Bruce Buck: uneasy.
Quote of the week
Bruce Buck – uneasy with Uefa’s push for financial fair play giving “the great unwashed” an artificial lift. Buck, running Chelsea at a loss on a £1.17bn loan, says rival clubs should settle for “their natural position in the football order”.
• Also from Buck’s defence of “marquee clubs” last week: a restatement of Chelsea’s zero tolerance lead on racist abuse. “If we have individuals that we can identify, we can act.” (2012: “John will continue to be captain of the club … We’d like to draw a line.”)
Also taking a lead
Russia 2018 anti-racism tsar Alexei Smertin – looking to keep the summer rebrand on track in a week when two Russia players were arrested over an alleged racist assault – hosting an event promoting “diversity in football”. His message on diversity in football in 2015: “When fans give bananas to black guys it’s just for fun. I think the media makes the wrong image of Russia.”
Plus: most flexible
Ronaldinho’s endorsements.
2017: Backs Fifa’s anti-racist, pro-equality, pro-women showcase event in Bahrain, aiming to “unite everyone” through football;
2018: Endorses Jair Bolsonaro, running for Brazil’s presidency on an evangelical far-right pro-torture, anti-gay, pro-racism, anti-abortion ticket. @10Ronaldinho: “For a better Brazil, I want peace, security and someone who gives us joy … A better Brazil for everyone!!!”
Ronaldinho Gaúcho
(@10Ronaldinho)Por um Brasil melhor, desejo paz , segurança e alguém que nos devolva a alegria. Eu escolhi viver no Brasil, e quero um Brasil melhor para todos!!! pic.twitter.com/DD5GUBQuVx
• Also out campaigning – Palmeiras’s Felipe Melo, who told fans last year: “Yes I’m with Bolsonaro. God bless hard workers, and fuck the tramps.” He clarified later: “When I talk about tramps, I talk about those who want to harm our country.”
Elsewhere: Fifa news
Eyeing re-election in 2019: Gianni Infantino, 17 months after he sacked the ethics team investigating him. “I want another term because I’ve embarked on several reforms. I believe in what I do – and I will continue to do it.”
• Not buying it: Sepp Blatter, telling Süddeutsche Zeitung how Infantino is intent on “selling out the people’s game”, defying the principles Sepp instilled in Fifa by putting money before football. “You cannot sell out football. Football belongs to two billion people.”
Best story arc
2013: Jérôme Valcke, Fifa general secretary, attacks reports that he’s hiding something: “There’s not a shred of evidence. How can one imagine we’d take the risk that, if there were the slightest piece of evidence, we would not disclose it? If we knew of corruption at Fifa, whether it be the president, the general secretary, or any other person, do you really think we’d stay quiet?”
2018: Legal documents reveal Valcke deleted 1,034 files and folders before surrendering his laptop to investigators, putting the files in the recycle bin after trying and failing to install forensic file wiping software. The Court of Arbitration in Sport upheld his 10-year ban in July.
• Also from the newly-released CAS verdict – an assessment of Valcke’s explanation that he only used so many Fifa-funded jets for private trips for himself, his children and their nanny because he was following advice from Sepp “to not travel on commercial flights, in order to avoid arrest”. CAS ruled Valcke’s line was “manifestly not a valid reason for a law-abiding individual”.
Jérôme Valcke, outside CAS in Lausanne last year. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Plus: settling in
May 2018: François Régis Uwayezu takes over Rwanda’s FA. “Football has always been my passion in life. I’m quite sure that we will do a great job together.” Oct 2018: Denies wrongdoing after being released on bail over bribery claims. Uwayezu says it’s “a misunderstanding over expenses”.
Other news: best facts
Greece: Paok coach Razvan Lucescu – fined €28,000 for comparing league officials to Hitler over a points deduction imposed last year when owner Ivan Savvidis stormed the pitch with a gun. “This is one huge fraud. I believe in the history of sport this was only done in Hitler’s Germany. It’s a fact. People attack me because I say so. It’s very simple, I say it naturally. It’s a fact.”
