Monaco eye stake in Belgium’s Cercle Brugge as a development club
By Samindra Kunti
February 21 – French club Monaco have made an offer to buy a majority stake in Belgian First Division B club Cercle Brugge.
Cairo court upholds death sentences for 10 involved in Port Said stadium massacre
By Paul Nicholson
February 20 – Egypt’s top court in Cairo has this morning (Monday) upheld death sentences for 10 men for their part in the violence that left 74 football fans dead in the Port Said stadium disaster in February 2012.
Hayatou gets South African welcome as Infantino joins Ahmad’s birthday bash
By Andrew Warshaw
February 20 – The tension ahead of next month’s potentially game-changing Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidential election is mounting after South African president Jacob Zuma was reported – apparently wrongly – to have formally given his government’s backing to Issa Hayatou despite the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) executive committee officially endorsing Hayatou’s rival, Madagascar’s Ahmad Ahmad (sic).
Osasuna match-fixing case lands 18 in court including three former Betis players
February 20 – A total of 18 people, including three players, are to stand trial in the latest match-fixing case to hit Spain. Former Real Betis trio Xavier Torres, Antonio Amaya Carazo and Jordi Figueras are accused of accepting payments to rig results at the end of the 2013-14 La Liga season in an effort to ensure Osasuna avoided relegation.
Beckenbauer under scrutiny over consultancy role in SA’s 2010 bid
February 20 – After weeks of relative silence, Franz Beckenbauer’s much publicised business dealings while he was at FIFA have come under fresh scrutiny, this time over the award of the 2010 World Cup to South Africa.
Yorke is trumped by travel ban and left stranded in Doha over Iranian passport stamp
February 20 – US president Donald Trump’s executive order barring those from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen entering the country – now on hold – has nevertheless had its first high profile impact on a footballer.
French deal with Nike tops Germany and England at €50.5m a year
February 20 – French Football Federation President Noël Le Graët has revealed that the Nike kit deal for the French federation is worth €50.5 million a year for the next 10 years.
Racism returns with Serbian league restart at Belgrade derby
February 20 – No sooner had Serbia’s top flight resumed at the weekend after a two-month winter break than the same familiar racism-fuelled trouble re-occurred, with Rad Belgrade’s match against visiting city rivals Partizan marred by a player brawl.
Brussels Eurostadium hits new snag as Anderlecht say they will not move
By Samindra Kunti
February 20 – RSC Anderlecht have announced that the club will not move to the Eurostadium, dealing another blow to the construction of the EURO 2020 venue.
FA Cup: Giantkillers Lincoln slay Burnley, Leicester fed to the Lions at Millwall
February 20 – Any doubts that the FA cup, the world’s oldest and most prestigious domestic knockout competition, has lost its romance were swept away at the weekend when Lincoln City – four divisions below the Premier League – became the first non-league side in 103 years to reach the quarter-finals.
Will he won’t he? Infantino has not asked Mutko to stand down from FIFA Council elections
February 17 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino insists he has not asked Russian sports supremo Vitaly Mutko, the chief 2018 World Cup organiser, to resign over the doping scandal that has rocked his country.
Three stripes and you’re out? Nike wearers win more, say stats
February 17 – Adidas’ recent signing of the world’s second best player Lionel Messi (according to recent awards events) to a lifetime deal may be a reflection of their overall brand positioning when it comes to winning. An analysis of Europe’s big club competition winners over the past 10 seasons finds that 51.4% of teams wore Nike kit, while Adidas were in second place with 28.5% of teams wearing their kit.
A head start: UEFA to study links between football and dementia
February 17 – Following tentative research published in the UK earlier this week which suggested that repeated headers during a player’s career may be linked to brain damage, UEFA has commissioned its own research project examining links between dementia and playing football.
Russian hooligans issue violent 2018 warning to any travelling English fans
By Andrew Warshaw
February 17 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino says he has no fears about fan violence at the World Cup in Russia next year despite chilling threats against English supporters made in a television documentary.
India rejigs coaching teams for U17 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers
By Samindra Kunti
February 17 – Savio Madeira has been appointed as the new technical director of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) succeeding Scott O’Donnell. Senior coach Stephen Constantine will take over at the U17 team on an interim basis as the hunt for a new coach continues.