Football

Fifa presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon continued on the offensive against world football’s governing body and incumbent president Sepp Blatter today (Wednesday) by threatening to sue the Swiss official for more than $100m (€89m) in “damages and compensation”.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has entered into a strategic partnership with digital services firm Omnigon that aims to provide enhanced digital solutions, consultancy and services to the global sports industry.

Chung Mong-joon, the South Korean billionaire running for the Fifa presidency, today (Tuesday) claimed that the ethics committee of world football’s governing body will impose on him a lengthy ban for alleged offences concerning his home nation’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

Four of Fifa’s major sponsors have called for the immediate resignation of Sepp Blatter, piling further pressure on the under-fire president of world football’s governing body.

Organisers of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have confirmed that the Itaquera Arena in Sao Paulo will still be used to stage football events during next year’s sporting spectacle.

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) has appealed against a ruling ordering it to publish in full the contentious contract granting English Premier League football club West Ham United tenancy of the Olympic Stadium.

Uefa president Michel Platini is set to be without his closest advisor as he seeks to shore up his claim to the top job in world football, while Asian football powerbroker Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has been linked to a run for the Fifa presidency.

Spanish LaLiga football club Valencia has moved to boost its commercial efforts in the Asian market by entering into a strategic partnership with Dentsu Sports Asia (DSA), the Singapore-based sports marketing subsidiary of advertising and public relations company Dentsu.

Liverpool was the first European football club to enter Chinese social media in July 2011 with the launch of an official presence on Sina Weibo, coinciding with a club tour of the country. Liverpool was also first to launch on WeChat, in 2013.

Klaus Allofs, sports director of German Bundesliga football club VfL Wolfsburg, has said the level of investment by the team’s owner, Volkswagen, will not be affected despite the emissions scandal surrounding the automotive giant.

Uefa president Michel Platini has stressed he is “still determined” to run for the top job in world football, adding there is “no doubt” about his integrity amid the attention currently being focused on the 2011 payment of CHF2m (€1.83m/$2.06m) that the Frenchman received from Fifa.

SportBusiness International looks at the major sports events on the horizon for France, as well as its battlefield television broadcast industry.

Bastien Drut, French economist and consultant for Soccernomics, gives his account of how football club Paris Saint-Germain is pioneering the domestic game.

Former Fifa powerbroker Jack Warner was today (Tuesday) banned from all football-related activities for life by the ethics committee of the sport’s world governing body.

Uefa president Michel Platini has stressed he has not been accused of any wrongdoing and has offered to speak to Fifa’s Ethics Committee to help resolve any issues in connection to the 2011 payment of CHF2m (€1.83m/$2.06m) that he received from world football’s governing body.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said he will continue in his role until February’s elections for a new leader of world football’s governing body, and has stressed he has done nothing “illegal or improper” amid the opening of criminal proceedings against him by Swiss authorities.