Inside World Football - Page 799 of 2021 - For the Business of Football

Ireland’s Delaney quits FAI over €100K loan, but hangs on to UEFA posts

By Andrew Warshaw

April 16 – John Delaney’s colourful and controversial career as an influential voice in European football administration is under severe threat after the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) announced he had offered to step aside as its executive vice-president with immediate effect amid increasing criticism over an authorised loan he provided in 2017 that called into question serious governance issues.

Football Marketing

LaLiga to kick off new Puma technical deal next season

April 16 – Puma will become LaLiga’s official technical partner from the start of the 2019/20 season, and will supply the official match ball for all matches in LaLiga Santander and La Liga 1|2|3.

Finance

Sala transfer: Cardiff hang on to transfer cash as Nantes claim deal was completed

April 16 – Cardiff City have submitted evidence to FIFA in their dispute with Nantes over the £15 million transfer fee for the late Emiliano Sala.

FIFA

Catching up. FIFA gives jailed Brazilian Marin a life ban and CHF1m fine

Jose Maria Marin

April 16 – Jose Maria Marin, disgraced former president of the Brazil Football Confederation (CBF), has been banned for life by FIFA and fined CHF1 million for taking bribes, 16 months after he was convicted of corruption charges in the United States.

Broadcast

RFEF goes into battle with La Liga with its own OTT platform offer

By Paul Nicholson

April 16 – The animosity between the Spanish FA (RFEF) and LaLiga has found a new broadcast battleground to play out.

Performance

Head for heights: Maguire tops van Dyke in PL defensive stats, Guerdes leads Big 5

April 16 – An analysis of defensive aerial challenges across Europe by the CIES Football Observatory ranks Olympique Lyonnais defender Marcelo Guerdes as the continent’s leading defender winning 85.5% of aerial challenges.

Qatar 2022

Infantino’s one-man mission for 48-team 2020 World Cup lands in Kuwait

April 15 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s determination to win his battle to expand the 2022 World Cup beyond Qatar’s borders has taken him to Kuwait in a last-ditch effort to pull in another 16 finalists in three years’ time.

Africa

Not good enough for 2019 AFCON, but fine for 2020 CHAN. Cameroon get host job

April 15 – Having been stripped of hosting rights for this year’s Africa’s showpiece event, the African Cup of Nations, Cameroon have instead been handed the consolation prize of the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in place of Ethiopia.

Africa

MRI tests find six players as being overage at CAF U17 finals

April 15 – Six players have been banned from taking part in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania after failing MRI tests to determine their age and eligibility for the competition.

Africa

AFCON 2019 draw keeps Egypt and Cameroon apart, but Morocco face tough group

AFCON trophy

April 15 – Morocco, Ivory Coast and South Africa, alongside Namibia, were paired in the group of death at the draw for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The hosts Egypt and reigning champions Cameroon were handed favourable draws.

FIFA

Zero tolerance. Infantino urges refs to abandon matches when racism occurs

April 15 – The recent resurgence of racism across world football has prompted FIFA president Gianni Infantino to call for a crackdown following several high-profile incidents, echoing UEFA’s call for referees to abandon matches in the worst-case scenarios

Europe

Monkey chants aimed at Amiens’ Prince Gouano delay Ligue 1 match

April 15 – France’s Ligue 1 match between Dijon and Amiens was held up last Friday after visiting captain Prince Gouano was the target of monkey chants, adding to a string of recent racist incidents across Europe.

Europe

Flare-throwing Anderlecht fans force play off game to be abandoned at Liege

April 15 – Standard Liege’s home league game against rivals Anderlecht was abandoned in the Belgian top flight plays-offs after just 30 minutes following flares thrown by visiting supporters. The Brussels-based team will be slapped with a fine and potentially a 5-0 forfeit score.

Finance

Spurs residency and Taylor Swift lift turnover – but FA hit by surging costs

TheFACrest Wembley_11-10-11

By David Owen

April 14 – An eventful 2017-18 season resulted in the English Football Association lifting turnover by £24.3 million while only managing to invest an additional £919,000, compared with 2016-17 levels, back into the game.

Qatar 2022

Samuel Eto’o joins Qatar 2022 as a global ambassador

April 15 – African football legend Samuel Eto’o has joined the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) as a Global Ambassador.