Timing of the week
• 24 Apr: Sepp congratulates Olympiakos on their fifth successive Greek title, praising the club’s leaders for promoting football as “a school of life for the young people of today”. • 28 Apr: Olympiakos president Evangelos Marinakis charged with match-fixing, extortion, bribery and arranging for an ex-referee’s bakery to be blown up. He denies wrongdoing.
What happens on tour
Also last week: Sepp, on the final stop of his pre-Fifa election world tour, addressing Asia’s congress in Bahrain: “In elections we have the same principles as on the field: discipline, respect and fair play.” Sepp’s three election rivals were refused permission to speak; challenger Michael van Praag: “They said it wouldn’t be polite towards Mr Blatter, who was their guest.”
• Keeping the schedule tight: AFC general secretary Alex Soosay, who also barred South Korea’s FA head Chung Mong-gyu from speaking on his chosen subject – the AFC’s lack of democratic integrity. Soosay - who arrived in Bahrain denying new allegations that he sought to “hide or tamper with” documents during a 2012 corruption inquiry - told delegates: ”We have a fixed agenda.”
• Sepp’s overall message: “a big compliment” to re-elected AFC head, Bahraini royal Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, for cleaning up the body’s image. “You have brought back the boat of the AFC from waters that were not so very clear, and not so very clean.”
Elsewhere: best philosophy
August 2014: Nigel Pearson on how to carry yourself: “You have to be able to win with a bit of humility and, likewise, lose with a bit of dignity.”
Philanthropy latest
“We’re in a relegation fight and we’ve had this nonsense about the chairman. I’m going to defend him. He’s spent £70m of his own personal wealth to give the community a club they’re proud of. There’s not many people that would put £70m into Hull” - Steve Bruce on Assem Allam, who charged 4% interest on his £67m loans in 2014, plus a £165,000 management fee.
Moral code of the week
Iran: Persepolis defender Mohammad Reza Khanzadeh banned for nine months for cuffing a fan who abused him. Iran FA ethics head Ali Akbar Mohammadzadeh: “We stand against anyone who offends our supporters.” In January Mohammadzadeh ordered players not to “pose for selfies with female fans”, due to the women conflicting with “our moral principles”.
Manager news
Last week’s movers:
• Brazil, 2 Apr: Sport Club Atibaia hire Luiz Carlos Ferreira as coach. “I had the invitation from [vice-president] Leonardo Silvério and had no hesitation: it’s a solid project.” 29 Apr: Sacked after six games. Silvério: “He knew it was time to go.”
• Ghana, 29 Apr: second-tier Okwahu United coach Sarfo Castro “takes refuge in a bush” after being chased by angry United fans, with “police rescuing him to avert a possible lynching”. 30 Apr: Sacked for “an attitude which is not in line with the company’s policy”.
• Algeria, 29 Mar: NAHD unveil new technical director Nicolas Anelka. “People always said I had an Algerian character and I was very touched because this is a very proud people. I’m proud, but I’m not arrogant. I’m just here to pass on my knowledge, and to inspire.” 26 Apr: NAHD sack coach Meziane Ighil after a training ground altercation with Anelka “over the issue of respect”.
• Plus one to watch - Italy, 16 Apr: Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani on false press talk over Pippo Inzaghi: “He was a great player, now he’s a great coach. The locker room is with him, the club and the president believe in him. Inzaghi can sleep soundly.”
Brawl of the week
Brazil: Plácido de Castro president Nerycildo Silva on his next move after an on-field fight between team-mates Uilian and Fábio Junior: “It’s no good for the area’s image, so maybe the municipality will fund a psychologist. I’m going to see the mayor.”
Most misunderstood
Portugal: Aliados de Lordelo coach Juvenal Brandão, facing a one-month ban after a referee heard him shouting instructions at one of his players, Ricardo Preto, and sent him off for racism. “He heard me shout Preto [black] and thought I was shouting at their striker, who is black, rather than Ricardo, who is just called it. I do not want this penalty.”
Image of the week
France: Montpellier owner and crowd surfer Louis “Loulou” Nicollin, 71, on “great times” with fellow gourmands Gérard Depardieu and late politician Georges Frêche. “ I remember a trip to China in particular. One evening at the restaurant, Gérard gorged on six lacquered ducks. We each managed just four.”
Plus: moving on
Mexico: Ronaldinho looking for a new club amid more lifestyle allegations at Querétaro. In January fitness coach Roberto Bassagaisteguy told local media Ronaldinho had a tailored regime because “as a rule he does not do physical exercise - I cannot make him run because he doesn’t like it. There are many things he doesn’t like.”
• Ronaldinho’s day one plan for life at Querétaro when he signed in September: “I’ve always lived the same life, so I’ll live the same life here: winning titles and girls.”
