Football family: man of the week
Ganbold Buyannemekh, Mongolia’s FA president, banned for five years for soliciting bribes – a result of the “Qatargate” email leak that upset Sepp in June: “We’ve seen what the British press has published … This discrimination and racism hurts. It really makes me sad.”
• Ganbold’s place in the email cache published by the Sunday Times: a 2011 message from his office to Qatar’s Fifa-presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam. “President Ganbold’s apologies for disturbing President Hammam when he is extremely busy with his election campaign … Ganbold would like to support him sincerely with his heart and mind ... Please, find below the bank account details of his daughter.”
• The upside: Ganbold’s story giving Fifa.com’s Mongolia section a more rounded story arc: 1) 2011: “Mongolia committed to football’s social role”; 2) 2012: “Mongolia paving the way to the future”; 3) 2014: “President of the Mongolian Federation banned for five years”.
Meanwhile: standing firm
Doha: Gulf state Information ministers rallying round Qatar to counter ongoing “tendentious media campaigns aimed at questioning Qatar’s sovereign right to organise the World Cup” - campaigns fuelled by “vested interests”. A statement said Qatar’s bid victory was the “result of the hard work that went on for years”, and reminded Gulf media outlets of their “duty to support this achievement”.
Swings and roundabouts
Switzerland: Luxury watch firm Parmigiani, weighing up the fallout from being an unwitting part of last month’s Fifa watch scandal. “It’s been unanimously positive … the scandal had an excellent impact on our brand awareness.”
Promotion of the week
Nigeria’s FA naming Dilichukwu Onyedinma as deputy chair of its Ethics and Fair Play panel – a year after she set out her policy on inclusion: “We don’t tolerate lesbianism … In the bible Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of this kind of act. So we don’t tolerate it … Any player that we pick and we hear a little story that she is involved in that, we disqualify.” Onyedinma’s policy followed 2011’s diversity pledge from national women’s coach Eucharia Uche: “No more lesbians. I cannot tolerate that dirty life.”
Manager news
• Netherlands, 8 Oct: NAC Breda general manager Justin Goetzee on false press reports about coach Nebojsa Gudelj. “We’re never driven by panic. There’s no talk of a farewell to Gudelj.” Technical director Graeme Rutjes: “The position of Gudelj is not an issue.” 13 Oct: It becomes one.
• Ghana: King Faisal Babies FC coach Prince Acheampong ruling out a conventional appeal after reading about his sacking online. “I won’t go to any status committee. I will fight them spiritually for embarrassing me in public.”
• Italy: Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini, raising the stakes. “Beppe Iachini is like a son to me. He stays here for another four or five years.” (June 2011, Zamparini says coach Stefano Pioli will “stay here with me for three more years – then a further two after that.” August 2011: Sacks him.)
Saddest loss
Romania: Former Poli Timisoara owner Marian Iancu, jailed for 12 years for tax evasion and money laundering after an eight-year trial. In 2011 Steaua owner Gigi Becali, since jailed over an unrelated case, told Iancu to stop fighting it in the courts and flee instead. “Why risk 10 years in prison, jerk? You’ve got money. Jail is degrading – go abroad to the sun. With money, they never catch you.”
• Iancu’s previous best disciplinary moment: a £3,000 fine for a live TV spat in 2010 with the Universitatea Craiova coach Victor Piturca. Iancu called Piturca “a homosexual satanist”, Piturca called Iancu a “fat Gypsy” who likes to “stay in bed and eat 50 pies and 25 sandwiches”. Iancu said his fine was “unjust … it shows me a total lack of respect”.
Most maligned
Peru: UTC striker Reimond Manco, upset after TV show Amor Amor Amor showed footage of him “too drunk to get out of a taxi”, prompting the club to drop him hours before a match. Manco, who turned up for the match wearing tight leopard-skin trousers, told reporters: “Why must you make a circus out of everything I do?”
Best explanation
Brazil: Santos striker Leandro Damiao, explaining a viral clip in which he tugs on his own shirt in the penalty area. “I never deceive referees. I was pulling my shirt out because I felt sticky.” FA officials say Damiao faces a six-game ban for a “poor theatrical display”.
One to watch
France: Brazil’s Adriano, 32, set to join Le Havre to relaunch his career – two years after his last relaunch ended early when he was filmed giving a speech in a nightclub hours before missing training at Flamengo. Adriano told the crowd: “I just want to say I love my people, I love Flamengo. And here I am. I know that this is going to be on the internet tomorrow. I’m not afraid. I’m from the slums! Thanks, I love you.” Flamengo released him.
Obscene news
Honduras: Marathon’s Junior Morales, “bewildered” to be sent off for patting an opponent’s bottom. “The officials said it was obscene. How’s it obscene? Obscene would be putting your finger in or patting genitals … and I’m not obscene. Seriously, this could only happen in Honduras.”
Plus: moving on
Brazil: Model Patricia Jordane, relieved after Neymar dropped legal action over her disputed 2013 interview with Playboy, taglined “the brunette who charmed Neymar”. Jordane, posing for a new photoshoot with a three-foot long snake, denied seeking publicity. “I’m moving on. I’m turning the page on Neymar.”
