Inside World Football - Page 1527 of 2019 - For the Business of Football

Andrew Warshaw: Are the have-nots always destined to not have?

Football, as we know, is often all about fine margins. Just ask Atletico Madrid. Whilst no-one can possibly condone the ridiculous behaviour of their otherwise admirable coach Diego Simeone when he lost his cool as victory slipped agonisingly away in Lisbon’s Stadium of Light last weekend, let’s not underestimate what the Spanish capital’s so-called poorer sister achieved over the season as a whole.

Real Madrid finally collected their 10th European crown after 12 years of pain –

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Real strike in boardroom as well as Jimenez moves up at ECA

Pedro Lopez Jimenez

May 27 – Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph over Atletico Madrid wasn’t their only success of the past few days against Spanish rivals. Off the field, the European Club Association have appointed Real vice-president Pedro Lopez Jimenez as its 2nd vice chairman.

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Cypriot League flares up as APOEL fans plan protest march on FA’s HQ

Kaka

By Mark Baber
May 27 – The alleged flare thrower, who injured APOEL player Kaka (pictured) during the Cypriot league decider between AEL Limassol and Apoel Nicosia, has been released on bail. Meanwhile APOEL supporters will be holding a march this evening to protest the Cyprus Football Federation (CFA) decision to repeat the game on neutral ground without fans.

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Champagne backs Dutch saying video refs are ‘inevitable’

video referee

May 27 – Despite football’s lawmakers insisting scientific aids for referees will never go beyond goal-line technology, FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has indicated he would seek a change in the rules if he succeeds in his unlikely bid to oust Sepp Blatter next year.

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Lech Poznan extends sponsorship deal with betting operator STS

Lech Poznana and STS

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
May 27 – Lech Poznan has extended its sponsorship deal with Polish betting operator STS by a further two years. STS is using its sponsorship to launch the first TV advertising campaign by a betting operator on Polish television.

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AFC warns Maldives over Challenge Cup ticket fraud investigation

AFC Challenge Cup

By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – Corruption in Asian football has spread to the Maldives islands, with the Asian Football Confederation warning the local federation risked being suspended for unilaterally launching an investigation into alleged misconduct in selling AFC Challenge Cup tickets.

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Blatter emphasises need for mediation not sanctions on Middle East tour

Sepp Blatter and Mahmoud Abbas

By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – President Sepp Blatter says he is determined to resolve the impasse between Palestine and Israel as the clock ticks towards the FIFA Congress in Sao Paolo just before the World Cup when the issue is officially on the agenda amid threats that delegates might be asked to call for Israel’s expulsion. Blatter is back in the region for crucial talks with both sides but admits it could prove difficult to persuade Israel to agree to a compromise that would allow Palestinian players and officials to move freely in the occupied territories.

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Jamaica to play at Copa America 2015 in Chile

Jamaican flag

May 27 – Jamaica will join Mexico in CONMEBOL’s Copa America tournament in Chile in 2015, the 44th time the competition has been held. The 45th edition in its hundredth year – Copa America Centenario – will be held by CONCACAF in the US in 2016.

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Batkov blames Gazprom for Levski’s FFP fine

todor batkov

By Alexander Krassimirov
May 26 – The owner of Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia Todor Batkov has hit out at UEFA’s sanctions accusing gas giant Gazprom for failing to deliver on its promised sponsorship. Batkov claims that if the sponsorship had been activated the fine would not have been imposed on the club.

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Marta to kick off streetfootballworld’s Football for Equality Plaza in Rio

Screen Shot 2014-05-26 at 12.52.29

By Ben Nicholson
May 26 – Brazilian female footballer, and five times FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta Vieira da Silva, will open the Football for Equality Plaza in Rio de Janeiro on June 4. The plaza will boast a multimedia exhibition that tells the history of female football in Brazil.

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Man Utd drop £100m and slip down brand value table, Real and PSG rise

Bayern vs ManU

By David Owen
May 26 – Manchester United’s annus horribilis has pushed them down to third place in a listing of the 50 most valuable football club brands drawn up by Brand Finance, the brand valuation and strategy consultancy. United have swapped places with Real Madrid, the newly-crowned European champions, having seen almost $100 million wiped off their brand value since 2013, according to Brand Finance’s assessment.

Mihir Bose

Mihir Bose: Why the Champions League is glorious but UEFA’s powers are limited

Whether or not Real Madrid achieve their cherished goal of Decima tomorrow, which would mark the tenth time they have won Europe’s premier club competition, the Champions League Final in Lisbon once again emphasises that in all of world football’s many club competitions, spread across the various continents, nothing comes close to matching the glory of winning this coveted European trophy. It may be a competition that only European clubs participate in but not only do players from all over the world take part but,

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Costa blazes gender trail but says in 2014 this should be a ‘normal thing’

Helena Costa

May 23 – In her first major press conference since being appointed as the first female coach in the top two divisions of any of Europe’s major leagues, Helena Costa said she just wants to be treated like her male colleagues.

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Buzz builds as social media World Cup starts to take hold

social media mobile

By Tom Parsons
May 23 – Social media platforms are already buzzing about what could be one of the greatest World Cup’s of all time. Players and fans alike are sharing news, views and opinions on Brazil 2014 with just 21 days until it begins.

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Nothing toxic in Adidas accounts as it predicts $1 billion in World Cup sales

brazuca ball

By Mark Baber
May 23 – Notwithstanding a recent Greenpeace report which found toxic chemicals in 33 sportswear products produced by Adidas, Nike and Puma, Adidas has briefed journalists in Munich that the World Cup will play a “an important role” in adding “€1-1.2 billion (£829 -948 million) to operational revenue.”