Ivanov returns to take top whistle blowers’ job in Russia
January 2 – Russian football has taken on former top FIFA official Valentin Ivanov to replace Italian Roberto Rosetti as head of its domestic refereeing department.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Spartak Moscow owner says new stadium to cost $426m
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 2 – Russian billionaire Leonid Fedun has announced that the new stadium currently being built for Spartak Moscow will cost 14 billion rubles ($426 million). Fedun told local news agency ITAR-TASS that Spartak is already receiving funds for the investment from its sponsor, Russian bank Otkritie, under a naming rights deal signed in February 2013.
Matt Scott: Six lessons for 2014 and beyond
“History… is the lesson and the example of the future,” Alphonse de Lamartine, Antar.
As one year rolls into another there is only the fading memory of what came before and an anticipation of what might be. Football’s cycles work to a different calendar, but it is worth considering how the lessons of 2013 might provide examples for what the future will hold in the second half of the 2013-14 season and beyond.
SAFA sex case goes to court as official battles to clear his name
December 30 – A senior South African FA official has been accused of sexual harassment and soliciting sexual favours from a young female colleague.
Cameroon FA trawls Europe looking for new players
December 30 – Cameroon football authorities are on a mission to Europe to try and boost their World Cup hopes.
Brazilian prosecutors demand $2m over Recife ticketing shambles
By Andrew Warshaw
December 30 – Brazilian prosecutors want FIFA and the organising committee of last summer’s Confederations Cup to settle $2 million worth of claims for alleged ticketing irregularities during the World Cup warm-up tournament.
Anelka’s Nazi ‘salute’ enrages fans and politicians worldwide
December 30 – Nazi salute or innocent gesture? Whichever it was, former French international Nicolas Anelka has caused uproar in both sporting and political circles for his unusual celebration after the first of his two goals for West Bromwich Albion during last weekend’s 3-3 Premier League draw at West Ham.
Fan dies as Malawi Super League finale ends in violence
By Paul Nicholson
December 30 – The deciding game of the Malawi TNM Super League championship was abandoned after 61 minutes after fan violence leading to the death of one fan and many others left injured, six in a serious condition, on Saturday.
Fluminense cling on to Serie A status after Portuguesa appeal turned down
December 30 – Fluminense have been spared the embarrassment of being the first team in Brazilian Serie A history to be relegated the season after having won the championship.
Platini sticks to his guns to free the game of ‘cheating, violence or injustice’
By Andrew Warshaw
December 30 – UEFA President Michel Platini admits some of his policies, not least financial fair play, have made himself and his organisation unpopular but that he will not waiver from his determination to put European football on a healthier path.
Festive cheer as Premier League fans pack stadia for Boxing Day feast
By Paul Nicholson
December 27 – Proof that the English love their Christmas football was shown on Boxing Day in the Premier League with eight out of 10 clubs filling their stadiums to more than 97% of capacity, two stadiums being more than 99% full and only one stadium being below 90% in occupancy.
Malaysian Tan moves in on Bosnia’s Sarajevo while facing protests in Cardiff
By Andrew Warshaw
December 27 – Controversial Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan (pictured) has extended his European operation by agreeing to take over FK Sarajevo in Bosnia’s top division.
Brasilia leak will not hold up the 2014 party, says Secopa
December 27 – Brazil’s World Cup preparations were dampened with another infrastructural setback with the revelation that the 73,000-capacity national stadium in Brasilia has a leaking roof less than eight months after it was completed.
Matt Scott: Faceless offshore funds and the mafia – funding football’s have-nots
“Key ECB interest rates will remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time,” Mario Draghi, ECB president, reaffirming the 0.5% European bank rate on 1 August 2013.
Ever since the financial crisis first struck, central banks across Europe and beyond have been locked in an arm wrestle with the invisible hand of Adam Smith’s markets. There has been much talk of a zero interest rate policy,
Lee Wellings: Winning is everything in the football business
Looking back through my Insideworldfootball columns throughout 2013 it struck me that with few exceptions, the subjects are actually bound by a common theme.
Whatever the story, without the angle, whatever the history and characters, and wherever in the world, there is one barely disputable rule of football 2013.
Winning is everything.