England women’s coach working on his comms skills
August 18 – The coach of the England women’s team Mark Sampson says he is “looking to improve” his general communication style after being cleared of racial abuse.
Integrity
Legal comment: Understanding the Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar’s tax cases
The open proceedings in Spain regarding the tax cases of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr.[1], are too often believed to be the same, or at least, very similar cases. Alexander Guede in this column clarifies the different cases and their implications for the individuals and Spanish football.
Closing borders? Nigerian Onazi has transfer to Birmingham City scuppered
By Mark Baber
August 17 – Nigerian international Qgenyi Onazi (pictured) has seen his transfer to Birmingham City from Trabzonspor scuppered after he failed to meet the requirements for governing body endorsement and an FA Exceptions Panel failed to rule in his favour.
‘This is what you call persecution’, says Ronaldo
August 17 – After losing his appeal against a five-match ban for pushing a referee during Sunday night’s Spanish Super Cup 3-1 first-leg victory over Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo, used his Instagram account to claim “This is what you call persecution.”
CBF signs Sportradar to deliver match-fixing integrity service. Del Nero has a message
August 16 – The Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF) has brought in Sportradar to implement its Fraud Detection System across all matches in the country’s national leagues. At the same time the CBF has also launched its own in-house Integrity Department, putting in place an Integrity Officer who will work closely with Sportradar.
Iran bans two national team players for playing for Greek club vs Maccabi Tel Aviv
August 11 – In a move which prompted fans – presumably from outside of the country – to take to social media to express their anger, two Iranian internationals have been banned for life from their national team as punishment for playing for their Greek club against an Israeli side.
US law enforcers name Mexican captain Márquez as front for drug cartel
August 10 – Mexico’s national team captain Rafael Márquez has been sanctioned by the US treasury department for allegedly being a “front person” for a drug-trafficking cartel.
Rummenigge warns inflated fees like Neymar’s €222m will alienate fans
By Andrew Warshaw
August 9 – Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is the latest footballing figurehead to express concern over the €222 million world record transfer of Neymar, saying all major stakeholders should “sit round the table” to discuss the whole question of inflated fees in order to prevent fans switching off from football.
‘Chavista until death’ Maradona joins up as a soldier for Venezuela’s Maduro
August 9 – Diego Maradona is at it again – not making a comeback but coming up with yet more madcap comments, this time pledging to be a “soldier… until death” for embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Liberia’s Woodson wins CAS appeal and returns to LFA exco
By Paul Nicholson
August 8 – Rochell Woodson, the Liberian FA executive committee member who was removed from her position at the LFA Congress in December 2016 while she was on maternity leave, has won her appeal against the decision at the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS).
Aberdeen face UEFA sanction after team and fans lose the plot
August 8 – UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Aberdeen and Apollon Limassol following crowd trouble at their recent Europa Cup tie.
FA report clears England women’s manager of bullying charge
August 8 – The manager of the England women’s team, Mark Sampson (pictured), has been cleared of any wrongdoing after one his star players Eniola Aluko made a complaint to the Football Association about “bullying and harassment”.
FIFA keeps Johansen in place as SLFA takes slow route to new elections
By Andrew Warshaw
August 7 – The bitter divisions within Sierra Leone football have taken an intriguing twist with FIFA giving Isha Johansen the green light to remain as interim federation president even though her mandate has expired.
Iran ‘condemns’ two club players for facing Maccabi Tel Aviv in Europa League play off
August 7 – In another depressing illustration of how political ideology infiltrates football, Iran’s FA has denounced two Iranians contracted to a Greek side for competing against an Israeli team.
Sarcozy business dealings dragged into French corruption investigation
By Andrew Warshaw
August 7 – Time after time when quizzed on the subject, former UEFA president and later FIFA presidential candidate Michel Platini repeatedly denied suggestions he had voted for Qatar to stage the 2022 World Cup under pressure from the French government.