Man of the week
Martin Glenn – saving face for “the grown-ups in the FA”. His vision when he took over in 2015: “The reputation of The FA isn’t where we would like it to be … [But] we will grow in influence across the game – not by things we say, but by things we do.”
• Among his core values, set out last year after sacking Sam Allardyce: “We are the guardians of the game. We have to stand up for right behaviours ... applying rules consistently and evenly. That consistency, that trust people have in us to behave in the appropriate manner, is core to any FA.”
Runner-up
Gianni Infantino – facing his first new ethics complaint since he taglined his rebranded Fifa 2.0 “a deeply honest organisation”. He told congress in May: “There’s a lot of fake news and alternative facts about Fifa. But we are rebuilding our credibility.” He denies bad governance.
• Helping the rebuild process: Alexei Sorokin – head of the Russia 2018 bid being investigated by Swiss and US prosecutors – elected last week to Fifa’s ruling council to replace his barred colleague Vitaly Mutko. Infantino: “I am very happy, he is very happy. Congratulations, Alexei.”
Meanwhile: politics latest
May: Uefa bring new human rights guarantees into the Euro 2024 bidding process: “The protection of human rights is of the utmost importance to Uefa.” Sept: Uefa award the 2019 Europa League final to Baku, Azerbaijan.
Also taking a stand:
• “Regarding the political situation in Catalonia … true to our history, we remain committed to democracy, to freedom of speech and the right to decide, and condemn anything that undermines free exercise of these rights” – Barcelona, sponsored by Qatar from 2010 to 2016.
• And Indonesia’s FA: reacting to fans of Bandung Persib putting on a “Save Rohingya” display to protest against ethnic genocide in Burma by fining the club £2,780, with no right to appeal. FA statement: “Fifa deems political messages as improper conduct. Our goal is to comply with Fifa.”
Other news: most unsporting
Austria: Top-flight Altach’s on-loan Bernard Tekpetey – sent off for gesturing at fans who racially abused him, then banned for two games after a review by league officials. Disciplinary board statement: “The referee was not wrong. The behaviour of the player was unsporting.”
Owners of the week
• Switzerland: Sion president Christian Constantin, facing ABH charges after assaulting a pitchside TV pundit who called him “a narcissist with zero empathy”. Constantin, who called the incident “a couple of slaps and a kick in the butt, playground stuff”, says he’ll sue pundit Rolf Fringer for “libel and defamation ... Fringer must stop dragging the Constantin name through the mud.”
Uns fehlen die Worte. Sion-Präsident Christian Constantin prügelt vor laufender Kamera auf Experte Rolf Fringer ein! https://t.co/kji1UfahKZ pic.twitter.com/4fh15xmBk6
— Teleclub (@TeleclubAG) September 21, 2017
• Bulgaria: Lokomotiv Plovdiv owner Hristo Krusharski – assessing his squad as “impotent and feckless … I will fine them, heads will fly”, but defending Plovdiv fans who threw a metal bar at Slavia Sofia’s teenage keeper: “That keeper provoked us throughout. I quite fancied hitting him myself.”
Most progressive
Ukraine: Broadcaster Futbol-1/2 – pulling a trailer promoting its women’s football coverage after complaints. The channel said the trailer – starting with a close-up of a woman moaning in apparent sexual pleasure, then cutting to the Ukraine women’s squad shouting “We’re not faking it” – was meant in good faith. “We support all initiatives to draw interest to women’s football.”
Twitter latest
14 Sep: Birmingham CEO @XuandongRen tweets to defend Harry Redknapp: “It’s easy to believe in people when they’re succeeding. But that’s not what we’re about. We have to believe in each other when we fail.” 17 Sep: Sacks him. “It wasn’t a rush decision.”
Also making moves:
• 4 Sep: Port Vale chairman Tony Fradley on fan pressure to sack coach Michael Brown. “If you listen to Alan Shearer on Match of the Day he says you shouldn’t be thinking of anything like that for 10 games. It’s not crossed my mind.” 17 Sep: Sacks him after eight.
• 13 Sep: Anderlecht director Herman Van Holsbeeck, unhappy with pressure on coach René Weiler. “We’re going to defend this man and his many qualities … Some people like to pile every blame on the coach, but that’s not how we operate. Anderlecht stands unanimously behind Weiler – the right man, in the right place.” 18 Sep: Sacks him.
Most wronged
Ghana: Alhaji Baba Gedo, president of second-tier Amidaus Professionals, discussing refereeing standards on Happy FM. “I used to pay countless fat bribes to referees – but I’ve stopped now because I didn’t benefit from it. You pay the bribe and the referee will still go ahead and rob you, which means he’s also collected a bribe from your opponents. That’s what pissed me off.”
Plus: happiest ending
Argentina: San Lorenzo groundsman Julio Duarte, adopting a sausage dog after it invaded their game against Arsenal di Sarandi then gatecrashed the post-match interviews. Duarte said he’ll add the dog to 10 others he uses for chasing pigeons away from his grass seed. “I’m keeping her. We really need what she’s got.”
San Lorenzo encontró el camino al gol gracias al aporte clave de él. Como a todo protagonista, le acercamos el micrófono de @PasoAPaso 🐶😂 pic.twitter.com/czWrjknUxe
— TyC Sports (@TyCSports) September 18, 2017
