English FA ponder taking the splash with retrospective new ‘diving’ rule
January 18 – The English Football Association is considering introducing retrospective bans on players who dive or feign injury.
Winning big. Europe’s league champions cash-in on football’s broadcast boom
By Paul Nicholson
January 17 – KPMG’s Football Benchmark team has released their European Champions Report 2017. The findings might not be revolutionary in terms of new numbers but it is thought-provoking when looking at a Europe-wide view. The analysis, based on hard financial data, do show a huge swing from the days of spending big to win big, to a more sustainable management model.
FIFA passes the buck, leaving Liverpool in lurch over ruling on Matip eligibility
By Andrew Warshaw
January 27 – FIFA faces accusations of buck-passing and shirking its responsibility after effectively telling Liverpool to make up their own minds and suffer the consequences over whether to select Cameroon defender Joel Matip after he declined to represent his country in the African Nations Cup.
Watford find growth as Hull take to Twitter to keep stay away fans engaged
January 17 – Watford showed the largest percentage growth in Twitter followers in the Premier League this week, as it led the mourning over the sudden death of Graham Taylor, a legendary manager at the club. Hull City, with new manager Marco Silva beginning to hit his stride, led the ranking of clubs tweeting the most.
Neymar tops value list but do Spurs duo Kane and Alli point to shape of things to come?
January 17 – Neymar and not Leonel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo is the most valuable player in Europe, at €246.8 million, according to a new study which values 10 players at more than €100 million.
Warner wades into Trinidad national team fiasco saying John-Williams should go
January 17 – He may still be fighting extradition to the United States over corruption charges but banned former FIFA powerbroker Jack Warner shows no sign of staying silent when it comes to domestic footballing affairs.
Madagascar’s Ahmad loses first round of politics as CAF pulls U17 championship
By Samindra Kunti
January 17 – The CAF executive committee has withdrawn the hosting right for this year’s U17 African Cup of Nations from Madagascar.
Trump puts walls up, CONCACAF pulls them down. New deal with Mexico to boost education
January 17 – CONCACAF has launched a high level initiative in conjunction with Mexican federation FEMEXFUT to boost the standard of referring and coaching at the top levels of its member federations.
Germans recall Hrubesch to national duty after Flick quits
January 17 – Already embroiled in the 2006 World Cup bid scandal, German football has suffered another internal administrative blow with the premature departure of sporting director Hansi Flick, with former under-21 coach Horst Hrubesch hauled out of retirement to temporarily replace him.
Child abuse: serial offender Bennell denies latest charges to court over video link
January 17 – A former English league coach has denied eight child abuse offences in the 1980s in a case that came to light late last year, one of many that rocked the sport when several ex-players came forward to describe their suffering.
Chinese FA raises a quota wall to foreign transfers and mega pay deals
By Paul Nicholson
January 16 – After a number of government warnings, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has confirmed that it is stepping in to end the gravy train of European-based players’ big money transfers to Chinese Super League clubs.
Palestine’s Rajoub under fire from media watchdog as Israeli supporters up the ante
By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – An Israeli-based media watchdog has sent a detailed and highly damning file on Palestine football leader Jibril Rajoub to FIFA in the latest tit-for-tat exchange over the sensitive issue over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian players and officials in the occupied territories.
$ billions more or $ billions less: does FIFA really have its World Cup numbers right?
January 16 – The British sponsorship consultant widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers of modern sports marketing has described as “absurd” FIFA’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams.
Club vs Country: Klopp vents frustration over Cameroonian Matip’s eligibility
January 16 – When is retirement not retirement? FIFA have been asked by Liverpool to make a ruling over the eligibility of Cameroon defender Joel Matip after the club was forced to leave him out in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
James Dostoyevsky: Of Steele(y) spooks and other quality folk
The Swiss Prosecutors are investigating the scraps that the US Department of Justice left with them. The DOJ used spooks to identify the bad men at FIFA. They didn’t just do this in the US where super-snitch Blazer was caught in his electric armchair on his way to yet another eatery. They did it throughout Europe, and one would now be permitted to assume also in Russia.