Level of the week
“The image of Fifa is something I agree, over the last two weeks, I would not say reached the bottom, but has reached a level which is definitely a level we will not go lower than” – Secretary general Jérôme Valcke, setting the bar.
Last week’s headlines from Zurich:
• Best learning curve: 2007: India’s FA general secretary Alberto Colaco tells Fifa Magazine he plans to grow Indian football by learning how Fifa operates “in all areas – in every single area, actually”. 2014: Banned for three years for bribery.
• Most let down: Spain’s Angel María Villar Llona, denying ethics breaches, four years after he told Congress: “I love Fifa dearly, but most of all I love my ExCo colleagues. Recently we have been criticised by certain media … and we’ve heard enough slander. This process is clean – whatever they say.”
• Most upbeat: Chile’s Harold Mayne-Nicholls, also under investigation, denying wrongdoing, and weighing up a bid for the presidency. “I’m thinking, talking with friends … This kind of thing will never change my decision.”
• Plus tweet of the week: @seppblatter, still holding it all together.
Very best wishes to fellow Swiss citizen Tina Turner on your birthday today. Many happy returns!
— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) November 26, 2014
Meanwhile: new from Qatar…
• July: Sepp secures a pledge of labour reforms to bring about “positive social change”, and pins the slave state stories on the “racist” British media. December: Qatar arrests and deports 100 migrant workers who went on strike for three days.
• Plus – best attitude: Tariq Al Abdullah of Qatar’s Olympic Committee on their unfair press. “People will always talk whether you host the World Cup, the Olympics, a small event or nothing at all – this is the way of the world. But this kind of thing has never affected us, and it never will.”
… and the war on racism
1) Russia: Torpedo Moscow picking up their second partial stadium ban in two months for racism after fans aimed abuse at Rostov players - whose coach Igor Gamula called black players “things” in November.
2) Chile: Ramón Galleguillos, mayor of Alto Hospicio, clarifying tweets he sent after San Marcos de Arica player Emilio Rentería reacted to racist abuse by leaving the pitch in tears. Galleguillos said his tweets – calling Rentería a “weeping negrito” and attacking “prudish, timid hypocrites” – were sent “in good faith … I called him negrito with affection, caringly, because he cried, the man cried. Anyhow, in my municipality I have five districts of coloureds. How can I be racist?”
Domestic news: stepping up
Premier League clubs: spending a record £115m on agents in 12 months - £103m more than they spent on the rebranded Premier League and FA Facilities Fund for grassroots. Richard Scudamore launched the fund in 2013 as “another step change … Once again Premier League clubs are stepping up to the plate.”
Meanwhile: warming up
Harry Redknapp on the January window: “I don’t see us spending. Where do you find people in Jan? It’s not easy. Who’s going to sell? To buy someone in January is very difficult.”
• Harry’s previous: January 2012 - “It’s extremely unlikely we’ll be doing any business. I’ll stick with what I have.” Deadline: Signs Louis Saha and Ryan Nelsen; makes a loan bid for Mauro Zárate, Marseille reject an “enormous” bid for Loïc Rémy; sells Roman Pavlyuchenko; loans out Sébastien Bassong, Stephen Pienaar, John Bostock and Vedran Corluka.
Manager news: relief
September: Ebbsfleet manager Steve Brown on club owner Dr Abdulla Al-Humaidi: “Dr Abdulla is brilliant at relieving pressure. He doesn’t come over here and make any judgments. He’s been extremely generous and he’s level-headed. As an owner, he must look out there and, with the investment he’s put in, think ‘we’ve got a very good chance this year’ – but that pressure never really finds its way to me.” November: Dr Abdulla: “I wish him well for the future.”
Best rethink
Romania: Gicu Grozav, 24, bought by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s Terek Grozny for €2.1m in 2013, now back in Romania running down his contract by “raising chickens and racing pigeons”. An agent told local press: “Gicu did not settle well. He has a childish nature, he’s a sensitive boy. He just didn’t feel at ease with all the men with guns.”
Best comeback
Argentina: Racing Avellaneda fans welcoming the return of former club legend Natalio Perinetti, who died in 1985, after footage emerged of a “pale ghost sprinting down the touchline” during a win over River Plate. Press said the figure was “either a phantom, or a person”.
• Football’s previous best ghost: 2012: Portuguese press publishing an image showing “a ghost celebrating a goal” at Porto’s Estádio do Dragão: “a dark figure in clothes from another era with an outdated haircut”. Later reports clarified it was “a pensioner”.
Dress of the week
Romania: Anamaria Prodan Reghecampf, player agent and wife of former Steaua coach Laurenţiu Reghecampf, debuting an €1,500 red dress at an awards show, featuring a giant image of his face. Designer Ana Novic: “She loves him to heaven and back.”
Plus: model news
Brazil: Model Renata “Melon Woman” Frisson refusing to name her new Atletico-MG player due to “modesty”. “It’s about behaving with dignity and decency. He’s attached, so naming him wouldn’t be right.”
