Inside World Football - Page 1494 of 2238 - For the Business of Football

Matt Scott: FIFA’S tangled web looks like a snare from which there is no escape

“O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!” Sir Walter Scott, Marmion

Sir Walter Scott’s Lord Marmion was a much dislikeable character. Having taken a nun for his mistress Marmion confected a tale of treason to have a man exiled so that he could make a play for his betrothed. Upon doing so he discarded the nun to her fate, which was to be bricked up alive in her convent cell for breaking her vows.

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Defiant Blatter says he will continue to fight in letter to federations

Sepp Blatter23

By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Despite being suspended over the infamous SFr2 million payment deal allegedly struck with Michel Platini, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has written to all 209 member federations proclaiming his innocence as he prepares for his pivotal hearing this week before FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert.

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Man Utd and Man City top table of players on 2015 international duty

Man utd players

December 15 – Manchester United and Manchester City players played more times for their countries than any other players at clubs in the Big-5 European leagues, according to research from the CIES Football Observatory.

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Tennent’s unveiled as new sponsor of Irish Cup

Irish Cup

By Mark Baber
December 15 – Tennant’s NI has been unveiled as the new title sponsor of the world’s fourth-oldest national cup completion – The Irish Cup – which will now be known as the Tennent’s Irish Cup.

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Citroën promo uses Arsenal stars in Footpool challenge

Screen Shot 2015-12-15 at 12.13.33

December 15 – Arsenal’s automotive partner Citroën has activated its sponsorship with a promotion for the Citroën C4 Cactus which has first team stars playing Footpool on a specially created ‘table’ using the car’s Airbump technology.

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Santos’ failure to qualify for Copa Libertadores leave club cash-strapped again

Santos

By Samindra Kunti
December 15 – Brazilian club Santos will face a 2016 season of austerity after missing out on qualification for the Copa Libertadores.

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Brazilian revolution: Bom Senso movement makes bid for control

Bom Senso

By Samindra Kunti
December 15 – Brazilian football needs its own 1992 Premier League moment – with Bom Senso that moment may have finally arrived in the country that lit up the world stage with its teams and players.

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Bosman landmark galvanises FIFpro to drive next step of transfer reform

jean-marc-bosman

By Andrew Warshaw in Amsterdam
December 15 – The head of the international players’ union FIFpro says football is facing its “worst ever crisis” because of the imbalance between rich and poor and has urged his members to stick together to safeguard the sport.

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Al-Thawadi puts record straight on investigations, construction deaths and kafala

hasan al thawadi

By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Hassan Al-Thawadi, head of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee who was the public face of the surprise ballot victory five years ago, says his team has not been contacted by any officials from either the US or Swiss investigations into widespread football corruption and has repeated he does not expect the Gulf state to be stripped of host status.

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Nakhid loses CAS appeal and remains outside the FIFA election race

David Nakhid

December 15 – David Nakhid, the former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder who was excluded from the FIFA presidential campaign on a technicality, has failed in his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the ruling overturned.

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Euro2016 hots up with tickets on sale and biggest ever prize money unveiled

December 14 – Tickets for the Euro 2016 finals went on sale this morning following the draw of the championship schedule in Paris on Saturday. 800,000 tickets are on sale to fans in this window which closes January 18.

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Swiss say there is no play to shut down FIFA, ‘currently’

Swiss parliament

By Paul Nicholson
December 14 – The Swiss government has responded to questions over whether it plans to shut down FIFA saying that it was not “currently” considering a state intervention at FIFA but fell short of ruling this out as a possibility.

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US prosecutors threaten to hit banks next in corruption scandal

Safe and cash

By Mark Baber
December 14 – US prosecutors have used a leak to the Financial Times newspaper to pile pressure on the banks, central to the FIFA corruption scandal, to provide more information of use to their corruption probe.

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MLS commits $37m for clubs to target ‘impact’ players via bigger wage incentives

By Ben Nicholson
December 14 – The MLS has committed near an additional $37 million for clubs to spend on player salaries. In both the 2016 and 2017 seasons, $125,000 per season will be dedicated to clubs to use on signing Homegrown Players, and $800,000 per season will be made available to all MLS clubs in the form of Targeted Allocation Money (TAM).

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UEFA close to crossing the line on GLT, but will keep 5 assistant refs

goalline technology

December 14 – UEFA president Michel Platini may have long been opposed to goal-line technology but his organisation now realises it can no longer resist its implementation.