Quotes of the week
1) Russia 2018’s head Alexey Sorokin floating a new tough line on racism: “While there are individual outbreaks of these undesired tendencies, it cannot be regarded as a trend in our country.” 2) Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko: “Why should we be singled out? A lot of dark-skinned players play in Russia. I don’t really see any problems.”
Also new last week from Mutko – a final verdict on September’s Fifa luxury watch scandal – “absolute nonsense fanned by foreign journalists” which left Fifa executives feeling “very much insulted”. The big lesson: “All these technical issues should be kept within the [football] family and never leaked … Why did the British press start all that?”
The last big leak that upset Mutko: 2010’s Russian federal audit chamber report into the expenses claims of senior officials – including Mutko’s claim for 97 breakfasts eaten during a 20-day trip to Vancouver. Mutko called the audit “absolute nonsense and nit-picking”.
Elsewhere
Last week’s other football family news:
Nigeria: New FA president Amaju Pinnick lasting 19 days before being sacked after a court called his election win illegal. Pinnick, voted in after predecessor Aminu Maigari was arrested three times in three months, told local press. “My election was ordained by God.”
Nepal: FA president Ganesh Thapa stepping aside for two months to fight claims from colleagues that he embezzled £3.7m. Thapa told regional FA heads he’ll now battle to “save Nepalese football from this accident, so stay calm. I will not let Nepalese football suffer.”
Plus – thought for the day: “I truly believe the love and joy of the game has stayed in your hearts ever since you first chased a ball on a dirt pitch. For the growth of the game, we will not be afraid to dream big and chase those dreams. For growth, together!” - personal message from Mongolia’s FA president Ganbold Buyannemekh, still live on the FA’s website, a week after his five-year ban for bribery.
Other news: chipping in
£31m: West Ham’s outlay last summer on transfer fees. £36m: The London Legacy Development Corporation’s outlay last week on West Ham’s new roof. The new bill takes the total Olympic Stadium refit cost to £189.9m – £15m from the club, £65m direct from public funds.
Historic low of the week
Italy: Hellas Verona attacking their €50,000 fine for fans’ racist chants “as the low point in our history” – “a grotesque lie” and a slur on “this glorious club and its glorious fans”. Verona’s previous biggest historic low point: a suspended stand closure in January after fans racially abused Napoli’s Pablo Armero.
Man managing: best philosophy
Brendan Rodgers: 1) “I’m the type of manager who will give players an opportunity, even players whose confidence needs building back up”; 2) “When you are confident you have more success. It’s as simple as that”; and 3) “Mario’s doing his best. Whether his best will be good enough remains to be seen.”
Other manager news
Spain, 29 Sept: Córdoba president Carlos González: “Albert Ferrer is a coach who’ll bring us joy. I won’t change a thing, people know that, they’re mature, they’re not stupid. ‘Don’t fix what isn’t broken’ – that’s one of my mottos.” 23 Oct: Sacks him.
Bangladesh FA president Kazi Salahuddin sacking coach Lodewijk de Kruif and his deputy due to an alleged “lack of sincerity … They’ve been in the job 16 months and during this time have spent seven months on vacation.” De Kruif: “This is not a happy ending.”
Row of the week
Mexico: Atlas coach Tomás Boy fined and banned for punching a home fan in the VIP section. “I’d do it again. What else was I meant to do – he called me a wimp, a chicken-shit, should I stay calm? For every action there is an equal, opposite reaction. That’s what you get.”
Also from Boy: a softer side, assessing their recent form. “I like how my team plays. I’ll make a reference, and I hope this doesn’t cause another controversy. I like the ballet, I like it a lot, I like the finer things. Few in this world master ballet, but Atlas play like ballet. It’s inside us.”
Busy week for
Ronaldinho: 1) Accused by former Atlético Mineiro coach Levir Culpi of “lacking professionalism”; and 2) Starring in a new “seductive and flirtatious” music video for Brazilian band Trio Temura. The new track follows his collaboration in March with DJ Dennis on Let’s Drink, featuring the chorus: “Boot the glass up high, let’s drink / We will enjoy life, we drink / I’m full of money, let’s drink.”
Morón news
Argentina: Third-tier Deportivo Morón apologising after team-mates Jonathan Páez and Gastón Montero were sent off for fighting each other. “Morón apologises to the media, supporters, players, staff and officials. This only served to tarnish this club’s good name.”
Biggest sacrifice
Brazil FA head Marco Polo Del Nero, 73 – tasked with restoring the FA’s credibility – ending his relationship with 23-year-old Playboy model Katherine Fontenele. Press say Del Nero is now dating “28-year-old Sexy Magazine model Carol Muniz instead”, with the pair “sharing a delight in helicopters and yachts”.