$10m Pintos legal case forces Conmebol into talks on relocating Paraguayan HQ
February 16 – Conmebol is reportedly considering moving its headquarters out of Paraguay, where it has resided since 1986, after losing a $10 million lawsuit.
Gold Cup 2025
Passion meets pragmatism in Austin as Panama secure QF spot
Guatemala 0-1 Panama:
June 20 – Friday night at Q2 Stadium bore no resemblance to the venue that hosted football just 24 hours earlier. The transformation was complete, and the catalyst was simple: unbridled passion provided by the hordes of Guatemala supporters who descended on Austin. Stark contrast to the lack of interest shown by US fans on Thursday.
Bennell convicted of three more child abuse charges, sentencing on Monday
February 16 – Former English league coach Barry Bennell, the figure at the heart of English football’s child abuse scandal, has been found guilty of three more charges of sexual abuse against young players mainly in the 1980s and is due to be sentenced on Monday.
McLeish returns to Scotland in time for Costa Rica and Hungary friendlies
February 16 – Scotland finally have a manager to succeed Gordon Strachan – very much a sense of déjà vu. Alex McLeish has agreed to take over for the second time – 11 years after leaving the post.
VfB Stuttgart and Hanover 96 push Bundesliga crowd figures up 8%
February 16 – Germany’s Bundesliga has reported first half of 2017-18 season attendances as being the second-highest average attendance in Bundesliga history at 43,429 fans per match.
Youth is for development. Winning clubs have the wisdom of experience
February 16 – Research by the CIES Football Observatory into the age ranges within clubs in 31 top division European leagues finds that the most competitive clubs are the ones with older squads.
Bundesliga reports solid financial year, as competition with Euro league rivals hots up
By David Owen
February 15 – German professional football remains an oasis of financial solidity. The Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL)’s 2018 Report on the economic state of the sector reveals that the clubs in the top two tiers of Western Europe’s most populous nation – Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 – for the first time generated aggregate revenues of more than €4 billion in 2016-17.
Spanish prosecutors reopen Levante vs Zaragoza matchfixing case demanding jail terms
By Andrew Warshaw
February 15 – Several years after the incident first hit the headlines, Spanish prosecutors have dramatically reopened a case against 41 individuals, including 36 players, over alleged matchfixing relating to a top-flight survival decider between Levante and Real Zaragoza.
English FA bridges Qatar divide with ‘knowledge-sharing’ agreement
By Andrew Warshaw
February 15 – Football politics moves in unpredictable ways. Not so long ago, then English FA chief Greg Dyke criticised Qatar being awarded the rights to stage the 2022 World Cup as the “worst moment” in FIFA’s history.
Chechens defend their right to host World Cup participants Egypt
February 15 – The regime of Chechnyan strongman Ramzan Kadyrov has hit back at suggestions that the region’s capital Grozny should be stripped by FIFA as a World Cup base for Egypt next summer.
Bulgaria launches league-wide educational programme to tackle matchfixing
February 15 – The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) which has long been battling criminal matchfixing gangs operating within its leagues, has unveiled a new education strategy that will see 32 workshops per season covering referees, BFU officials and all players in the country’s top two tiers.
Pepsi #LoveItLiveIt with Messi, Kroos, Marcelo and Lloyd
February 15 – Coca-Cola may have the World Cup rights but Pepsi own Lionel Messi, Marcelo, Tono Kroos and US women’s star Carli Lloyd. It is a classic global event brand vs the cult of the personality marketing war. Coke have the greatest show on earth, Pepsi have the greatest showman, and some of the next best too.
Inter hand official Instagram feed over to Rafinha for a day, numbers rocket
February 15 – Internazionale, who recently opened their state-of-the-art ‘Media House’ to drive the club’s content proposition, have taken another new step entrusting their official Instagram account to their mercurial Brazilian midfielder Rafinha for a day.
The Climate Coalition issues #ShowTheLove call to action to football clubs
February 15 – Valentines Day may be over but the Climate Coalition is still encouraging people to #ShowTheLove.
Tackling Matchfixing: Early Bird closing, discount rate ends Monday 19 Feb
February 14 – The Early Bird conference registration rate for the Tackling Matchfixing conference, March 9/10, at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel, London, closes Monday 19 February.
Premier League secures £4.46bn for domestic TV rights with two packages still to sell
By Andrew Warshaw
February 14 – The bubble hasn’t exactly burst for domestic rights to show Premier League games but maybe a ceiling has been hit in terms of the value of matches.