Inter are third Italian club sanctioned after racist chanting
September 18 – Inter Milan have been ordered to close the north end of the San Siro for their next home game against Fiorentina.
Gandini says it is time to stop legal challenges causing UEFA chaos
By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – As the Champions League group stage got into full flow this week, one of Europe’s most prominent football administrators says something has to be done to stop the tournament being thrown into chaos by last-minute disruptive appeal decisions.
Bookie backs rainbow laces campaign tackling homophobia in sport
By Mark Baber
September 17 – An imaginative new campaign to tackle homophobia in football, devised by bookmaker PaddyPower in association with gay rights charity Stonewall, kicked off on Monday . The campaign includes the distribution of rainbow football laces to every professional player in the UK, who have been asked to wear them for the upcoming weekend fixtures (September 21 and 22).
Villar wins praise as Spanish federation passes on state subsidy
By Mark Baber
September 17 – The Spanish football federation (RFEF) is to forego a state subsidy for the third year in a row in 2014, according to the Spanish Sports Council.
Matt Scott: Player trades boost third party balance sheets
“We are financial products. A football club is like a factory, and we are its outputs. You have to be realistic.”
It is not often you hear a human being reduce himself to the status of a balance-sheet item. But with these words that is exactly what Eliaquim Mangala, a France-international defender at the Portuguese champions, FC Porto, has done. Mangala’s words were in response to being confronted with the fact he is not merely an intangible fixed asset belonging to his club but also to two offshore funds whose investors’
Genoa spy denied by HQ as a lone ranger as mission rumbled
By Andrew Warshaw
September 17 – One of football’s more bizarre episodes is still gripping the Italian public and media after a coach from Genoa was caught “spying” on local rivals Sampdoria dressed in Rambo-style camouflage ahead of their derby clash last Sunday.
Six charged in Australian match-fixing scandal, owner ‘fingers’ Brits
By Andrew Warshaw
September 17 – Six people have been charged in relation to Australia’s biggest match-fixing scandal, prompting FIFA’s former anti-corruption specialist to call for greater global co-operation.
Lowy calls for compensation, but FIFA says there are no grounds
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
September 17 – The head of Australia’s failed 2022 World Cup bid says FIFA should pay compensation to his federation – and to the other losing candidates – if the tournament in Qatar is switched to the northern hemisphere winter. Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy says FIFA risks making a bad situation worse if it decides too hastily to move the tournament.
Osasu Obayiuwana: Admin bunglers keep bungling the basics. How hard can this be?
How difficult can it really be for the officials of a football association to keep accurate statistics, as well as master the eligibility rules, of players entitled to feature for their countries in crucial international matches?
One would assume it does not take the genius of Albert Einstein to carry out basic record-keeping duties.
But the recurring drama of administrative ineptitude, leading to the cancellation of several World Cup qualifying results across Africa,
Platini takes more time to think over challenge for FIFA presidency
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
September 17 – UEFA president Michel Platini says it would be “heartbreaking” to leave the organisation and has put off any decision to run for the FIFA presidency until next year’s World Cup in Brazil at the earliest.
Euro leagues have a good month on Facebook
By Paul Nicholson
September 16 – A report by Socialbakers for August shows the Premier League as the world’s fastest growing sports Facebook site over the month, with 1.2 million new fans. Second is the UEFA Champions League with the UEFA Europa League coming in third with just over 500,000 new fans.
Ooredoo connects with PSG for youth-driven promo
By Mark Baber
September 16 – PSG have further strengthened ties with Qatar, signing a sponsorship with the Qatar-based communications company Ooredoo who will sponsor Paris Saint-Germain in a deal focused on football coaching for youth. The deal will run through to 2018.
Andrew Warshaw: Forget the legals, it’s staying put, but May change?
Ever since FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s exclusive interview with this website explaining his preference for switching the 2022 Qatar World Cup to winter, time has hardly stopped still over the issue.
Everyone, it seems, is having their say and whilst many stakeholders have expressed intelligent, sensible, well-argued points, many other so-called experts have been jumping on the bandwagon for no other reason than to cynically question Qatar’s right to host the event.
Let’s make a few things clear,
Gazprom signs 4-year deal as official FIFA partner
By Mark Baber
September 16 – Russian state-controlled natural gas company Gazprom has officially became a FIFA partner at a ceremony on Saturday at the Black Sea resort of Sochi attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Gazprom chief executive Aleksei Miller.
Gulati calls for more information before any 2022 decision is taken
By Andrew Warshaw
September 16 – The United States’ most influential football administrator says he will try to block any move by FIFA to switch the Qatar 2022 World Cup to winter. Sunil Gulati, whose country was unexpectedly beaten by the tiny Gulf state to stage the tournament when the vote was taken three years ago, says he will oppose any attempt by FIFA’s executive committee to change the dates of the tournament when it meets on October 3 and 4.