Mutko says Russia 2018 World Cup security will be beefed up
November 25 – Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko says security will be tightened at the 2018 World Cup following the Paris massacre and the growing threat of terrorism generally.
Author: Paul Nicholson
UEFA hits Dynamo Kiev with fan ban and fine for racism
November 25 – Dynamo Kiev have been ordered to play their next two European home fixtures behind closed doors, with a third suspended, and fined €100,000 after their fans were found guilty of racist behaviour.
Blatter questions whether FIFA ethics has right to remove his as boss
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – Sepp Blatter claims FIFA’s ethics committee, which he himself set up, does not have the power to remove him as president.
Man Utd, Bayern, PSG, Barca and Real suck up the Euro cash leaving scraps for the poor
By Paul Nicholson
November 25 – The revenue gap between Europe’s big five leagues and the rest is getting bigger and within those leagues the big five teams in each league are getting even bigger at the expense of their domestic rivals. Manchester United, with commercial income of about €226 million, generate or receive a massive 21% of the Premier League’s total.
Match-fixing overlord Dan Tan wins release from jail in Singapore
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – In what will doubtless be regarded by Interpol and anti-corruption watchdogs as a major setback in the global fight against match-fixing, Tan Seet Eng, otherwise known as Dan Tan, the suspected kingpin behind a string of cases that reportedly netted millions of dollars, is a free man after winning a Court of Appeal ruling in his native Singapore.
Premier League Saints on the march in the US with youth soccer
By Ben Nicholson
November 25 – Although Southampton FC has yet graced the US shores with any commercial pre-season campaign, the Saints are now preparing to expand across the Atlantic with its soccer philosophy. Chairman Ralph Krueger (pictured) revealed plans to take the club’s coaching initiative to the US, prospecting that it will reach over 100,000 players.
Euro 2016 fan zones will go ahead, say French organisers
November 25 – Euro 2016 organisers, mindful of heightened security following the Paris terrorist attacks, are hopeful of retaining traditional fan zones so that supporters will be allowed to watch matches on big screens in public areas.
Celtic pursue the American dream with bid to take SPL fixture stateside
By Ben Nicholson
November 24 – Scottish giants Celtic could be on the verge of taking one of their regular season Scottish Premier League home games to the US. Their proposed opponents Dundee FC are already on board with the remaining obstacle being obtaining Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) approval.
ICSS boosts anti-corruption team with hire of Canadian Sheehan
November 24 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has further boosted its international law enforcement credentials with the addition of Canadian Dale Sheehan (pictured) as Director of Capacity Building and Education.
Ronaldo hooks up with Alibaba to take academy magic to China
By Samindra Kunti
November 24 – Legendary Brazilian striker Ronaldo has signed a deal with Ali Sports Group, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, to develop state-of-the-art football academies in China.
UEFA delivers La Poste to Euro2016 sponsor roster
By Samindra Kunti
November 23 – UEFA have announced France’s national postal service La Poste as the official operator for postal, parcel and express delivery services for UEFA EURO 2016.
FIFA confirms December deadline for Blatter and Platini rulings
By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will learn their respective fates over alleged financial misconduct by the end of December, FIFA’s ethics committee has confirmed.
Abramovich’s Chelsea are back in the red with £23.1m loss
By David Owen
November 24 – Chelsea, the Premier League champions enduring a woeful start to the present league campaign, fell back into the red in their latest title-winning season, although the club known as the Blues underlined that “after relevant adjustments” it was “comfortably” within allowable limits of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
JE SUIS PARIS – PSG return home wearing a message of solidarity
November 24 – French giant Paris Saint-Germain will drop sponsor logos from their shirts for their next two matches, replacing them with the simple message – JE SUIS PARIS.
Gerrard heads for Aussie for Liverpool Legends debut in Sydney
November 24 – Liverpool’s pre-season tour took in two matches in Australia this summer. Now it is the turn of the official Liverpool FC legends to head down under for a fixture against the Australian Legends at the Sydney ANZ on January 7 next year.