Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Giancarlo Abete has insisted that "the number of teams in Serie A will not change." Abete "was looking to reduce the number of sides in the top flight down to 18," but the administrator has Tuesday confirmed that "those plans have been scrapped" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 5/7). ... South Africa "will complain to the Confederation of African Football over the treatment of Orlando Pirates club on a 'terrifying' trip to Congo to play four-time African champion TP Mazembe." Players and officials "described Sunday's African Champions League game as 'hell' after two traveling reporters were arrested and another had equipment confiscated, and the team was allegedly intimidated throughout the trip" (AP, 5/7). ... The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general assembly accepted the Iran Football Federation's request "to lift a ban on development projects for Iranian football teams (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 5/7). ... La Liga club Real Betis is "quickly taking the lead in terms of fan interaction through social media." Following the "successful use of hashtags that let their fans vote on which color kits the team was to face Real Madrid in," it now has two more promotions. The first promotion "offers all of the club's social media followers a maximum of two tickets" for as low as €10 ($13). The second promotion "is all about the kids." This promotion, exclusively for season ticket holders, offers children between the ages of 5-14 tickets for €3 ($3.90) using hashtags (INSIDE SPANISH FOOTBALL, 5/7).
