watford beat Chelsea but are bottom of table
February 6 – Crystal Palace’s resurgence from bottom of the league to mid-table competitiveness may have slowed in recent weeks, but the clubs’ fans still manage to find more seats to fill at Selhurst Park than the ground’s official capacity. Roy Hodgson is clearly working some kind of magic with fans in south-east London that deserted him in his last job with England.
Brasileirão clubs reject VAR over costs and lack of confidence in system
February 6 – Brazil’s top division has rejected implementing video technology both because of cost and uncertainty over the system’s consistency.
Rogue’s gallery: CAF elects Ngaissona despite allegations of being a terrorist group leader
By Samindra Kunti in Casablanca, Morocco
February 5 – Edouard Ngaissona from the Central African Republic (CAR) has sparked more controversy and suspicion over football governance in Africa after being elected to the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the top table of football decision making in the region.
Ahmad backs Morocco 2026 bid but stops short of publicly mandating African block vote
By Andrew Warshaw
February 5 – FIFA’s strict (some might argue over-the-top) directive to its member federations not to break any rules during the current lobbying campaign for the 2026 World Cup has led to understandable irritation at the head of African football’s leadership.
Sierra Leone row over Johansen flares as FIFA accused of not respecting the country’s laws
February 5 – The bitter in-fighting over who runs the game in Sierra Leone has burst back into the spotlight after FIFA secretary general Fatma Samoura (pictured right with Isha Johansen) with wrote to the country’s sports minister, Ahmed Khanou, warning him not to interfere.
Hosts Morocco put on the style to beat Nigeria to their first CHAN title
By Samindra Kunti in Casablanca, Morocco
February 5 – In the pouring rain Morocco waltzed to a superb maiden African Nations Championship title, crushing ten-men Nigeria 4-0. Morocco’s Ayoub El Kaabi, CHAN’s top scorer with nine goals, was named player of the tournament.
Barcelona head for the big screen with Pixar talks on animated feature film
February 5 – The move by clubs into general entertainment television programming via reality style behind-the scenes shows has now been taken a step further with Barcelona reportedly in preliminary talks with Disney-owned Pixar over the making of an animated feature film.
No cold comfort for Rosell as Spanish keep his assets frozen
February 5 – Once one of the most influential figures in European football, playing a prominent role in the European Club Association and representing that body on various UEFA and FIFA committees, former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell continues to have his assets frozen in Spain.