Said & Done: Michel Platini; Russian humour; and the love of scandals

Posted Sunday, November 09, 2014 by theguardian.com

Michel Platini: no regrets.

Michel Platini: still positioning as the long-term, clean-break alternative to Sepp - and discussing Qatar 2022. "I don't regret voting for Qatar, it's not regrettable. A lot of people voted for Qatar. Not only me."

Ban of the week

Fifa - acting to ban Italy's FA president Carlo "banana eaters" Tavecchio from its committees for six months for racism, which he denies. After six months, Tavecchio, convicted five times since 1970 for forgery, tax evasion, falsifying records and abuse of office, will be free to return.

Meanwhile: winning with Concacaf

$300,000: The amount invested via the "Win in Concacaf with Concacaf" scheme over 14 years for grassroots football in Cuba. $288,000: amount invested over one year on two Trump Tower flats for ex-Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer - one for him, one for his cats.

· Also caught up in last week's FBI Concacaf headlines: Jack Warner - these days focused on his new life in Trinidad as an anti-corruption figurehead. Warner, leader of the Independent Liberal Party, said last summer he'd found wrongdoing right at the heart of government: MPs "feathering their nests" by "raping the treasury". Jack: "It's legalised corruption, and I am not part of that."

Best clarifications

Clearing up a week of bad reporting:

1) Russia: Rostov coach Igor Gamula on what he meant by saying: "We've got enough black players, we've got six of the things and you want me to sign a seventh?" "I get on fine with my dark-skinned players. The British press don't grasp Russian humour."

2) France: Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol clarifying his comment that African players are powerful but lack intelligence: "The interpretation some people put on my comments in no way reflects my thoughts. If my imperfect semantics offended, I'm sorry."

3) Peru: FA presidential candidate Freddy Ames on what he meant by calling FA rivals "faggots". "I just meant a word synonymous with a lack of courage, but it has been wrongly interpreted as homophobic. That I flatly deny."

4) Italy: Arezzo coach Ezio Capuano on his post-match view that "queers don't belong on the pitch, we need men with balls, not queers": "I just meant players should be meaner, more aggressive. There's no disrespect to gays."

Meanwhile: best crackdown

Greece: PAS Lamia's Sierra Leone player John Kamara - suspended by his club on health grounds after his trip to Ebola-free Cameroon - facing sanctions for wearing a protest T-shirt reading: "We are West Africans, We are not a virus." The FA charged him for breaching its anti-racism code, and plans to rule this week.

Modern football news

Last week's off-pitch Manchester United headlines: 1) Players reportedly "snubbing" the free cars Chevrolet gave them in a £47m sponsorship deal, preferring to drive their Mercedes, Porsches and Range Rovers to training instead; and 2) Players raising "a record £210,000 for Unicef at the club's annual celebrity gala".

Most caring

Brazil: Montes Claros president Ville Mocellin, still "holding out hope of a deal" despite a court blocking his latest attempt to sign former Flamengo keeper Bruno on day release from prison. In March, Mocellin said Bruno - serving 22 years for having his girlfriend killed and fed to dogs after a row over child support - "deserves this chance … This man lost his head, but people make mistakes."

Role model of the week

Zimbabwe: Highlanders striker Charles Sibanda: apologising to "all young people who look up to me" after reacting to being subbed by going into the crowd, causing "serious disorder". In 2011 Sibanda was fined £650 for "aggressively pouring urine" over then-Chicken Inn coach Adam Ndlovu, with Newzimbabwe.com reporting Sibanda's "piss tantrum" was ruled "atrocious" by a disciplinary panel: "It won't inspire confidence in youngsters."

Ref of the week

Turkey: Referee Erkan Guven suspended after responding to comments from Besiktas player Ogzuhan Ozyakup by sending some tweets, including: "That bastard Oguzhan Ozyakup is trying to stir the situation" and: "Doesn't this fool have a twitter account? I want swear at him."

Integrity latest

Jamaica's FA launching an inquiry into a 16-0 win for Jamaica College which featured six goals in six minutes of stoppage time - giving them qualification on goal difference over Excelsior, who only won their game 12-0. FA head Captain Horace Burrell - back in the job after his six-month ban for bribery in 2011 - says integrity is at stake. "We are very concerned."

Manager news

Spain, October: Real Sociedad president Jokin Aperribay on coach Jagoba Arrasate: "None of this is just about one person. It's the easiest thing in the world to sack a coach, to find the coach and sack him, that's the easiest thing, and it won't do." November: It will.

Row of the week

Spain: Antonio Pérez, president of Galacian club Lemos, filing a complaint with police after a referee sent off four of his players and three coaches then forgot to blow the final whistle. "I wanted him breathalysed." Referee Juan Fernando Salgado Paz, who played 23 minutes stoppage time before players gave up, says Perez hit him, and denies wrongdoing.

Thought for the week

Italy: Verona coach Andrea Mandorlini: "Jorginho has enormous talent. At Napoli they still need to realise his potential, but they will do sooner or later. Young players are like popsicles: they need to be eaten slowly."

Most bashful

Romania: Astra's billionaire owner Ioan Niculae - banned for six months in September for calling a referee a "world champion hustler" and his squad "bloated mercenaries … Shame on them, shame on them, the bastards" - making a lifestyle change. "From now on, I give no interviews, no opinions. Talk to the press guy, not me."

Plus: love news

Argentina: Model Magalí Mora caught up in a "love scandal" with Estudiantes player Román Martínez last summer, counter-suing him for slander after he alleged extortion. Mora says she will defend her name, but has "no regrets" about the publicity. "My scandals made me famous. I sought them, I made them, I love them. Now I'm going to be an actress."