By Mark Baber
January 23 – The Deloitte Money League for 2013/14 shows the richest clubs are getting richer – with the top 20 clubs seeing an increase in combined revenue of €6.2 billion in 2013/14, an increase of 14% on the previous year, but also indicates the advantages of a more equal distribution of wealth within a league. All 20 Premier League teams made the top 40 globally.
January 23 – A report titled The Odds of Match Fixing – Facts & figures on the integrity risks of certain sports bets by Professor Dr Ben Van Rompuy of the ASSER International Sports Law Centre draws a number of conclusions that blow away some of the myths around conventionally held thinking on match-fixing.
By Samindra Kunti
January 23 – The Brazilian FA, the CBF, has presented new regulations for 2015 with the threefold aim to regulate and bring discipline to Brazil’s domestic football finances and create more transparency.
January 23 – Scottish giants Rangers have organised a tribute match for their former Dutch international Fernando Ricksen at Ibrox this Sunday. Ricksen was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2013. He played for the club for six years between 2000 and 2006 – a golden time for the club that is currently embroiled in the bitterest of boardroom struggles for control.
January 22 – The prospect of Swansea City buying the Liberty Stadium, which they have shared with the Ospreys rugby team since 2005, from the current owners, Swansea City Council, have increased with the club saying they would welcome discussions on a sale.
By Andrew Warshaw in Brussels
January 22 – Prospective FIFA presidential nominee Jerome Champagne has sought to play down suggestions that he is getting desperate in his bid to meet next week’s deadline for officially presenting his candidacy.
By Mark Baber
January 22 – The dispute between the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) and Football Kenya Federation (FKL) over the number of teams in Kenya’s top division and the relationship between the two bodies looks close to resolution with reports of a task force set up to take matters forward.
January 22 – Already buffeted by allegations by some participants of poor organisation, stand-in Africa Cup of Nations hosts Equatorial Guinea have now been rocked by clashes between fans and police.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 22 – After months of fractious and sometimes ferocious protest, the turf war is over with a group of elite players dropping their bid to sue FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association over the use of artificial pitches at the Women’s World Cup which kicks off on June 6.
January 22 – North Korea have withdrawn from a friendly tournament in Thailand next month following the humiliation of their early Asian Cup exit in Australia, according to Thai authorities.
By Paul Nicholson
January 22 – A comparison of stadium build costs for five of the Russian stadia for 2018, against the cost of football stadiums across Europe, has found that the Russian stadia are coming in at a comparatively equal cost and half the price of London’s Wembley Stadium on a cost per seat basis.
By Andrew Warshaw in Brussels
January 21 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the Chilean who ran FIFA’s technical inspection team that examined the credentials of all 2018 and 2022 World Cup candidates, says he will press for the finals to be increased from 32 to 36 teams as part of his presidential election manifesto – if he decides to run.
Exactly how much should you pay to watch your football team play? What can you afford to pay? How much should those players be paid? How much should you pay for your football-dominated television package? How much is your club actually worth?
By Mark Baber
January 21 – Claims that members of the ISIS/ISIL group in Iraq have executed 13 teenagers in Mosul for watching the Iraq v Jordan football match have spread via internet publications, the newspapers and social media.
It’s a bit like “The weakest link”. An arrogant presenter and a few clueless candidates (in this case five or so rather ‘ugly’ people; after all, politics are Hollywood for Ugly People, aren’t they?). The camera is rolling on a new presidential election, and the most likely outcome looks likely to be: “I told you so”.