I have just returned from Monaco and an absorbing few days at the Sportel convention cum media rights bazaar. Boiling it down, I can recollect three moments worth recording for future reference.
By Paul Nicholson
October 10 – Turning connections into cash is the holy grail for most companies in social media. But big numbers of likes and followers are often just that, big numbers. Digital is more than just social media and clubs are increasingly looking for a financial return from their digital investment.
October 10 – CONCACAF has announced it will host a two-day women’s football seminar October 25-26, in Philadelphia, coinciding with the semi-finals and final of the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.
October 10 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has questioned the away goals rule, saying that it was conceived at a time when away games were often an adventure and playing conditions could vary significantly in favour of the home team.
Publish Michael Garcia’s report or be damned. The clarion call to FIFA from a collective raft of influential football powerbrokers, anti-corruption watchdogs and vast swathes of the media intensifies on an almost daily basis.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 10 – SC Freiburg has unveiled plans to invest €70 million in the construction of a new stadium, which will be co-financed by the city of Freiburg. The Bundesliga club is aiming to launch the project in 2015, it said in a statement.
By Ben Nicholson
October 10 – The New York Red Bulls have been granted a hearing with the Supreme Court of New Jersey to settle its tax dispute with the Town of Harrison. The club is seeking reimbursement for tax paid on its Red Bull Arena, claiming exemption is statutorily permitted.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 10 – FIFA’s medical supremo Michel D’Hooghe wants time-outs for cases of concussion to become law so they are applied at domestic level throughout world football.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 10 – UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino insists that expanding the European Championship finals to 24 teams will not devalue the competition – and has also defended the pan-European concept for Euro 2020.
October 10 – UEFA have agreed that their decision to change the seedings format for the Champions League to avoid domestic champions being ranked lower than other clubs from the same country will start next season.
October 10 – The International Olympic Committee has poured cold water on a proposal by one of Europe’s leading club representatives that the 2022 winter Games be moved from their traditional slot to accommodate switching the Qatar World Cup to that time of year from summer.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – One of FIFA’s leading World Cup sponsors responded emphatically today to accusations of staying silent over allegations of corruption that have swirled around world football’s governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – UEFA’s new divisional Nations League, scheduled to start in 2018, has been met with caution by leagues and clubs concerned that the game could become far too saturated, with unnecessary additional fixture pressure placed on their much-prized players. But Uefa’s plan to replace friendly internationals with another meaningful competition every two years will ultimately take off, according to UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino.
October 9 – UEFA has renewed its agreement with betting fraud monitoring service Sportradar for another four years. The new agreement will also see Sportradar provide e-learning services to the confederation in the battle to contain one of the biggest threats to the integrity of the game.
By Mark Baber
October 9 – The immediate past President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari, Secretary-General Musa Amadu and others escaped imprisonment for contempt of court on Wednesday by not turning up to court.