Said & Done
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jan/12/said-and-done-chelsea-berlusconi Version 0 of 1. Healing power: club of the week <strong>Chelsea </strong>– making a social difference this winter by: <strong>a) </strong>Auctioning two tickets and a shirt for charity, helping to use "the power of football … to raise money for vulnerable communities". John Terry: "It really will make a massive difference." <strong>b) </strong>Paying 0% tax on their £1.4m profit. Club accounts show offsetting profits against historic £600m losses will keep the club corporation tax-free for decades. • Also from the accounts, released last week: <strong>£481,468 </strong>– Chelsea's spending on wages, per day. Campaigner of the week <strong>Silvio Berlusconi</strong>: renewing his attack on the "uncivilised, heinous" racists who targeted his Milan players at Pro Patria on 3 January, and renewing his political ties with the hard-right Northern League, days after their councillor Riccardo Grittini resigned over his alleged part in the chanting. Grittini denies wrongdoing. • Also from the ongoing Pro Patria fallout: local mayor and Northern League politician <strong>Antonio Balzarotti </strong>giving a telephone interview on the subject, in which he condemned the racist chanting. After the interview, Balzarotti forgot to hang up and was recorded asking a colleague incredulously: "So now it's a crime to boo a black?" Football family: man of the week <strong>2012: </strong>Fifa executive <strong>Ricardo Teixeira</strong> resigns after 23 years of denying "pathetic" press corruption allegations, two months before it emerged in court that he had taken "at least" £8.4m in bribes. <strong>2013: </strong>Starts receiving his Fifa pension – a reported £20,000 a year. Brazilian paper <em>O Estado de S. Paulo</em><em> </em>says the sum will "top up" his £35,000-a-month "consultancy fee" from Brazil's FA. Financial fair play news <strong>4: </strong>Months between Uefa confirming all top clubs have signed up to the spirit of the new financial fair play rules, and the Qatar-owned <strong>PSG </strong>signing a £570m sponsorship deal with Qatar's tourist board. PSG's Nasser al-Khelaifi says they need the money for transfers to stay competitive. "Why must we stop pouring in money? It would be unfair." Hard times <strong>December: </strong>Birmingham director Peter Pannu reveals the club has to cut nonessential costs to avoid administration, with player sales likely to "maintain the cash flow". <strong>January: </strong>Pannu tells the Birmingham Mail<em> </em>that the £687,611 shown as his salary in the club's new accounts was misleading – with only £250,000 for him, and the rest "pocket expenses" for his Hong-Kong based staff. Moving on <strong>Among January's exits so far:</strong> • <strong>Russia, 5 Jan: </strong>Kuban Krasnodar director Suren Mkrtchyan dismisses press talk about coach Yuri Krasnozhan – "I don't comment on rumours, only on facts, so I don't need to comment on this" – and says claims of an internal rift with Krasnozhan are "deserving of a psychiatrist". <strong>8 Jan:</strong> Sacks him. • <strong>Portugal: 18 Dec: </strong>Sporting president Godinho Lopes attacks claims that his decision to hire Jesualdo Ferreira as a general manager means the end for coach Franky Vercauteren. "Of course not. They will blend together." Vercauteren: "I'm staying 200%. I spoke to the president and the message is clear: we're true to each other, and that's all that matters." <strong>8 Jan: </strong>Vercauteren sacked; Ferreira takes over. One to watch <strong>Croatia: </strong>Dinamo Zagreb owner Zdravko Mamic: pledging a cooler 2013, with no more of his trademark threats to critics, including "I'll maul you, you donkeys" and "I'll beat you like cats": "So far I've been good, calm, backed off agitating situations. I'm serious. You'll see how mature I am." Ruse of the week <strong>Brazil: </strong>Palmeiras officials, attending a ceremony with league sponsors General Motors, but "gracefully declining" their offer of a free Chevrolet Cruze out of respect to the club's own sponsors, rival car firm Kia. Local media: "However, when everyone had left, the officials returned discreetly to claim their gift – only to be discovered when they then crashed it into a Ford Fiesta in the car park." President Arnaldo Tirone: "We barely hit it, but everyone saw. It's distressing." Masseur of the week <strong>Brazil: </strong>Santos youth-team masseur Biro-Biro says his solo pitch invasion after being sent to the stands for abusing a referee was a "cause of regret". Reports say Biro-Biro "raised eyebrows among the boys" by running on to the pitch carrying two balls, kicking one into his own team's net, then "glaring". Biro-Biro: "We were all unbalanced that day." Plus: endorsement of the week Steaua owner, MP and ex-MEP <strong>Gigi Becali</strong>, asked by Romania TV about his appearances in Said & Done: "God inspires me to say what I say, the British have no idea. It's just some crazy Brits from the Guardian [who quote you] if you talk about sex, prostitutes, tits … They're a satanic newspaper. They ridicule all that's pure and holy." |