Inside World Football - Page 1569 of 2022 - For the Business of Football

Andrew Warshaw: Qatar needs time to clean up its act

Amid the often emotional rhetoric and highly-charged language used by human rights and trade union leaders at this week’s European Parliament session denouncing Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers were the usual trademark demands for the country to be stripped as 2022 World Cup hosts.

This is not being an apologist for some of the Gulf state’s notoriously archaic and antiquated laws. I, as much as anyone, believe that Qatar needs to rid itself of the totally unacceptable kafala employment system that has no place in the modern era and which French-Algerian footballer Zahir Belounis so movingly brought to the attention of fans worldwide.

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The end of the line or the start of a proper football journey?

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By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – “Barrow’s Holker Street ground is no more. It is now the Furness Building Society Stadium, Wilkie Road. But on emerging through the turnstiles on to the terraces, it is difficult to see what substantive changes the Furness Building Society have actually made, beyond financing a new mundane rectangular administrative block at one end of the ground, from which the teams later came out,” writes Steve Leach,

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Zwanziger says Garcia’s World Cup bidding ethics report will be released this year

FIFA Code of Ehics

By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 14 – The eagerly awaited report into whether any of the contenders for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were involved in corruption and broke bidding rules is expected to be released later this year according to a senior FIFA official.

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Palestinians to demand FIFA expels Israel and say they have support

Jibril Rajoub 2

February 14 – Jibril Rajoub, chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, has said they will seek the expulsion of Israel from FIFA at the next FIFA Congress, and that he has the support of other Arab and North African nations.

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‘No, no, no’, stadium will be ready and Curitiba will be a 2014 World Cup host

Curitiba construction

February 14 – FIFA and local officials have dismissed reports that contingency plans are being made to move World Cup matches away from Curitiba if authorities there fail to meet a February 18 deadline for completing the stadium.

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Monaco fury as club rivals turn to law over their €50m LFP deal

monaco stadium3

By Andrew Warshaw
February 14 – The bitter row over Monaco’s special tax status in French football has intensified after seven other top-flight teams, including arch-rivals Paris St. Germain, threatened to take legal action, leaving the principality club “astounded”.

Osasu Obayiuwana

Osasu Obayiuwana: South Africa must confront the bitter truth

Had Fikile Mbalula, South Africa’s angry minister for sport, possessed a statutory right to execute members of Bafana-Bafana, for their dismal performance at the last Championship of African Nations (CHAN), I have little doubt he would have been sorely tempted to use it.

I’m also certain that some equally irate fans would have gladly paid for the privilege of watching the deed being done.

Having failed to qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament they were hosting,

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Zwanziger promises no ‘blind eye’ as EU hearing turns up heat on Qatar

Theo Zwanziger

By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 13 – One of FIFA’s most influential administrators today stepped up the pressure on Qatar to comply with international employment standards as the 2022 World Cup hosts came under fierce scrutiny at the European Parliament.

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Moroccan Ouaddou wins FIFA case as Qatar SC ordered to pay wages

Abdeslam-Ouaddou

By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – FIFA has backed the case of former Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou, the latest foreign footballer to claim he did not receive his salary whilst playing in Qatar and was not allowed to leave the country under its notorious kefala employment system.

Rolf Willi

Champagne?

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Man Utd report record results and set aside war chest for Summer

manU

By Paul Nicholson
February 13 – Manchester United announced another quarter of record financial revenue with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward confident that the club would still be able to sustain financial momentum even if it failed to qualify for the Champions League 2014/15 competition. He also indicated the club would be spending substantially in the summer looking to a long-term future as the first team is re-built.

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Spurs push deeper into Asia with AIA shirt sponsorship

Spurs and AIA shirt deal

By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – Tottenham Hotspur are the latest top-flight English club to launch a major push into the Asian market by announcing a five-year multi-million pound shirt sponsorship deal with Hong Kong-based insurance giants AIA. The deal drives the club deeper into the Asian markets having recently launched a Chinese language add-on to its website as well as securing new TV deals in the region.

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New Chinese investor grabs a stake as Birmingham’s stock plummets

Birmingham City

By Paul Nicholson
February 13 – Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHH), the parent company of Birmingham City Football Club, is to sell 12% of its shares to Chinese advertising firm Beijing Triumph International Media Advertising Co for HK$45 million (£3.5 million).

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: Balotelli lies a crying shame

Do you want to find racism from football fans? Do you want to find racism from football fans in Italy specifically? It won’t take you long.

So no need to invent stories on the subject. Claims that Mario Balotelli was reduced to tears after being racially abused in Naples appear dangerous and counter-productive. Misguided and premature. This subject is too important to treat with such a lack of care.

One of the first things I was taught in journalism by the legendary Reg Hayter was ‘fact is sacred,

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Olympiacos donates aid to the earthquake victims of Kefalonia

kefalonia earthquake

February 13 – Olympiacos FC has made a €500,000 donation to the aid fund to support the residents of Greek island Kefalonia to recover from the devastating earthquake which hit the island two weeks ago causing substantial damage and leaving hundreds homeless.