PAOK Salonika owner Ivan Savvidis invades pitch with a gun – video
Saddest lament
Italy: Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini – set to retire after 42 coach changes in 16 years amid new money-laundering allegations. “I am a profoundly honest man who couldn’t be more at odds with the alleged crimes … I’m 70 years old, I will abandon football. I’m tired of what I have suffered. Football has lost its true values. It’s all about money now.”
Stepping up
Ready to take Zamparini’s “coach eater” title: Genoa president and toy industry mogul Enrico Preziosi.
• 17 Feb 2017: Tells haters to lay off coach Ivan Juric. “These fans insult us all. I believe in Juric, we have a rapport built on affection. He’s a great guy.”
• 19 Feb 2017: Sacks him, hires Andrea Mandorlini: “We couldn’t go on like that. I should have done this sooner.”
• 10 Apr 2017: Sacks Mandorlini, rehires Juric.
• 6 Nov 2017: Sacks Juric, hires former manager Davide Ballardini for a third spell: “I had to sack Juric. We couldn’t go on like that.”
• 8 Oct 2018: Sacks Ballardini, rehires Juric. “Ballardini’s terrible. He makes a terrible team, he can’t do anything. We couldn’t go on like that.”
Preziosi’s message to the doubters: “Fans can say what they want. I don’t need their approval when I make my decisions. I’ve been in football 30 years and, believe me, I’m not crazy.”
Enrico Preziosi: not crazy. Photograph: Paolo Rattini/Getty Images
• Also making moves:
a) Germany, 6 Oct: Stuttgart sports director Michael Reschke: “The question of sacking Korkut simply does not arise.” 7 Oct: It arises. Reschke: “I said what I said, I’m fine with that. I think I’m very credible.”
b) France, 21 Sep: Monaco vice president Vadim Vasilyev eases the heat on Leonardo Jardim. “Our plan is to bring more stability, to make fewer changes. There’s no panic here. We are all of us together, we’re not far off. Give it time.” 11 Oct: Sacks him.
And c) One to watch – Germany: Bayern CEO and €28.5m tax evasion convict Uli Hoeness, defending coach Niko Kovac last week: “No matter what happens in the coming weeks, I stand behind him. I will defend Kovac to the death. It’s all totally calm here.”
Most frustrated
Dean Smith, 4 Oct– tired of fake news links to Villa, six days before he joined them: “They put two and two together and come up with five. My job is Brentford, that’s all I am interested in. There’s always going to be speculation. I’ve said it many times; I have no plans on leaving.”
Most got at
Egypt: Zamalek owner Mortada Mansour – banned for a year for “multiple defamations” of Confederation of African Football officials. Mansour, also banned from media appearances for three months by Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation, says CAF must cancel the ban or he’ll drive them out of Cairo: “I’ll just take their headquarters and rent it.” He denies wrongdoing.
• Mansour’s previous best attempt to end football’s “conspiracy against Zamalek” – 2016’s move to hire “many sorcerers”. Coach Mido, sacked live on TV, said Mansour paid the men £600 then ousted three players for “being bewitched”: “I have photos to prove it.”
Modern football news
Portugal: Primeira Liga officials fining Sporting mascot Jubas the lion €479 for “embracing a player during an interview, obstructing the advertising background”. Fans crowd-funded the €479; rival mascots posed with mouths taped shut “in a show of solidarity”.
Vitória Sport Clube
(@VitoriaSC1922)Solidário com o Jubas✊
LIBERTEM AS MASCOTES!⚔️#SomosTodosJubas #MascotesSemCor #SuperAfonso #EmblemasDiferentesLutasIguais #FreeJubas pic.twitter.com/Uzl12bP0ng
Plus: most held up
Georgia: FC Dila, fined £150 after a dog held up their game with Torpedo Kutaisi by lying on its back in the box “seeking attention”. Stadium manager Merab Merabashvili: “I cannot explain it. During training he likes to watch the process from the podium. But today, for some reason, he decided to join the players. He’s just fond of football.”
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