Zhang Xizhe has returned to Beijing Guoan Football Club the club that sold him to the Bundesliga club Wolfsburg 166 days ago. He didn’t play a minute for the hugely improved German club, under the price tag of €2 million. Dispritied and tired, he told me that he would never play abroad again.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 23 – Bulgaria’s Marek Dupnitsa have been fined BGN 210,000 (€105,000) by the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) disciplinary committee for match-fixing. The steep fine, in Bulgarian terms, is a hard hit for the club which was relegated from the top flight last season.
By Mark Baber
July 23 – The plan of French League (LFP) president Frederic Thiriez (pictured) to protect investors in Ligue 1 clubs by reducing the number of relegation and promotion places between Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to two up and two down hit a major obstacle today as the France Football Federation (FFF) annulled the move in its Executive Committee meeting.
July 23 – UEFA is celebrating a landmark court ruling which it says justifies its policy of financial fair play. The European Court of Justice has dismissed a legal challenge to the system following a Belgian court’s request for a preliminary judgment.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 23 – Three months after being replaced on FIFA’s executive committee following an 18-year stint, Thai football boss Worawi Makudi has been found guilty of electoral fraud in his homeland and sentenced to a suspended jail term.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 23 – The United Nations’ chief sports administrator admits Sepp Blatter has “made some very bad mistakes” during his 17-year tenure but does not believe the outgoing FIFA president is corrupt.
By Paul Nicholson
July 23 – Not even the FBI could prevent the Caribbean having their day in the Gold Cup sunshine in the US. A history making 2-1 semi-final victory over the US in Atlanta yesterday catapulted the Reggae Boyz from Jamaica into a final against Mexico in Philadelphia this Sunday.
By Samindra Kunti
July 23 – A September friendly between Brazil and Argentina in San Francisco has been cancelled as the fallout of the FIFA corruption scandal continues. Problems with Full Play have impeded the staging of the match.
July 23 – As Russian football prepares to portray itself in the best possible light at Saturday’s star-studded 2018 World Cup draw, its record on racism has again been questioned with FC Ufa midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong describing the rejection of allegations he made as “beyond a joke”.
By Samindra Kunti
July 23 – French clubs Olympique Lyon and Lille OSC are gearing up for the 2015/16 Ligue 1 season with new commercial deals. Lyon have teamed up with McDonald’s, while Lille have extended a deal with Groupe Partouche.
Any organisation in crisis prompts outlandish ideas on what should be done to reform it. But even then some of the ideas proposed to reform FIFA are so absurd as to make you wonder if those proposing them are really serious or just seeking sound bytes. That FIFA needs reform is a given. But to reform FIFA we need to understand what kind of an organisation it really is.
By Mark Baber
July 22 – FIFPro has revealed details of a case they have been working on involving children from Africa being trafficked to Laos, telling FIFA “the current Transfer Matching System (FIFA TMS) does not guarantee the protection of minor players.”
By Andrew Warshaw
July 22 – Domenico Scala, the no-nonsense and increasingly influential Swiss-Italian who has been at the forefront of pushing for meaningful change at FIFA, has emerged as the favourite to lead the newly established body charged with implementing concrete, lasting reform in the post-Sepp Blatter era.
July 22 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has signed another agreement with a government body, this time with youth and sport ministers from Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). At the same time preparations for ICSS’s Financial Integrity and Transparency in Sport (FITS) Forum are continuing at speed.