Inside World Football - Page 1704 of 2235 - For the Business of Football

FIFA hands match-fixing probe back to Ghana but keeps watching brief

Kwesi Nyantakyi

By Andrew Warshaw
August 27 – FIFA appears to have cleared the head of the Ghanaian Football Association of match-fixing allegations following reports in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph and the Channel Four television station. The ruling is a huge boost for GFA president Kwesi Nyantakyi (pictured) who is reported to be considering legal action as a result of the claims that emerged during the World Cup and sparked an inquiry by the investigatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee.

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Spartak open new stadium, budgets hiked up in Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd

Otkritie Arena

By Paul Nicholson
August 27 – Spartak Moscow’s new stadium will be opened today with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev attending the opening ceremony. Putin will tour the stadium and discuss preparations for the 2018 World Cup.

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UEFA Emergency Panel decision de-escalates Crimean club controversy

uefa flag

By Mark Baber
August 26 – On Friday, UEFA’s Emergency Panel issued a statement saying that “any football matches played by Crimean clubs organised under the auspices of the Russian Football Union will not be recognised by UEFA.” The decision has been welcomed as a wise one by Russian football authorities.

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Simeone has ban doubled after protesting over head-case incident

simeone protest

August 26 – Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has been handed an eight-match ban for his antics during the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup against rivals Real.

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Broadcast rights row threatens Russian TV coverage of Euros

TV camera

August 26 – A row has broken out with Russia over the cost of the TV rights to broadcast the EURO 2016 qualifiers and finals, forcing sports minister Vitaly Mutko to step in and seek a solution.

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Italian FA says Tavecchio’s ‘banana-eater’ comments were OK, no racism case to answer

Carlo Tavecchio

By Andrew Warshaw
August 26 – In a move that seems likely to cause considerable consternation, the Italian football federation (FIGC) has ruled that its new president Carlo Tavecchio has no case to answer over allegedly racist comments he made during the recent election campaign.

Africa

Algerian FA suspends all football following Ebosse death

By Andrew Warshaw
August 26 – The Algerian Football Federation (FAF) has postponed next weekend’s league fixtures following the death of Albert Ebosse, the 24-year-old Cameroon striker who was hit by a missile thrown from the crowd during a recent league game.

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Valerenga set sights on €80m new stadium complex

Valerenga fans

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 26 – Municipal authorities in Oslo have approved a plan to build a new stadium for Valerenga. The new facility will allow the Norwegian side to move from Ullevaal, the country’s national stadium, where it currently plays its home matches.

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FC Aktobe unveils new stadium as Kazakhstan aims to build its football base

FC Aktobe

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 25 – FC Aktobe has unveiled plans to build a new stadium with a seating capacity of 32,000. The Kazakh club says the construction of a new sports facility will be supported by the country’s government as parts of efforts to promote football. The side’s current stadium has a capacity of some 13,500 seats.

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Lippi banned from dugout for protest after Guangzhou have two sent off

Lippi protest

August 25 – Marcello Lippi, Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning coach now in charge of China’s Guangzhou Evergrande, has been suspended for one game for confronting the referee during an AFC Champions League match.

Africa

Algerian fans pelt team with rocks, killing Cameroonian Ebosse

Albert Ebosse Bodjongo

By Andrew Warshaw
August 25 – World football has been shocked by the death of a 24-year-old Cameroon footballer struck by a missile thrown from the terraces at a league match in Algeria. Albert Ebosse Bodjongo (pictured), the Algerian league’s top scorer last season with 17 goals, was hit on the head by what appeared to be a piece of concrete.

Africa

Libya pull out of AFCON 2017 leaving CAF looking for new host

Libyan flags

By Andrew Warshaw
August 25 – Libya has been forced to pull out of hosting the 2017 African Cup of Nations in the latest blow to strike at the heart of African football.

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David Owen: Liverpool and Balotelli: Why Reds set for a summer transfer profit despite £100m+ spree

Liverpool posted the biggest pre-tax loss in the Premier League in 2012-13. The previous year only Manchester City posted a bigger one. In such circumstances, you might have expected the Anfield club to be squirrelling away at least some of its Luis Suárez windfall; to be showing a modicum of restraint in this summer’s transfer market in the interests of its bottom-line. All the more so with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) provisions hovering in the background.

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Human growth hormone testing poised to resume

anabolic-steroids-31

By David Owen
August 22 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has given clearance for anti-doping bodies to resume human growth hormonr (hGH) testing after a more than year-long hiatus.

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Managerial spat develops into far more sordid saga

malky-mackay 2697573b

By Andrew Warshaw
August 22- What started out as an English top-flight club unexpectedly losing the manager voted the best in Premier League last season has developed into a sordid saga that has made back-page headlines and tarnished the integrity of the game.