Inside World Football - Page 1645 of 2021 - For the Business of Football

Tributes pour in for Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez

Christian Benitez

By Andrew Warshaw
July 30 – Scores of tributes, including one from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, continue to pour in following the shock death of Ecuador international striker Christian Benitez from heart failure at the age of just 27. Benitez was rushed to hospital complaining of abdominal pains following his debut for Qatar’s El-Jaish as a late substitute on Sunday. He died the following day after what the Ecuadorean federation has now confirmed was a cardiac arrest.

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Europol turns its focus on Russian mafia over alleged match-fixing

Rob Wainwright

July 29 – Europol is spreading its football wings and has announced today it is to conduct an investigation into alleged football match fixing by the Russian mafia. The investigation will also look at organised crime groups in the Balkans. Rob Wainwright, the head of the EU police intelligence agency, told the Sunday Times said that in addition to the 380 matches that have been investigated since February, a further 300 were now considered suspicious.

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Premier League clubs and Barcelona chase the 820m in the East

premier league in asia

July 27 – Attracted by sponsorship deals, shirt sales and TV rights deals, Premier League clubs, and Barcelona, have been looking to Asia’s billion football fans. Following in the footsteps of Manchester United, clubs are focusing on Asia, spending time there in pre-season and opening up local offices.

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Sky ‘loves competition’ ahead of BT football launch

TV cameraman

By Mark Baber
July 29 – With BT shortly launching it new sports channels showing Premier League football, Sky, which has managed to see off previous major rivals, has been talking up the benefits of competition and has released new figures showing increased revenues and profits.

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Celtic fireworks spark UEFA investigation

celtic fans

July 29 – Celtic are to be investigated by UEFA after supporters set off fireworks during last week’s Champions League qualifier against Northern Irish club Cliftonville.

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Frustrated Scudamore fires off sharp messages to English FA, and FIFA

Peter Scudamore

By Andrew Warshaw
July 29 – Three weeks before the start of the next English Premier League season, a new club-versus-country spat has broken out with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore staunchly defending his organisation and insisting it is not to blame for successive failures of the England national team.

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Webb hails Gold Cup a ‘huge success’ as blue riband event closes with US win

gold-cup

By Paul Nicholson
July 29 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb hailed the Gold Cup, which closed last night with 1-0 win for the USA over Panama, “a huge success, this has been a great Gold Cup”.

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Makudi troubles mount as government backs his opposition in Thailand

worawi makudi

By Andrew Warshaw
July 29 – The domestic election crisis that is understood to have prevented acting Thai football federation (FAT) president and FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi from attending the recent Asian Football Confederation executive meeting has taken yet another twist.

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Tribunal shows little mercy and rejects Italian match fixing appeals

Jean-François Gillet

By Andrew Warshaw
July 29 – Torino’s Belgian international goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet (pictured) has failed with his appeal against a 43-month match-fixing ban imposed by the Italian football federation (FIGC).

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Klinsmann banned to stands for Gold Cup Final showpiece

Klinsmann at Gold Cup

By Andrew Warshaw
July 27 – United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been banned from Sunday’s Gold Cup final against Panama, CONCACAF’s showpiece fixture, after being sent off in the semifinal for dissent. The former German international striker, who managed his country at the 2006 World Cup, was dismissed in the 87th-minute of Wednesday’s 3-1 semifinal win over Honduras and incurred a one-match ban.

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Bwin adds Anderlecht to its roster of European club partners

Norbert Teufelberger

By Mark Baber
July 26 – In November last year, the Chief Executive Officer of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Norbert Teufelberger (pictured), was arrested by Belgian authorities at the airport after he attended a business conference. On Thursday, his company become the online gaming and betting partner of Belgium’s most successful club and current Pro League champions RSC Anderlecht.

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Jamaican national team player fails dope test

July 26 – Football may not be considered to have a drugs problem but in the same week as track and field was embroiled in a fresh doping scandal, it has been revealed that a Jamaican player failed a test following a World Cup qualifier against Honduras on June 11.

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Hong Kong chief calls for relaxed betting rules as Asia Cup is caught in a storm

Peter Scudamore

By Mark Baber
July 26 – With English Premier League clubs in Hong Kong for its pre-season Asia Cup, Hong Kong Football Association chairman Brian Leung Hung-tak appealed to local authorities to relax betting rules to allow more top-quality matches into the market and boost the game in the country.

Africa

Kenyan FA in trouble as cash goes missing and investigators are called in

kenyan fan

By Andrew Warshaw
July 26 – Kenya are the latest African country to come under the spotlight for alleged footballing corruption over allegations that several hundred thousand dollars, part of it a donation from FIFA, have gone missing. The country’s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has received information about the alleged misappropriation of up to $410,000 by the Kenyan FA (FKA), according to the EACC’s public relation chief Yasin Ayila.

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Makudi’s AFC no-show sparks speculation on his domestic future

worawi makudi

By Andrew Warshaw
July 26 – FIFA vice-president Worawi Makudi, embroiled in an internal dispute in his native Thailand, was forced to miss last week’s Asian Football Confederation summit in Bahrain citing unexplained other commitments, Insideworldfootball has learned.