Red line of the week
Chelsea promising action on “abhorrent” sexists – ten months after clubs played down Richard Scudamore’s “big-titted broads” faux pas over “female irrationality” and “gash”. “In the light of a previously unblemished record over 15 years of service,” said a Premier League statement, “the clubs resolved unanimously - no further action is required or justified.”
• Also sending a message: authorities in Spain fining UD Tesorillo €50 after a player sexually harassed assistant referee Laura Jiménez then told her to keep “scissoring chicks”. Fans shouted “go mop the floor”, “put down the flag - the only sticks you should hold are mops and dicks”, and “if only Franco would come back and put you in your place: the kitchen.” Spain’s referees union called the fine “derisory” and “a mockery”; Jiménez told AS: “What hurt most is that women joined in. It’s lamentable.”
More fine news
Also learning hard lessons last week: £3.75billionaire Mike Ashley fined £7,500 for breaching dual ownership rules; and Fenerbahçe-owning tycoon Aziz Yildirim fined £10,000 for telling the press that referee Ozgur Yankaya “cannot come to our games anymore. And if he does come here, he won’t ever leave.” Yildirim denied it was a death threat: “I threatened no one.”
Advice of the week
Presidential hopeful Sepp – revealing what the wider football family can learn from Conmebol’s unanimous re-election of their president Juan Ángel Napout. “This was an exemplary demonstration of solidarity. The principle of solidarity is essential.”
• Napout’s previous best endorsement: 2012, as head of Paraguay’s FA, called an “embezzling filthy rat bastard” by then-Olimpia president Marcelo Recanate. Napout denied wrongdoing; Recanate back-tracked: “He’s flawless. That’s my clarification.”
• Also enjoying solidarity: Jamaica’s FA head Captain Horace Burrell – running unopposed for re-election to the Concacaf board. Burrell returned to Concacaf in 2013 after six months out serving a bribery ban – re-hired as head of finance, compliance and integrity.
Legacy latest
Finding a new role this month: Brasilia’s £600m publicly-funded World Cup Mané Garrincha stadium, now a bus garage. UOL report 400 local government workers will also relocate to the under-used venue’s offices, “to aid the region’s fiscal crisis”.
Winning the war on racism
Peruvian club Cienciano: accusing opposition player Luis Tejada of “incitement” and “playing the victim” after he walked off due to racist abuse. Director Jorge Balbi: “He’s taken it out of context.” Cienciano were fined; Tejada was booked for kicking the ball away.
Pledge of the week
Dave King, pledging to uncover the truth about any wrongdoing by previous Rangers owners. King, back in the game after his 41 tax fraud convictions, told reporters: “We’re giving that commitment, in the interests of transparency.”
Manager news
• Portugal, 23 Feb: Estoril president Tiago Ribeiro backs coach José Couceiro: “I see there’s some unrest in the stands but I’m not moved by that. With togetherness, the results will come. I hand Couceiro a vote of confidence.” 4 Mar: Couceiro loses it.
• Romania: Astra president Ioan Niculae sacks his 17th coach in five years due to “shameful weakness”. Last year he sacked Daniel Isaila for “shaking like a chicken” and in 2013 dismissed Marin Barbu a week after hiring him. Barbu: “It was a disappointing few days.”
Good news story
New from fcbarcelona.com: upbeat news of first-team players receiving free luxury watches from official watch partner Maurice Lacroix. The deal was unveiled last year as “more than a simple sponsorship”, based on Barça’s “more than a club” shared values.
Best discipline
Greece: Olympiakos president Evangelos Marinakis, fining his players €500k for “being no good … and anyone who has a problem with that, have the guts to stand up and get out”.
Most courteous
Italy: Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero, 63, cooling his row with Palermo’s Maurizio Zamparini, 73. “I’ve always respected this veteran of football. He, on the other hand, thinks about me all the time and I don’t need it. I’d like to invite him to tend to his own garden.”
Social media latest
Mexico: Jaguares de Chiapas fined £6,000 for their official Twitter account’s commentary on referee Paul Enrique Delgadillo refusing a penalty appeal. “It seems we have a local referee. A thief referee!” Jaguares blamed “outside hackers”.
Nothing to see
Feb: Diego Maradona denies cheap press reports of a facelift. Mar: Appears on TV.
Lifestyle changes
Nov: Former Brazil striker Adriano, 33, sets out plans for lifestyle changes and a comeback in France after a career beset by parties: “Physically I am there, I’m focused on football.” Feb: Spends a reported €18,000 on “18 prostitutes for a motel party with musicians”.
Plus: love news
Brazil: Model Tatiane Cravinho, 36, posing for Playboy in the Maracanã, on what first attracted her to her ex-partner, shamed millionaire former FA president Ricardo Teixeira, 67. “Just one look is all it took. That’s what drew us together: the animal magnetism in our eyes.”
