More than a club of the week
Barcelona – ready to drop Qatar as its shirt sponsor due to the reputational brand damage – but not to bring back Unicef instead. “It’s Utopian for Unicef to be on the jersey again. We have to be competitive.”
Explaining the rethink over 2010’s £125m shirt deal – signed three months after 90 Nepalese workers were jailed in Qatar for striking over £27-a-week wages – Barça president Josep Maria Bartomeu: “We are sensitive to the current situation in Qatar, which has changed since four years ago. There are now social and political aspects which were not there when we signed.”
Election news
The Week One highlights from Fifa’s presidential race:
Fastest out of the blocks: Sepp, in Australia for the Asian Cup, talking up Australia’s right to host a future World Cup – seven days after Fifa confirmed a ban on candidates mixing campaigning with official duties. Sepp: “Very few countries boast such a rich sporting culture.”
Most supportive: Ghana’s FA president Kwesi Nyantakyi on why Sepp deserves respect for giving money to African FAs. “You will find he is very popular on the continent. Europeans don’t understand that. They say it’s not his own money but Fifa’s – but that’s not the point.”
Quote of the week: David Ginola, pulling out as a candidate after spending 14 days campaigning in return for a £250,000 fee. “Today I have mixed emotions.”
Plus best attitude: Sepp on what he has learned from 16 years in the job. “You know, it is impossible to make everybody happy.”
Meanwhile
Also last week from the football family:
Sharpest reflexes: Spain’s Fifa vice-president Ángel María Villar – reacting to a government attempt to have his federation’s accounts audited by threatening to suspend all football in Spain. Villar said the “state intrusion” was unacceptable. “Let’s go on strike.”
Most relaxed: Trinidad’s Jack Warner, unmoved by news of a new government tribunal into his finances prompted by multiple fraud allegations, “pursuant to section 15 of the Integrity in Public Life Act”. Jack denies wrongdoing. “I am not in the least bit worried or concerned.”
Other news: busy week for…
Manchester United – suspending season tickets unless fans pay £50 for a midweek cup replay seat, and unveiling a new Global Forex & Online Financial Trading Partner. United say the firm was chosen for its “shared values of transparency and trust”, and for offering customers “the ability to take their finances into their own hands”.
Also giving fans a lift: a plan for more partners to follow Official Global Noodles Partner Nissin and the Official Responsible Drinking Partner Smirnoff. MD Richard Arnold: “Of the top 25 sponsorship categories, we were only active in 15. I think there’s huge potential still for this club.”
Most cautious
The PFA’s Gordon Taylor: refusing to comment on news that several ex-players face bankruptcy after using alleged tax avoidance schemes. “The rationale and motive for any investment is simply not known to us and we are mindful of making general comments which may be misconstrued.” Such as: Jan 2011 – Taylor on players using alleged tax avoidance schemes. “Any good financial adviser will tell players to make the best use of their money … Every labourer is worth his hire.”
Denial of the week
Belarus: Dinamo Minsk denying they barred a local radio host from applying to be their head of marketing after fans found his profile on a gay dating site. Dinamo blocked him as a candidate, citing “unprofessional conduct which damaged the image of this club” - but denied being pressured by the fans’ “No Gays in Belarus” campaign against “the employment of fags”. “It’s an internal matter.”
Transfer news
23 Jan, José Mourinho on Juan Cuadrado: “He is a player at Fiorentina. You speak about Cuadrado, you can speak about 10, 20 or 30 players and you ask me if I know them. If I don’t know them I am in trouble because my son knows them, so I have to know them … it’s my job to know them. You can come at me with another name and I would have to say I know him. I know them all. But Cuadrado fits well in Fiorentina squad and Colombia squad, not in Chelsea squad.” 26 Jan: “I don’t change the squad.” 31 Jan: Changes the squad.
Most misunderstood
China: Fluminense’s Darío Conca, signing a two-year £15m contract at Sven Goran Eriksson’s Shanghai SIPG for football reasons. “It’s not just money, no, there were issues at Fluminense. They had no vision. This move seemed like the best way forward.”
Politics news: one to watch
Mexico: Puebla striker Cuauhtémoc Blanco, 42, running for mayor of Cuernavaca on a social respect agenda, two years after being fined £1,500 for mocking a referee’s prominent jaw with “sustained gurning gestures”. Local media: “This was low behaviour.”
Best attempt to avoid a fine
Iran’s coach Carlos Queiroz, unhappy after their Asian Cup defeat. “Will the referee sleep tonight? It’s just a question. If necessary I will kneel on the ground to show my respect and humble attitude to ask him. I emphasise one, two, three, four times, it’s just a question. You decide. I’m going home.”
Most got at
Cristiano: balón o puño de oro?
— Sor Lucía Caram (@sorluciacaram) January 25, 2015
Argentinian nun Sister Lucía Caram, dealing with tough Twitter feedback after she responded to Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card with the tweet: “Cristiano: golden ball or fist?” Caram said replies from Real fans, including “nun or bitch?”, “Satan worshiper”, “nun witch”, “the nun of Lucifer” and “God doesn’t exist”, were “thin-skinned”. “I like good football and fair play, for what it’s worth.”
Plus: love news
Brazil: Model Núbia Óliiver on what she learned from a life dating players in the 1990s. “Every woman should sample a footballer, but they’re quite hard to like. I see them as tampons: use once, then discard. Are there exceptions? Of course there are. About one in a million.”