The FIFA ethics-committee investigation into alleged corruption in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has created a general-media storm seldom experienced before for any sports-politics story. It has generated headlines on the front pages, back pages and many pages between for newspapers across the readership spectrum and in many nations around the world.
By David Owen
November 24 – Qatar, controversial winner of the race to stage the 2022 World Cup, has become the seventh contributor to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s embryonic fund for new anti-doping research, carrying it to within touching distance of its $20m target.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – The chief executive of Germany’s Bundesliga is the latest high-profile figure to enter the debate over Fifa’s handling of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup anti-corruption investigation, saying coordinated action was needed from Europe to reform world football’s governing body.
November 24 -Croatia’s so-called “Eternal derby” between Hajduk Split and arch-rivals Dinamo Zagreb was scrapped at the weekend after dozens of blacklisted Hadjuk fans were barred – and their players, remarkably, protested in sympathy.
November 24 – The president of French League 2 club Nimes has quit following allegations of matchfixing in the latest scandal to rock French football. Jean-Marc Conrad, who has led the ‘Crocodiles’ since April, is under formal investigation along with Caen chairman Jean-Francois Fortin and four others on suspicion of fixing the result of a fixture between their clubs.
Another incident of racism has struck at the heart of Chilean domestic football, this time prompting the referee to take the players off.
O’Higgins, who won Chile’s Apertura league championship last year, already face sanctions after fans made racist chants and gestures towards San Marcos de Arica’s Venezuelan striker Emilio Renteria during a first division match.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – The man who ran the 2010 World Cup in South Africa says 2018 hosts Russia must crack down harder on racism to show the world it is taking the issue seriously.
The Russians are coming under increasing pressure to tackle discrimination properly following a spate of recent incidents both domestically and in Europe, mainly at club level.
By Ricardo Setyon
November 23 – Just four months after the biggest football event on earth took place in Brazil, the country has lurched into a new crisis with as many as 50% of current professional players and officials unpaid. Estimates say that the wage crisis has hit up to 90% of the professional clubs in the country.
I read that Sepp Blatter is furious about the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s reluctance to allow him to remain a member beyond its mandatory retirement age of 80. This raises the following question: if true, is he furious enough to exercise his nuclear option by allowing the 2022 World Cup to clash with the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, to the considerable detriment of the latter?
November 23 – Sportradar has further deepened its links in Asia with a contract to monitor the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2014. The 2014 tournament will be jointly hosted in Vietnam and Singapore and will consist of 18 matches.
November 23 – The 2017 Confederations Cup, the warm-up and main test event for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, will be played in Moscow, St Petersburg, Sochi and Kazan, said Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko.
By David Owen
November 23 – Towards the end of one of the most difficult months of his long tenure comes a reminder of one of the reasons why Sepp Blatter has for so long proved so difficult to dislodge from his post as FIFA President.
By Paul Nicholson
November 21 – Canover Watson, a member of FIFA’s audit committee, has been charged in the Cayman Islands of five corruption and money laundering offenses. The charges were brought by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Anti-Corruption Unit. He will appear in Summary Court next Tuesday.
By Mark Baber
November 21 – Following the election of Carlo Tavecchio, who came to power using racist rhetoric which has earned him a six-month UEFA ban, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has acted to implement his core election agenda item, passing new regulations limiting the number of foreign players in Italy, especially those from countries outside the EU.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 21 – The president of the Bulgarian Football Union Borislav Mihaylov (pictured) has responded to criticism of a lack of money in Bulgarian football saying that sponsors have deserted the national team due to lack of success and that the government provides no funding to the federation.