Quote of the week
Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin – assessing what makes the rebranded Fifa 2.0 better: “I can see their objective of World Cup expansion is to make money. That’s one thing you can see clearly now: the new Fifa is more focused on income.”
Also starting over
Africa’s confederation CAF, confirming candidates for its elections in March – including Mali’s Amadou Diakite, back in the game from a two-year bribery ban in 2012; Liberia’s Musa Bility (failed Fifa integrity checks in 2015, denies wrongdoing); Benin’s Anjorin Moucharafou (jailed in 2012 on disputed embezzlement charges); Amaju Pinnick (denies his Nigerian FA mislaid $802,000, says “there’s nothing fishy here”); and 70-year-old president Issa Hayatou, eyeing an eighth term, six years after being reprimanded in a $100m bribery scandal.
• Also approved last week by CAF for election to Fifa Council: DR Congo’s Constant Omari, who used 2014’s Fifa congress to attack British press “racists” for making up lies about corruption.
Meanwhile: best timing
5 Jan: India’s Supreme Court asks federal investigators to assess alleged bribery and bid rigging around Air India contracts when Praful Patel was civil aviation minister. 19 Jan: Fifa appoints Patel to its finance committee. He denies wrongdoing.
Other news: best principles
West Ham – considering a complaint to Fifa over Marseille tapping up Dimitri Payet. Karren Brady: “If Marseille want a bargain, they ought to try Roman Road market. We won’t be bullied.”
(June 2015: Marseille attack West Ham for “tapping up Dimitri Payet”… “Olympique de Marseille is surprised that talks were opened without OM being approached. The player has been asked to face his responsibilities, to stay at a club he says he loves.” President Vincent Labrune: “It seems the player and agent have been talking to West Ham for a while. We cannot compete.”)
Swings and roundabouts
£1.2m: amount Wayne Rooney’s testimonial raised for UK children’s charities supporting NHS hospitals. £12.5m: reported amount he put in an alleged tax avoidance scheme under HMRC investigation. Spokesman: “Wayne’s tax affairs have always been in full compliance with the law.”
Insight of the week
Alessandro Angelieri, Leyton Orient chief executive, explaining the club’s drop from 2014 League One play-off finalists to 21st in League Two under owner Francesco Becchetti, who spent last year fighting a failed Albanian extradition attempt on fraud charges and serving a six-game stadium ban for kicking his assistant manager: “A squad without future was inherited.”
• July 2014: Barry Hearn explains why he sold Orient to Becchetti: “I looked for three things; credibility, integrity and sparkle. Francesco ticked all the boxes. Remember Willy Wonka and the golden ticket? That’s what Orient have now.”
Best togetherness
29 Oct: Hartlepool chairman Gary Coxall, reacting online to fans’ calls for him to sack Craig Hignett: “This isn’t how we do things now - we’re implementing something that will give us the firm footing to progress and grow for years to come. Who expects no stumbles along the way? Not me, for one. A huge part of this project is to stand firm, with each other, as one club, in times of adversity, so when those stumbles happen we have the togetherness to come back stronger. To borrow an infamous quote - ‘We go again’. So, in short, I back our manager, I back our players, I back our staff and I back our fans. 100%. Because, to me, we can achieve that something special. Together.” 15 Jan: Sacks him.
Most put out
France: Montpellier owner Louis Nicollin, upset by coach Frédéric Hantz claiming to be “hurt and sleepless” after Nicollin told the press: “Hantz is only safe because we can’t afford to sack him.” Nicollin: “Hantz thinks only of compensation. I cannot endure this. Can a president not speak, must a president stay silent?”
Best last chance
Brazil: Atlético-GO, reacting after coach Marcelo Cabo went missing and was found by police in a motel “heavy with drink”. Atlético vice-president Adson Batista: “He can keep his job but he’s on the tightrope. There’s no more room for error.” Cabo: “I hardly ever drink - this was one mistake and we move on. Time is the master of reason. Time will show who Marcelo Cabo really is.”
Best clarification
Brazil: New Palmeiras signing Felipe Melo, upset with his hard-man image. “Four red cards in four, five years is very few. The press lie that I’m malicious.” Although: “If I have to slap a player I slap. If I have to beat, I beat. I fight for the club that puts food in my house.”
Strongest theory
Paraguay: Football model Larissa Riquelme, unhappy with Argentinian rival Charlotte Caniggia, daughter of Claudio, mocking Paraguayan accents on TV. “She was born in a cradle of gold and yet is xenophobic. Maybe all those implants squeezed her brain.”
Plus: row of the week
Mexico: Jaguares de Chiapas coach Sergio Bueno attacking “premeditated acts” after their game against Pachuca was held up twice, once to remove a dog, then to remove a cat: “The dog and cat were timed to destroy our rhythm.” Pachuca: “We were as surprised as they were.”
