Inside World Football - Page 1736 of 2205 - For the Business of Football

Andrew Warshaw: Manoeuvres on the Eastern front

Just as the cavernous conference hall at Astana’s Palace of Independence was being cleared away and the delegates from 54 countries were being chauffeured to the Kazakh capital’s airport past dozens of weird futuristic-looking buildings, in a side room Michel Platini unbuttoned his jacket and leaned back in relaxed, almost triumphant mood.

The president of UEFA knew the job had been done, that he had pressed all the right buttons during his organisation’s annual congress and received the support he needed to carry on leading his flock.

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Platini ‘fed-up’ and boots politicians into touch over cold war grandstanding

east vs west

By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
March 27 – Response to US senators Mark Kirk and Dan Coats demands to FIFA to ban Russia from World Cup 2014 and strip them of hosting rights of the World Cup 2018 has been dismissive, if not ridiculing. And UEFA president Michel Platini is “fed up”.

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Platini says he is the only one who ‘could’ beat Blatter to FIFA presidency

Michel Platini and Sepp Blatter

By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 27 – UEFA President Michel Platini says he is the only possible candidate who could get more votes than Sepp Blatter among FIFA’s 209 member nations if the pair go head to head at next year’s presidential election.

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West Ham hammer their social media platforms with match day promo

Boleyn Ground

By Tom Parsons
March 27 -West Ham held the Premier League’s first Social Media Match around their fixture against Hull City last night. The multi-activity initiative was aimed at engaging with as many of their 900,000 fans on Social Media platforms as possible with “interactive interviews, features and competitions”.

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UEFA agree Nations League for 2018 and turn up war on match-fixing

UEFA badge

By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 27 – UEFA formally announced the creation of its new Nations League competition to replace meaningless friendlies today, with the organisation’s president Michel Platini pledging it will become an integral part of the game in years to come.

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FIFA plans big hike in 2018 World Cup prize money

World Cup winners

By David Owen
March 27 – FIFA, world football’s governing body, has paved the way for a big increase in prize money at the 2018 World Cup, to be staged in Russia.

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Platini slams TPO and issues no compromise ‘fix it’ ultimatum to FIFA

Michel Platini 7

By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 27 – UEFA president Michel Platini laid down the gauntlet to FIFA today to stop “hiding behind committees” and have the “political courage” to get far tougher on Third Party Ownership (TPO), declaring that European football would otherwise go it alone in their own competitions to stamp out the growing practise.

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UEFA investigators scrutinise U19 Bulgaria v Portugal match

betting on football

By Alexander Krassimirov
March 26 – UEFA has begun a match-fixing investigation into the European Championship Under 19 game between Bulgaria and Portugal. The match was played in June 2013 and ended with a comprehensive 7-0 win for Portugal.

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New Nations League and match-fixing top UEFA Congress agenda

uefa flag

By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 26 – A fresh and more stringent crackdown on match-fixing and the rubber-stamping of a brand new European competition, the Nations League, to replace international friendlies look set to be the main items agreed by UEFA’s 54 member nations tomorrow.

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List of Euro 2020 bidders shortens as pitch deadline nears

Gianni Infantino

By Andrew Warshaw in Astana
March 26 – A handful of countries who initially expressed interest in staging matches at the pan-European 2020 finals have pulled out of the running, UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino (pictured) revealed today.

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Czechs consider anti-hooligan measures after Ostrava fan riot

Ostrava v Sparta Prague fan violence

By Mark Baber
March 26 – Chairman of the Czech Football Association, Miroslav Pelta has responded to violence at Saturday’s match between Baník Ostrava and league leaders Sparta Prague by calling for anti-hooligan measures to be adopted with the return of police to stadiums and fan registration cards mooted.

Rolf Willi

Already testing the Sao Paolo monorail

iwf monorail

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Etihad Airways partner MLS as Becks turns up the heat in Miami

Miami stadium

By Mark Baber
March 26 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has announced a multi-year partnership deal with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, with Etihad becoming the official airline partner of MLS in the United States.

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Exclusive: European clubs take 98% of injury compensation cash

injured player

By David Owen
March 26 – European clubs have hoovered up nearly all the €27 million in compensation money paid out over the first 18 months of FIFA’s Club Protection Programme (CPP).

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David Owen: FIFA’s development spending conundrum

FIFA’s new financial report isn’t just the financial story of last year; it also offers a fascinating window on to the future. This is in the form of the governing body’s budget for the 2015-18 business cycle.

Readers shouldn’t look on this as set in concrete; some might say it isn’t even set in custard: not even Madame FIFA can gaze into her crystal ball with anything approaching infallibility.

But it does offer an informative glimpse into how Joseph Blatter and his chums think the medium-term future might pan out.