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.
Author: Paul Nicholson
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.
CECAFA elect new President as FIFA candidates campaign for votes
By Mark Baber
November 23 – The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations [CECAFA] has elected President of Sudan Football Association, Dr. Mutasim Gafaar as head of the body, on the eve of the start of the 2015 CECAFA Challenge Cup.
Smoggy future for German clubs facing loss of VW sponsor cash
November 23 – Bundesliga clubs Worlfsburg, Hannover 96, Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 as well as second division 1860 Munich are on a list of sports sponsorships Volkswagen are considering dropping to cut costs amid the ongoing emissions scandal.
Beckenbauer to face questioning over Warner contract and 2006 vote buying
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – With public scrutiny intensifying over what he did and didn’t know regarding the alleged 2006 World Cup cash-for-votes scandal, Franz Beckenbauer, largely untouchable in recent weeks, is to be questioned on Tuesday by external lawyers in connection with the affair, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper.
Jargon-busting WantMyBet start-up betting platform focuses on social
By Paul Nicholson
November 23 – A new betting platform with a social twist has launched offering punters access to what the tipsters are recommending, as well as the ability to share their own tips and go head-to-head with friends to see who is the biggest winner each week.
‘Close to death’ Blatter targets FIFA return and handover to Platini
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – Suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter has revealed he feared for his life when recently admitted to hospital in the wake of the deepening corruption crisis that has engulfed football’s world governing body.
Greek chaos as violence ends Panathinaikos-Olympiakos derby before it starts
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – It’s known as the “derby of eternal enemies” and rarely has that description been played out with such alarming ferocity as last weekend when Greece’s Panathinaikos-Olympiakos clash was called off before it even started.
Belgian governance study finds as sports feds go, FIFA isn’t all bad
By Samindra Kunti
November 23 – Belgium’s leading university KU Leuven has screened 35 Olympic sports federations on good governance. The report suggests FIFA is among the better run international sports federations.
David Owen: Molenbeek – second coming of the club from ‘Little Manchester’
I can’t be the only European football follower of a certain age who last week, when the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek hit the news for the reasons we all know about, thought that the name of the place rang a vague bell.
Matt Scott: Bolton have lost their power. It won’t be long before the lights go out
“I am somewhat exhausted; I wonder how a battery feels when it pours electricity into a non-conductor.” Arthur Conan Doyle
Electricity is a wonderful, life-giving force. The defibrillator whose high-voltage pulse revives the dead from cardiac arrest; the electrical storm that destroys forest deadwood to give way to new growth beneath; the power that animates a television. It illuminates the floodlights that give us night football and, figuratively, it gives us the best of those nights when the atmosphere is electric.
FIFA investigators’ report demands Blatter and Platini are sanctioned
By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini suffered a potentially crippling blow in their efforts to clear their names of any wrongdoing when FIFA investigators today announced they have officially called for sanctions to be taken against both men over that notorious SFr2 million payment.
Wenger warns World Cup expansion will push clubs to breakaway
By Mark Baber
November 20 – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger argued that FIFA must tackle the international calendar as part of its current reform programme – or clubs could split away from national teams and international competitions.
Prince Ali bangs drum for playing in Palestine on point of principle
By Andrew Warshaw
November 20 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has openly criticised the decision to force Palestine to play a couple of key World Cup qualifying games on neutral ground.
Mihir Bose: To change FIFA we need to look beyond Zurich.
In all the coverage of the crisis in FIFA what has been happening in the far flung corners of world football, like for instance Nepal and Laos, has been rather missed out. Now I do understand that you cannot expect the western media, in particular the British media where a story about Sepp Blatter or Michel Platini now nearly always makes the front page, to dwell on such remote corners of the globe. For the British in any case Nepal means Gurkha soldiers,