Football News: Review Of The Day 14th February 2020
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Review of the Day
Contracts
Toulouse winger Mathieu Dossevi has extended his contract by a year to tie him down until 2021.
Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall has extended his contract by two years to run until 2024.
Guniea manager Didier Six has signed a 3 year contract.
Transfers
Spanish winger Burgui has joined Real Zaragoza on loan from CD Alaves.
Inter Miami have paid nearly £10m for the signing of Monterrey midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro. Colombian defender Andres Reyes has also signed for Miami, on loan from Atletico Nacional.
Atlanta United have taken Manuel Castro on loan from Estudiantes.
Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Ajax winger Hakim Ziyech in the summer for a fee of over £30m.
Injury Round-Up
USA international Tyler Adams has been ruled out for a while after he pulled a calf muscle in training with Bundesliga side RB Leipzig. Leipzig's head coach Julian Nagelsmann said: "There's some bad news. Adams pulled a calf muscle yesterday. He will definitely miss the games against Werder and Tottenham Hotspur [in the Champions League]."
Odin Bailey, currently on-loan at Forest Green Rovers from Birmingham City, could be set to miss the rest of the season. The 20 year old forward only joined Forest Green on loan in January but picked up a bad ankle injury against Port Vale on Tuesday.
Ipswich Town youngster Tristan Nydam is ruled out for the entire season. The 20 year old suffered a broken ankle and damaged ligaments in a friendly match in July and is now set to have more surgery to remove scar tissue around the ankle.
Terence Kongolo is to miss the rest of the season with a foot injury. The 25 year old is on loan at Fulham from Huddersfield Town.
Hamilton Academical captain Brian Easton has suffered a dislocated shoulder which will rule him out for at least 2 months.
Disciplinary Charges
Fleetwood Town manager Joey Barton has been charged, again, with using abusive language towards a match official. He was given a one match touchline ban in December for the same offence.
Wigan Athletic manager Paul Cook has been charged with two counts of improper conduct. He is alleged to have used abusive and/or insulting language towards the referee in the tunnel after a 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough. The second charge is over his alleged behaviour in the match official's room after the game.
24 Teams In Club World Cup
The 2021 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup will be contested between 24 teams when it is held in China. Africa will have three teams entered, North America three, South America six sides, Europe eight and Asia will have two, plus the host nation's national champion and the possibility of another team. Asia will have a play off against the Oceania champions for the final place. Europe's entrants are expected to be the last four European Champions League winners plus the four highest-ranked teams in UEFA's club rankings. Each entrant will receive $50m plus there is a prize of $115m for the winner.
Fernandez Critical Of Tuchel
A former head coach of Paris Saint-Germain, Luis Fernandez, has hit out at the performance of current coach Thomas Tuchel. Fernandez said: "Having a look at last season's results, Tuchel is the worst manager since Qatar's take-over. He is still far away from the level of Jürgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Carlo Ancelotti. The club bosses expect to make the Champions League final and they actually have all the requirements for this."
Christie Hits Out At Social Media Companies
Fulham's full-back Cyrus Christie has criticised social media companies, such as Twitter and Facebook, for their inaction on racist abuse. The 27 year old received racist abuse and death threats on social media after playing for his country, the Republic of Ireland, in a 5-1 defeat by Denmark. Christie said: "I can understand why people don't pursue things, because you know that nothing is going to happen. They (trolls) think they can get away with it, they hide behind profiles. I have had so many cases on there, the racism and stuff, it is just mad, but when you speak to them (social media companies), they are like 'oh well'. The club (Fulham) have a contact at Twitter and Facebook, so they speak to them and the police will have a connecting role. They [social media firms] are useless - they don't do anything. I've had so many things, but nothing gets done."
Brighton Launch Balloon Investigation
Brighton & Hove Albion are investigating after a video circulated on social media which shows four of their players inhaling from balloons during the team's winter break. The Seagulls have gone out to Spain and the quartet, Shane Duffy, Pascal Gross, Leandro Trossard and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, were shown in the footage. A spokeperson said: "The club is aware of the video circulating on social media. This matter is being dealt with internally."
World Cup Winning Doc Passes Away
The doctor for England's 1966 World Cup-winning team, Alan Bass, has died aged 90 years old. Bass was sat next to manager Alf Ramsey as England ran out 4-2 winners over West Germany in the final. He was also the 1970 squad's doctor before going on to treat Gary Lineker's broken wrist ahead of the 1986 World Cup. Bass also worked at Arsenal and often treated film stars on set.
Highly Suspicious Dealings By CAF
An audit by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) into the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has found a large number of problems. The final reports call's CAF's accounting "unreliable and not trustworthy". It also found that 35 of 40 large payments, which totalled over $8.3m, were "unusual" or had "little or no supporting documentation". PwC also found that CAF's presidential office were "directly involved" in an extremely controversial decision to choose Tactical Steel, a little-known gym equipment manufacturer, to supply sportswear. There were transactions totalling more than $20m which were either "higher risk" or had "little or no supporting documentation". "The role played" by CAF President Ahmad and his attache Loic Gerand in the deal with Tactical Steel was called "highly suspicious". Tactical Steel are run by a former army colleague and close friend of Gerand.
Bobby Madley Returns To Referee's Fold
Former Premier League referee Bobby Madley is set to return to refereeing in the English Football League next season. The 34 year old was sacked in 2018 after he sent a video mocking a disabled person to a friend. Madley will be working at grassroots level for the rest of the season before his return to the official lists at League One and Two level next season. He will also attend an FA discrimination workshop. Madley wrote an explanation on a blog: "Eighteen months ago I lost my dream job as a professional football referee due my own regrettable, naive and stupid actions. I am delighted, however, that I have been given the opportunity to return to referee in the professional game in England. I am not proud of my actions in 2018 and I have learned from this and feel I am a better and stronger person for it. PGMOL dealt with what they considered a discriminatory act in the strongest way. There can be no criticism for that and I have never sought to do anything other than respect the decision and to learn from it as a person. I can only thank them for having the ability to forgive, recognise that one naive moment does not define a person and offer me a second chance to do what I love to do." Madley had been refereeing in the Norwegian lower leagues since his dismissal.
Ighalo Kept Away From Squad
January loan signing Odion Ighalo has been training at the National Taekwondo Centre, near the Etihad Stadium, on his own this week as a precaution. Manchester United decided to keep him away from the club to avoid the extremely slight risk posed of exposure to the coronavirus as the 30 year old arrived from China. Ighalo is on loan for the rest of the season from Shanghai Shenhua.
Written by Tris Burke February 13 2020 23:07:48
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