Man of the week
La Liga head Javier Tebas: denying being on weak ground with his attack on PSG and Manchester City as “state aid clubs”, a year after the EU fined seven Spanish clubs for “receiving illegal state aid”. His view in 2016 on the EU action: “This is incredible nonsense.”
Also speaking out last week:
• Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu – whose club made €171m from Qatari sponsorship from 2010 to 2016 and were among those fined over illegal Spanish tax breaks: “These two clubs [PSG and City] distort the market, inflating it with money that comes from outside football. Something has to be done.”
• PSG chairman Nasser al-Khelaifi, embracing the fair play spirit: “We respect all Uefa and Fifa rules. It’s not our problem if other clubs aren’t happy.”
• And Lyon owner Jean-Michel Aulas, reassuring Khelaifi that he meant “nothing negative” last month when he retweeted a video of a masturbating kangaroo captioned “Nasser and financial fair play”. “Please know this: I maintain great respect for you as a man.”
Plus: drawing a line
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - signing off as head of the European Club Association with a call for football to be more “rational and controlled” in the face of Middle East wealth. (Rummenigge’s own experience of the problem: 2013 - being fined €250,000 for failing to declare two Rolexes received as gifts at an ECA meeting in Qatar. “They were presents from a friend. This is a private matter.”)
Meanwhile: new from the football family
a) Fifa appointing Liberia FA president Musa Bility to lead an electoral integrity team in Sierra Leone, two years after he was barred from Fifa’s presidential election for failing integrity checks.
b) Brooklyn federal prosecutors applying for an anonymous and semi-sequestered jury at November’s grand Fifa corruption trial – citing a series of “documented attempts to obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses”.
And c) Italy’s FA denying claims from the far-right CasaPound party that president Carlo Tavecchio had agreed to address their annual festival via video link. The FA said Tavecchio, censured for racism, antisemitism and homophobia since 2014, “makes no political statements”.
Elsewhere: still got it
Romania: FCSB owner Gigi Becali: upset after being banned for six months for remarks including July’s pledge to “never sign blacks from Africa because they’re uncivilised”. Becali: “It’s clear that I’m not racist. Blacks from Africa are uneducated – but I still sign blacks from Europe.”
Recovery of the week
Croatia: Former Dinamo owner Zdravko Mamic – standing up and storming out of his fraud trial, forgetting to use the crutches he hobbled in on. Mamic, shot in a leg last month, was later seen dancing at the wedding of a far-right TV host. He denies wrongdoing.
Manager news: moving on
30 Aug, Chester CEO Mark Maguire on fan pressure to sack manager Jon McCarthy: “In professional football we can be too reactive about things. We are not blindly carrying on in a giddy fashion backing the manager because we think he’s great, which we do … we’re not blindly carrying on because he has a contract. We are a strong board with a strong group of people. It is on the basis of that that we are carrying on the way that we are. We have a belief that there is something about to click.” 6 Sep: Sacks him.
Most hasty
Romania: Liga II side UTA Arad unveiling new coach Liviu Ciobotariu with a “Welcome to UTA!” press release, moments before he turned them down. Ciobotariu: “It’s a great club, a wonderful city – but something else came up and I changed my mind.” UTA: “He wasn’t mentally ready.”
Most misunderstood
Brazil: Serie B Paraná coach “Crazy” Lisca - sacked for fighting his assistant a week after he implored local press to “stop calling me crazy, show some respect. Don’t call me crazy again.” Club statement: “Lisca has gone. It was a day of fury.”
Thought for the week
Bolivia forward Pablo Escobar, “sorry for any offence” after grabbing his genitals and shouting “go cry to Fifa” at Chile’s subs bench: “It was just part of the intensity of football: a product of passion and emotion for the game. This is the most beautiful sport in the world.”
Setback of the week
France: Montpellier, forced to recall their new Loulou 1943-2017 shirts – designed in “respectful tribute” to late president Louis Nicollin - after leaving one of the l’s out of “Montpellier”. Statement: “We have been the victim of a logo error by our manufacturer. Our sincere regrets.”
Stat of the week
Uruguay’s Mathías Corujo, brought off the bench on 68 minutes against Argentina in Montevideo, finishing the game with zero touches. Local media: “The Peñarol player was a ghost. No contact, just running. He did not even foul.”
And gravest warning
Ghana: Church leader Prophet Ezekiel, cursing Ghana’s World Cup qualifying hopes due to an outstanding bill for spiritual guidance. “If they don’t pay my $50K arrears they should forget about qualifying … forget about the word victory. I swear it by my father in heaven.”
