Inside World Football - Page 1693 of 2159 - For the Business of Football

David Owen: From Spain to Asia in a well timed move

You know for sure that the people’s game has become gentrified when luxury Swiss watch brands start sponsoring football clubs.

Now, five and a half years after Hublot set the ball rolling by sponsoring Manchester United, another landmark deal has been unveiled.

Maurice Lacroix has announced a three-year agreement with Barcelona that will see it become the Catalán club’s Official Watch Partner in a deal said to be worth somewhere in the seven figures of euros (ie upwards of €1 million).

Osasu Obayiuwana

Osasu Obayiuwana: Appetites lost for fixing the fixing issues?

When a World Cup host is found to have been involved in match-fixing, not just once (as if that’s not bad enough) but several times, any right-thinking person, concerned about the integrity of the game, would assume that confronting this heinous crime against our sport would be a priority matter.

As Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s secretary-general, repeatedly puts it “match-manipulation is the biggest threat to the game today.”

Unfortunately, the investigation into South African football –

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Muamba still motoring, but on a different life route

By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – Two years after defying the odds by surviving despite his heart stopping for 78 minutes during a match, Fabrice Muamba, whose miraculous case made worldwide headlines, has revealed that he has since had a couple more murmurs though on a far more minor scale.

2014 News

Belo Horizonte set for matches and fans, on plan and stadium-ready

By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – Belo Horizonte officials say their stadium will be 100% ready for the World Cup this summer and have played down a recent leak in the roof just hours before a regional game.

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Fans rush for CSKA Sofia shares as club makes market debut

By Alexander Krassimirov
March 21 – CSKA Sofia supporters were sent into a scrambling frenzy after the official release of the club on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Fans bought more than 55,000 shares in less than an hour after they went on sale this morning.

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Adidas add Bosnia but trail Nike by one in World Cup kit supply league

March 21 – Adidas have agreed to supply the kit for debutants Bosnia and Herzegovina at this year’s World Cup finals, meaning it will sponsor nine of the 32 teams taking part.

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US’s Garber steps into Qatar debate saying they could host 2022

By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – The debate over staging the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been stoked again by hard-hitting remarks in the United States from MLS Commissioner Don Garber who championed the ability of his own country to take the job on.

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Levski owner stops wages and demands players ‘ prove they are men’

By Alexander Krassimirov
March 21 – Levski Sofia owner Todor Batkov (pictured) has stopped player wages until the end of the season. The lawyer was furious at the club’s elimination from the Cup of Bulgaria, which means that Levski will remain without any trophy in its jubilee season.

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: Qatar 2022: Fact, speculation and balanced reporting

Do I think Qatar was awarded the World Cup fairly? I don’t know for sure. But nor do you.

If you happen not to have read any opinion on Qatar 2022 this week let me help you out with an example, from my country.

“It’s a scorchingly hot Islamic desert hellhole which routinely employs slave labour and has the kind of respect for human rights you might expect from, say, Darth Vader.”

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German MEP’s call for Schalke to drop Gazprom sponsor logo falls on deaf ears

By Mark Baber
March 20 – Pressure from politicians, who wish to use football as a political lever to punish Russia, is putting football authorities’ political independence to the test in the wake of the toppling of Ukraine’s President and government, and the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation.

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Joma moves deeper into Bulgaria picking up Levski from Puma

By Alexander Krassimirov
March 20 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, is switching its kit sponsor from Germanys Puma to Spain’s Joma for the start of its centenary season.

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Zenit fans face new sanctions after burning of German flag

By Richard van Poortvliet
March 20 – Despite their excellent 2-1 win at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, Zenit St Petersburg are likely to be in hot water with UEFA once again, following the behaviour of their fans in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie in Germany.

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Crimean clubs to complete Ukrainian season but start talks on Russian switch

By Richard van Poortvliet
March 20 – Legally or illegally, the biggest country in the world has just got a little bigger, with Crimea set to become part of the Russian Federation. While a lot has been made of the political ramifications, spare a thought for two football clubs from the peninsula, who ply their trade in the Ukrainian Premier League.

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Amnesty urges FIFA to keep Qatar focus, but is it now missing the point?

March 20 – FIFA is being urged by Amnesty International not to downplay the mistreatment of construction workers’ on Qatar’s 2022 World Cup sites when football’s world governing body hears an update on the issue at its executive committee meeting today and tomorrow.

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FIFPro turns up pressure for speedier reform of transfer system

By Andrew Warshaw
March 20 – The international players’ union FIFPro has again called on FIFA to reform the international transfer system which, it says, is failing the game and badly need to be addressed.