France’s LFP renews host broadcast deal with HBS
By Samindra Kunti
September 28 – France’s Professional Football League (LFP) has extended its partnership with production company HBS (Host Broadcast Services) for a further four years.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Barca’s Neymar has $47m of assets frozen in Brazilian tax case
By Paul Nicholson
September 28 – The struggle that Barcelona’s star players have with paying their taxes has continued with Neymar being the latest to fall foul of the authorities with a Brazilian judge freezing 188.8m reais ($47.6 million) of his assets in a tax evasion case.
Platini’s SFr2m payment puts his FIFA ambitions in jeopardy
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Michel Platini’s dreams of taking over at FIFA face being dealt a hammer blow as a result of the already-infamous 2 million Swiss franc payment he received for unexplained work undertaken on behalf of Sepp Blatter.
Warner wins time as his lawyers head to US to discuss extradition terms
By Andrew Warshaw
September 28 – Disgraced former CONCACAF president Jack Warner has won more time in his bid to avoid being extradited to the United States on corruption charges.
David Owen: Could Platini end up as the big loser of FIFA’s frenetic Friday?
Friday’s shenanigans at FIFA prompted a number of sporting sages to prophesy the demise of Sepp Blatter well before the February 26 Congress that is supposed to elect a new FIFA President. I wonder though if the big loser might not turn out to be Michel Platini.
FIFA’s exco approves Qatar 2022 dates and pushes on women and ethics requests
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – Almost lost in the stunning news that the Swiss attorney general was opening a criminal investigation into FIFA president Sepp Blatter, was the release of information following the two-day FIFA executive committee meeting that “deliberated on a number of forward-looking measures to improve governance as part of the reform process.”
Swiss hammer Blatter with criminal investigation, Platini questioned
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – In the most dramatic development to date in the entire FIFA corruption scandal, Swiss investigators today announced that they had opened criminal proceedings against Sepp Blatter on “suspicion of criminal mismanagement and misappropriation”.
Will VW’s emissions scandal pollute Germany’s football sponsorship balance?
By Mark Baber
September 25 – The extent of the fall-out for football from the Volkswagen emissions scandal has been the subject of speculation with analysis focusing on the extent of VW’s involvement in football, the depth of the crisis facing the company, the identities of the company’s top management and the role of football sponsorship in VW’s marketing mix.
Chelsea slump as Man Utd find Twitter joy at the Festival of Eid
By Paul Nicholson
September 25 – The weekly Twitter growth table saw a number of changes in ranking this week as Chelsea dropped to fourth behind Liverpool who took third slot. Manchester United continue to dominate weekly growth with one tweet this week being retweeted 14,000 times- that is 1,500 more retweets than Manchester City – in fifth place in the table – gained in new followers.
Massimo Cecchini: Conte’s Euro challenge at risk of being derailed by due process
Simply writing that Antonio Conte, coach of Italian national team, risks a process, it could have a wrong meaning. It would be easy to blame this on a wrong formation, or a federation not happy with the results, or public opinion not satisfied with the way the team is playing its football. However, it is none of these. We are talking about a real legal process, as the coach of Italy in early July was indicted by prosecutors in Cremona,
Platini promises ‘football, not politics’ if he wins FIFA crown
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – Away from UEFA territory where he could have been accused of opportunism, Michel Platini has given his first thoughts on running for FIFA president.
Belgian coach plots course to return Saudi to Asian elite
By Samindra Kunti
September 25 – Deep into the second half of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup qualifier away to Malaysia in September, the Ultras Malaya, a group of hot-headed home supporters, threw flares and fireworks on to the pitch of the Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor, a province on Malaysia’s east coast. Smoke rapidly began to fill the ground and left referee Liu Kwak Man from Hong Kong with little choice but to abandon the game.
FIFA turns over email data and vows to co-operate with investigators
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – FIFA has agreed to give Swiss investigators access to the email accounts of the organisation’s suspended general secretary Jerome Valcke.
Blatter presses for Congress to approve reforms and not to ‘betray’ football
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – As FIFA moved into the second of its two-day executive committee meeting, embattled outgoing president Sepp Blatter, desperate to leave a positive legacy when he steps down in February, has urged his members to approve the reform process that would kick in after his 18-year tenure ends.
Sholei is back and campaigning for Kenyan presidency on a reform platform
By Mark Baber
September 24 – With the format of the Football Kenya Federation elections having been set, Sammy Sholei (pictured), who just last month had has six-year suspension from football annulled, has announced his candidature for the post of President.