The week in football: Barclays' real impact; Fifa's climbdown; press conference of the week; plus fighting
Awards season: football rallies round
Giving Barclays' image a lift after a year of bad PR over Libor, PPI, executive pay, alleged manipulation of energy prices and tax avoidance – the inaugural Football Business Awards, honouring the bank's social responsibility. Judges said the £37m spent on grassroots sport since 2004 shows how the Premier League sponsor makes "a real impact on local communities". Barclays' underlying third quarter pre-tax profit: £1.7bn.
Fifa's week
Taking Fifa's focus last week: protests in Brazil against their ban on street vendors selling traditional acarajé fritters within 2km of World Cup venues in 2014. Fifa say it will look again at the ban – which protects official partners including McDonald's – to "assess the possibility" of giving local people "regulated opportunities to benefit from the World Cup".
Haggle of the week
Blackpool: rejecting Portsmouth's £200,000 compensation claim for manager Michael Appleton and bargaining a reduced deal with the club's administrators – who last week warned staff over further cost saving measures, "essential for the club's survival". (£11m: the amount Blackpool paid owner Owen Oyston's firm in 2011 in a legal tax avoidance move – the club looking to protect their "big cash surplus" from a "huge tax bill".)
Best campaigner
Vitaly Mutko, Russia's sports minister, pledging new €25,000 fines to deter financial irregularities in Russian football, part of "a raft" of anti-corruption measures. • €25,000: Total Mutko claimed in expenses for his 20-day trip to Vancouver in 2010, including 97 breakfasts.
Big week for
Brazilian club Atlético Paranaense's president Mário Celso Petraglia: a) fined £5,000 for tweets claiming an assistant referee was corrupt ("It makes me sick"); b) Denying impropriety after officials questioned the use of public money on upgrading Atlético's stadium. The club says criticism over a lucrative seat-fitting contract being awarded to Petraglia's son, despite his quote being 13% higher than rival bids, is misplaced – with the bid chosen for "operational reasons".
More fine news
€30,000: Juventus's fine in April for "sustained racist abuse" by fans, €10,000 up on the previous month's racism fine. €50,000: Fine for Juventus last week after fans "threw 15 balls of cardboard at a goalline official".
Press conference of the week
Paraguay: Olimpia's president Marcelo Recanate, weighing up agent Régis Marques's plan to move client Maximiliano Biancucchi to a club in Qatar. "Marques? He's a big Brazilian shit, a tart, a garbage man. Keep your mouth shut Marques." Other key messages: Biancucchi, "the stupid disrespectful Argentinian midget", will be frozen out; Marques may be shot "for the good of the club"; and journalists must "stop asking stupid questions". Reports say the room began to empty before the end, "with Recanate still shouting".
Best defence
Philippe Diallo, head of the French Union of Professional Football Clubs, asked about criticism of the Qatari-owned PSG offering a six-month internship in their PR department for €436 a month, €1000 below the minimum wage. "It is within the law for interns – so this is a non-issue."
Hearing of the week
Spain: Mohamed Amar, president of Goyu Ryu, denying blame for a dressing room brawl with two match officials after a "heated" youth match. Referee Juan Pablo Ramos said Amar "threw a table" at him, assistant Hicham Ahmed said Amar gave him a "slap"; Amar said Ramos attacked him with a pen "then kicked me in the knee". All were fined €200.
Best reasoning
Swiss club Sion, revealing they sacked coach Michel Decastel after two months because president Christian Constantin "detected tension in the air." Decastel's predecessor Sébastien Fournier last four months; new coach Pierre-Andre Schuermann becomes the 27th appointed by Constantin since 2003 – including himself twice.
Best pre-match preview
France: Evian defender Brice Dja Djédjé, 24 hours before his dive in a match against Sochaux went viral: "It's true that this is a game of great importance, we need to win it at all costs. But we never cheat. We will simply give our best on the pitch."
Sponsor of the week
Greece: Brothel owner Soula Alevridou, 67 – attempting to follow her controversial shirt deal with local club Voukefalas by offering €3,000 to sponsor a local primary school's photocopier. Local media: "The Parents' Association said yes. The education authority said no."
Plus: best news management
Brasiliense: reacting to more bad PR over their poor form, near-relegation and president Luiz Estevão being forced to repay the £140m he embezzled in the late 1990s by unveiling more club-themed online soft porn. In March Brasiliense dismissed critics of the move and announced record web traffic, with Estevão "choosing all the models himself… We're a very professional outfit."
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