Inside World Football - Page 1424 of 2022 - For the Business of Football

Exclusive: Chelsea may net £8 million gain from deadline day dealings

Juan Cuadrado

By David Owen
February 3 – Chelsea may have boosted this year’s profits by close to £8m as a result of the club’s deadline-day dealings in which it effectively swapped one attack-minded wide man for another. The Premier League leaders brought in Colombian World Cup star Juan Cuadrado (pictured) from Fiorentina for a reported £23.3 million, while selling German World Cup winner André Schürrle to Wolfsburg for a reported £22 million.

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Pogba and Jimenez head Europe’s top U23s. The Ox, Kane and Sterling make list

Paul Pogba

By Mark Baber
February 3 – The dark art of using OPTA in-match statistics to rank players has gained new exponents as members of The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory who have developed key performance algorithms in 6 different areas of play and used them to rank under-23 players across the main European Leagues.

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Russian cash crisis deepens as calls for new RFU chief grow

Nicolai Tolstykh

February 3 – Russian football’s anti-crisis committee meets for the first time this week as the federation battles against a budget deficit and a growing and crippling wage debt to its national team coach Fabio Capello.

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Dr Laila Mintas: Is this the end of CAS arbitration?

In 2009 the German speed skater Claudia Pechstein intended to participate in the World Speed Skating Championships organized by ISU (International Skating Union). A condition of entry was that all participating athletes were obliged to sign an arbitration agreement providing for arbitration before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This agreement was in line with the regulations of the ISU which contain – as do most of the regulations of the Olympic International Federations including FIFA – an arbitration clause that acknowledges CAS as the competent court.

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Leaked memo puts heat on Belgian FA money mismanagement

Red-devils1

By Samindra Kunti
February 3 – The Belgian FA, the KBVB, is suffering a financial hangover after posting a financial loss of €206,000 in 2014.

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Levski Sofia debt threatens to kill its European dreams

levski board

By Alexander Krassimirov
February 3 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia has announced debts amounting to BGN 1.7 million. (€ 850,000) to December 31, 2014. The amount must to be cleared by March this year, to allow the club to acquire a license for next season and compete in European competition.

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West Ham in FIFA trouble over playing Sakho with FA Cup spot in jeopardy

Diafra Sakho

February 3 – English Premier League club West Ham are facing a FIFA inquiry over the withdrawal of their Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho from the Africa Cup of Nations.

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Lawmakers to rule on 4th sub, sin-bins and ‘stop-the-clock’ proposal

Substitutes

By Andrew Warshaw
February 3 – Football’s lawmakers will consider allowing a fourth substitution in extra-time as well as finally doing away with the so-called “triple punishment” when they hold their main annual meeting later this month.

Africa

Tunisian fury over ‘home’ ref ‘fixing’ at AFCON quarter-finals

Tunisia vs Equatorial Guinea

February 2 – Stand-in hosts Equatorial Guinea may have surpassed all expectations by reaching the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations but the tournament, already criticised for lack of organisation, faces a barrage of fresh anger over both the officiating and player indiscipline.

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Transfer deadline day: feeding frenzy as big name deals drive rumour mill

By Mark Baber
February 2 – Across most of Europe today is transfer deadline day with the window shutting at 17:00 GMT in Germany, 22:00 GMT in Italy, Greece, 23:00 GMT in England, France, Austria, the Netherlands and 00:00 GMT in Scotland. Below is a summary of activity and targets for English Premier League clubs.

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Malta FA calls for law change to beat match-fixing

Malta FA

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 2 – Bjorn Vassallo, the chief executive of the Malta Football Association (MFA), has called on the country’s authorities to update the laws that deal with sports corruption following its decision earlier this year to set up an experts’ task force to coordinate against match-fixing and organised crime in Maltese football.

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Blatter opens with promise on human rights and support for Aussies

Sepp Blatter11

By Andrew Warshaw
February 2 – Sepp Blatter has fired the opening salvo in his bid to remain as FIFA president by pledging that countries with poor human rights records would never again be allowed to stage the World Cup as long as he is in office.

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FIFA four head for the hustings

FIFA signage

February 2 – FIFA have formally announced that four candidates, including present incumbent Sepp Blatter, are in the running to become president at the election on May 29.

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Rangers flounder in Old Firm fixture, but Ashley is playing a blinder

Celtic vs Rangers

By Paul Nicholson
February 2 – The Old Firm matches returned to Scotland for the first time in three years this weekend with Celtic hosting Rangers at Hampden Park in front of a packed house 50,000 crowd in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. But for the majority of Rangers’ shareholders and fans the most important battle currently is not against bitter cross-town rivals Celtic, but against investor Mike Ashley and his financial incursion from the South.

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Champagne exits FIFA race, firing his cork at Platini’s politicking

jerome Champagne

By Andrew Warshaw
February 2 – Jerome Champagne, the first prospective contender to take on Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency, is out of the race after angrily accusing his critics of deliberately blocking his bid to gain sufficient backing.