US judge pushes sentencing of former CONCACAF chief Hawit back into 2018
October 9 – Former CONCACAF president Alfredo Hawit has had his sentencing for his role in the FifaGate scandal delayed until March next year.
Integrity
Pay equality: Norway raises women’s wages to match men’s team
October 9 – In a first for footballing financial equality, Norway’s male and female players are to receive the same amount for representing their country.
World’s dumbest match-fixers? Refs banned after fixers go to police to claim money back
October 9 – In what is probably the most peculiar case of match-fixing to date, four match officials in Malawi have been banned after the fixers went to the authorities for help to get their money back after they didn’t get the result they wanted.
FIFA fines are just chump change in the battle against racism, says FARE
October 5 – FIFA must do more to combat the increasing incidents of homophobic chanting according to European football’s anti-discriminatory body FARE.
Liverpool report Spartak fans’ racism at academy match…security chief blames media
September 29 – Another accusation of racial abuse by Russian fans has been made – this time by Liverpool who have made an official complaint to UEFA after claiming one of their youth players was targeted.
Island dreams: Jersey win right for full member vote on whether it can join UEFA’s club
By Andrew Warshaw
September 29 – The channel island of Jersey has won a partial victory in its bid to become a UEFA member, in the process giving European football’s governing body another unwanted headache over its admittance policy.
Morocco vs UAE cancelled as game becomes a political football
September 28 – The United Arab Emirates’ Football Association (UAEFA) has cancelled their October 10 friendly against Morocco in what is being interpreted locally as a politically-motivated move to pressurise the Moroccan government to back the UAE’s position over the Qatar crisis.
Perugia striker Han told to stay off Italian TV or be repatriated to North Korea
September 28 – A North Korean player on Perugia’s books has been barred from appearing on Italian TV – by the authorities in his own country.
Former Neuchatel Xamax owner Chagaev convicted for fraud as club battles for top flight return
September 28 – The former Russian owner of Swiss club FC Neuchâtel Xamax, Bulat Chagaev, has been handed a suspended jail term in absentia for attempted fraud and a raft of other charges.
Borbely and Eckert tell EU that FIFA’s ethics code is good but lack of independence is bad
By Andrew Warshaw
September 27 – FIFA’s two former ethics chiefs, sacked last May during a purge of senior governance watchdogs, have made a strong appeal before the Council of Europe for the organisation’s supervisory bodies to be “totally independent” of its executive.
EU twitchy with football ‘double talk’ on tax evasion
September 27 – A special European parliamentary group set up to look into tax evasion in football has been given a worrying overview of the scale of the problem.
Juve and ECA boss Agnelli hit with ban for selling tickets to mafia-linked Ultras
By Andrew Warshaw
September 26 – Having only recently been elected as head of the European Club Association, the reputation of Andrea Agnelli has taken an immediate and somewhat embarrassing turn for the worse with the Juventus boss banned for a year by Italy’s soccer federation (FIGC) for his alleged role in the sale of match tickets to the club’s ultras fans.
Law: Does Bony’s £8m case show it is time for regulators to stop agents defrauding players?
By Ben Pilbrow and Annemaree McDonough
Football has often been described as the beautiful game, but never the beautiful business. Regularly tainted by allegations of corruption and shady-dealing, the importance of regulation in the sport increases in line with the flow of money into it. Between 1 October 2015 and 1 February 2016, intermediaries and agents received an estimated £46,582,843 from Premier League clubs alone.
ICSS hire Francis to drive revenue for growing integrity product portfolio
September 25 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has hired Ty Francis to spearhead its commercial growth as the organisation builds its portfolio of products for the sports business and governing bodies.
Sierra Leone anti-corruption police charge FIFA’s Johansen with misuse of public cash
September 22 – Just days after announcing she will stand for re-election, Sierra Leone’s embattled FA president Isha Johansen has been charged with abuse of office and misuse of public funds by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).