The Footy Mumble: Fans turn hooligans, manager turns burglar!
After being on the receiving end of attacks in Rome, Tottenham fans were recently attacked in France, prior to their Europa League match against Olympique Lyonnaise.
They weren’t alone, however, as Newcastle fans too were attacked prior and after their team’s match against Metalist Kharkiv.
But worst of all was the death of a 14-year-old fan in Bolivia after he was hit in the eye by a flare launched by fans of World Club Champions Corinthians during their match against San Jose.
The Brazilian club’s coach, Tite, was in tears after the incident occurred, and said,
“I know that this won’t take any of the pain away from the family but I would swap the world championship for the life of the child. I’m so sorry about what happened tonight.”
Match-fixing in football continues to rear its head, as soon after an Eurpol report that 680 matches in Europe were fixed, Spanish Professional League official Javier Tebas has admitted that match fixing exists in Spain.
“Yes, there have been games fixed in Spain and you know it too,” he told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.
“We cannot deny the fact it is very serious. It is a minority, but very serious.
“In Spain the fix is not linked to betting, but to the standings at the end of the season. It could have been just two or three games, but they are important.”
He even revealed that a player had approached him about it, saying, “Players or directors will tell you, but they don’t want to go to court. A player in the First Division has told me and we don’t have to deny that it exists.
“An important informant told me that a team-mate of his had told him there had been fixed matches.”
Former Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio is still not happy at being sacked by the club it seems, and he went about showing it in a very weird way.
Di Canio, along with an accomplice, reportedly broke into his old office at County Ground, using keys from his time as manager, and proceeded to retrieve his mementos from his 21 months in charge at the club.
Not stopping at that, he tore down all the pictures from the wall.
Despite having been there for 21 months, he failed to remember the CCTV cameras which recorded every bit of his actions.
Real Madrid’s match against Manchester United in the 2nd leg of the Champions League might be almost 10 days away but that has not stopped British tabloids from keeping their star man, Cristiano Ronaldo, in the news for no reason at all.
Today’s story from the Daily Star ensures Ronaldo stays in the spotlight as it claims United are putting together a £55 million deal for their former star, who left for the Galacticos in 2009.
The Star claims United will pay £55 million in transfer fees to Real Madrid, while roping in their soon-to-be shirt sponsors Chevrolet to partially fund the huge £220,000 basic salary of the Portuguese winger.
To back this, they go to the extent of claiming Chevrolet will look to buy out current sponsor AON’s contract for the next season.
In today’s Video of the Day, watch Marlon Fernandez of Deportivo Lara score an absolute stunner against Newell’s old boys in the Copa Libertadores.