Inside World Football - Page 1598 of 2034 - For the Business of Football

Blatter takes plunge by dropping a bomb on ‘preposterous’ divers

Blatter and diving

By Andrew Warshaw
January 3 – In his first public pronouncement of 2014 on the game’s ills, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has denounced the “deeply irritating” practice of diving and has urged referees to take stronger action. In his latest column in FIFA Weekly magazine, Blatter doesn’t hold back on the subject of simulation which continues to infuriate fans and which he clearly would like to stamp out ahead of this year’s World Cup.

Archive

Tan lands Solskjaer to lead the Cardiff challenge

Ole Gunnar Solsjaer

January 34 – Former Norwegian international striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, known in his playing days as the “baby-faced assassin”, has taken on the challenge of trying to manage Premier League newcomers Cardiff City following the controversial sacking of Malky Mackay by the club’s Malaysian owner Vincent Tan.

Archive

Barca top Facebook fan league breaking the 50m mark

Barca on facebook

January 3 – The debate over which club is the biggest in the world and what actually constitutes the word “biggest” – success on the field, stadium size or fan base – is one that never ceases to prompt detailed analysis. Real Madrid? Manchester United? Barcelona?

Archive

FFA steps in as Aussie clubs blame each other over fan violence

melbourne vs western sydney violence

January 3 – Violence between fans of Australia’s Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers has triggered the Football Federation Australia (FFA) into action, with both clubs being charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

Archive

Bayern head for Doha training camp as Real Madrid and PSG return to Europe

PSG vs Real Madrid

By Paul Nicholson
January 3 – Europe’s giant clubs aren’t heading for the alpine ski slopes for their winter break but to the warmer climate of the Middle East for preparation for the second half of their seasons. French champions and league leaders Paris St Germain are already in Doha, Qatar, and last night played a friendly against Spain’s Real Madrid (Madrid won 1-0) in front of a 45,000 capacity crowd at Aspire’s Khalfa Stadium. Bayern leave for Qatar at the weekend.

Archive

ADIB renews UAE Pro League sponsorship and plans ‘affinity’ launch

UAE Pro League

By Paul Nicholson
January 3 – The UAE Pro League Committee has renewed its sponsorship with the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank. ADIB will be its exclusive and official bank of the league and UAW Pro League’s other competitions.

Africa

Hosts suffer setback as Kaiser Chiefs refuse to release players for Chan start

kaiser chiefs vs mamelodi sundowns

By Paul Nicholson
January 3 – South Africa, hosts of the African Nations Championship (Chan) that kicks off January 11, face the embarrassment of not being able to get all their own first choice players on to the pitch for Bafana Bafana as leading club Kaiser Chiefs are refusing to release five players.

Archive

Bernstein honoured but no New Year knighthood for ‘King David’

David bernstein

January 2 – Reports that David Beckham could receive a knighthood proved completely unfounded when the former England captain and global footballing icon was omitted from the traditional New Year royal awards list.

Archive

Chelsea rack up £49m loss but point to future and staying within FFP

Chelsea FC

By Andrew Warshaw
January 2 – UEFA’s financial fair play rules have been brought into sharp focus with the news that Chelsea, one of the world’s most affluent foreign-owned clubs, made a loss of £49.4 million for the year ended 30 June 2013.

Archive

No room at the Premier League inns during a bumper holiday period

football fans

By Paul Nicholson
January 2 – Attendance for the three fixtures of the holiday period for the Premier League in England averaged over 95% of stadium capacity for the matches December 26, December 28-29 and 1 January 2014. Of a total of 1,147,696 available seats in stadia, just 30,802 seats were unfilled.

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: Twitter World Cup Year – LOL!

Brazil 2014 will be the first World Cup dominated by twitter.

Not the first World Cup of the twitter age, but the first since twitter became an unstoppable juggernaut thundering through every town and city on earth.

For those who despair of the idiocy and indiscretion that drag down the positive side of this social phenomenon, a World Cup consumed by twitter commentary could be a depressing thought. It could be yes,

Archive

Anelka’s defense fails to quell raging racism debate in France and beyond

Nicolas Anelka

By Andrew Warshaw
January 2 – The ‘quennelle’ Nazi sign made by former French international striker Nicolas Anelka has prompted fierce reaction in both sporting and political circles that is showing no sign of abating – even though the player has promised not to repeat it.

Archive

EC calls in Swansea’s Liberty Stadium funding for closer scrutiny

Liberty Stadium

By Andrew Warshaw
January 2 – The joint use of the Liberty stadium in Swansea, built at a cost of £27 million, is the latest case being investigated by the European Commission as part of a widescale probe into state aid in sport. Officials have asked the local council to supply funding details of a deal which has enabled Swansea City and rugby club Ospreys to play there since 2005.

Archive

Ivanov returns to take top whistle blowers’ job in Russia

valentin ivanov

January 2 – Russian football has taken on former top FIFA official Valentin Ivanov to replace Italian Roberto Rosetti as head of its domestic refereeing department.

Archive

Spartak Moscow owner says new stadium to cost $426m

Otkritie Arena

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 2 – Russian billionaire Leonid Fedun has announced that the new stadium currently being built for Spartak Moscow will cost 14 billion rubles ($426 million). Fedun told local news agency ITAR-TASS that Spartak is already receiving funds for the investment from its sponsor, Russian bank Otkritie, under a naming rights deal signed in February 2013.