Inside World Football - Page 1765 of 2219 - For the Business of Football

David Owen: Kosovo’s Vokrri looks forward to end of isolation

Well over 50 international football matches will be played on Wednesday, March 5.

They include some 2015 Asian Nations Cup games, Spain versus Italy and Portugal v Cameroon. They provide one of the last opportunities for experimentation for many of the qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

And yet the most significant fixture to be played that night pits the world’s 79th -ranked team against a side that does not yet have any ranking.

Matt Scott

Matt Scott: Should Europe’s top clubs be depressed by deflation?

“Inflation is unjust and deflation is inexpedient. Of the two perhaps deflation is, if we rule out exaggerated inflations such as that of Germany, the worse; because it is worse, in an impoverished world, to provoke unemployment than to disappoint the rentier,” John Maynard Keynes, Essays on Persuasion

Whether or not you have heard of John Maynard Keynes, and whatever you might think of the orthodoxies (libertarians mostly consider him a false prophet of the dismal science,

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Closed stadiums and empty stands as UEFA issue racism sanctions

By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – UEFA are continuing their crackdown on racism by ordering CSKA Moscow to play their next European home game behind closed doors. Apollon Limassol of Cyprus and the Serbian Under-21 team, the latter previously embroiled in racism accusations following a game against England in 2012, have also been handed partial stadium closures because of monkey chanting by supporters.

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Barca official Twitter accounts hacked by Syrian Electronic Army

By Jamie Styles
February 19 – Barcelona’s three official Twitter profiles were hacked on Tuesday, just hours after their 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League.

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Rosell cleared of liability in Brazil over marketing of Seleção friendlies

February 19 – Sandro Rosell, who dramatically quit as Barcelona president partly over an investigation into last year’s signing of star Brazilian forward Neymar, is reportedly no longer facing unconnected allegations that he benefitted illegally from a friendly match involving the Brazilian national team.

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Curitiba keeps its World Cup games but pressure still on to be ready in time

By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – Brazil’s World Cup organisers are breathing a sigh of relief after FIFA gave the host venue of Curitiba a deadline-day reprieve by announcing that local authorities had done just about enough to warrant retaining its status.

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Call for cash as Hearts moves towards fan ownership

February 19 – Fans of embattled Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian are being asked to contribute financially for a further two years as the club transitions out of insolvency towards fan ownership and, hopefully, stability.

Lee Wellings

Lee Wellings: UEFA sacrifice quality with 24-carat mistake

UEFA’s week will go from the sublime to the ridiculous

Tuesday and Wednesday are proud days for the organisation. The Champions league returned with slavering anticipation, an open tournament, some fascinating ties, and barely a negative word.

Thursdays and the ghastly Europa League usually raise questions over UEFA formats. But this week it will be shameful Sunday.

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FIFA to random dope test players pre-World Cup kick off

By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – For the first time ever, FIFA are planning impromptu precautionary dope tests ahead of the World Cup despite the tournament having no history of persistent drug-related issues.

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Czech businessman acquires majority stake in Banik Ostrava

By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 18 – Petr Safarcik has become the majority shareholder of FC Banik Ostrava, the Czech football club said in a statement. With the acquisition of shares from local businessman Libor Adamek, Safarcik controls a combined 95% of the shares in Banik through his company PAM Market and as a private investor. The amount of the deal was not disclosed by the two businessmen.

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Kosovo invites Man Utd’s Januzaj to participate in making of history

By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – Kosovan footballing authorities are hoping to persuade Manchester United’s rising teenage star Adnan Januzaj to play in their symbolic first ever meaningful international friendly.

2014 News

Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal passes structural checks and set for April

February 18 – Representatives of Brazil’s Cuiaba World Cup stadium have been quick to downplay suggestions that the venue is facing a race against time because of fire damage last October.

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Bulgarian police act on new match-fixing reports

February 18 – Bulgaria has again been hit by match-fixing, with police launching an investigation into claims that fixers attempted to rig the result of a domestic league match earlier this season.

Rolf Willi

Whose idea was this?

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Shot Palestinian youth footballers told they will never play again

By Paul Nicholson
February 18 – The tensions and distrust between the Israelis and the Palestinians regarding the negotiation of freedom of movement for Palestinian footballers, have been sharpened with the news that the two young Palestinian footballers shot by Israeli security forces in the West Bank are unlikely to play again.