Sparta Prague boss fries sexist players by sending them to train with women’s team
October 6 – Two players with Czech side Sparta Prague who caused outrage with their sexist comments have been told to train with the women’s team.
2006 World Cup bid ‘suspect’ Hahn makes powerplay for control of Highlight
By Paul Nicholson
October 4 – A boardroom bust-up has taken place at Highlight Communications that could see the company’s sports media assets come under the control of Dieter Hahn, the former Kirch executive who is deeply implicated in the alleged German cash-for-votes scandal around the award of the 2006 World Cup to Germany, and the secret slush fund used to buy broadcast rights to Bayern matches.
Furious EPFL takes UCL fight to UEFA demanding new rules are scrapped
By Andrew Warshaw
October 5 – Top leagues from across European football today moved closer to all-out war with UEFA over plans to revamp the Champions League. Urgent talks between the head of the umbrella body for Europe’s leagues and new UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin are due to take place in the next 48 hours with the genuine threat of a free-for-all if the controversial deal favouring Europe’s elite clubs is not modified or scrapped.
Montagliani swings the axe for reform, unity and a CONCACAF World Cup
By Paul Nicholson
October 5 – One of the leaders of football’s brave new world, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, has suggested that Russia and Qatar hosting the 2018 and 2022 World Cups could be the best thing to have happened to football in that it provided an accelerant for the clean-up of the game globally, and particularly in his region.
‘Reform or die’, says Medeiros at unveiling of FITS report and 6-point proposal
By Paul Nicholson
October 5 – “Reform or die, and reform had better happen sooner rather than later,” was the unequivocal, if not evangelical, message from Emanuel Medeiros, CEO of ICSS EUROPE, at the Leaders in Sport conference in London.
My ball, my game. Barca have possession, and they intend to keep it
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
October 5 – FC Barcelona ooze football. They are full-circle precision. Their style has been emulated across the globe with varying success and is the template for possession-based football. In his role as head of the club’s methodology department, Joan Vila Bosch has been at the heart of the Catalan supremacy.
AVB reflects on his time at Chelsea, but blasts Spurs boss Levy
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
October 4 – Portuguese coach Andre Villas-Boas has admitted that managing Chelsea “was too much too soon.” He also blasted Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy as an “expert in sacking managers.”
FIFA discrimination crackdown hits 11 nations in 2018 qualifying
October 5 – FIFA has punished no fewer 11 national associations for “the discriminatory and unsporting conduct of fans” during recent World Cup qualifiers.
Bradley parachuted in to pick up the pieces at Swansea
October 10 – Former US national team coach Bob Bradley has become the first American to manage a top-flight European team after being appointed by Swansea City in succession to sacked Italian Francesco Guidolin.
Bielsa delivers a cerebral masterclass at Aspire forum
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
October 4 – Marcelo Bielsa is a revered man – for both his philosophy and methodology. The Argentine rarely appears in public, but at the Aspire4Sport Global Summit on Football Performance & Science in Amsterdam he delivered the keynote address and a fascinating insight into coaching theory and practice.
World Cup’s knockout punch. Could 48 teams be the magic number?
By Andrew Warshaw
October 4 – As John McEnroe famously said, you cannot be serious. Or maybe a line from Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ might be equally apt: “He’s making it up as he goes along.” Not content with proposing a 40-team World Cup as part of his election manifesto, FIFA president Gianni Infantino now says he wants to go even further and expand the finals to 48 nations.
Jersey appeal to CAS in bid to become a UEFA member
October 4 – The Jersey Football Association (JFA) have lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in an attempt to overturn UEFA’s rejection of their membership bid.
Jersey believe they have just as strong a case as the likes of new members Gibraltar and Kosovo and are testing this at sport’s highest court.
The JFA say they have been told by UEFA that the Channel island fails to meet the criteria for affiliation because Article 5 of the UEFA Statutes,
Man Utd top table of highest value squads on the planet
October 4 – Manchester United have the most expensive squad on the planet, the most money ever spent putting a football team together. Local rivals Manchester City rank third in the big money team stakes – with Real Madrid and Barcelona either side of them.
Belgians launch probe into players betting on their own matches
October 4 – The Belgian FA has launched an inquiry into allegations that several players in the country’s top league bet on their own matches.
Wenger for England, Guardiola for culture change – say Overmars and Xavi
By Samindra Kunti in Amsterdam
October 4 – Ajax’s director of football and former Arsenal player Marc Overmars has said that the time could be right for Arsene Wenger to leave Arsenal and become the England manager. Spanish midfielder Xavi believes that Pep Guardiola can profoundly change English football culture at Manchester City.