FA Football Development Dir Trevor Brooking claimed Friday night that “English football is being held back by some clubs’ reluctance to pay full-time coaches more than" £15,000 ($22,800) a year at the U16 level. Brooking "has identified a problem in the 12-to-16 age group, where he says that low salaries have resulted in a shortage of top-class coaches and a culture of making results the priority ahead of player development" (LONDON TIMES, 6/1). ... During Argentine second division football club Independiente Rivadavia's practice on Friday in Mendoza, Argentina, 100 people entered the club's Bautista Gargantini stadium and attacked players and club personnel. Rivadavia forward Diego Caballero suffered a leg injury as the group damaged 15 cars and threw molotov cocktails. Caballero was treated with stitches in his right leg and his teammates Franco Sbuttoni and Josué Ayala also suffered injuries (LOS ANDES, 5/31). ... Italian daily La Stampa claimed that "an Australian businessman has offered to buy Genoa football club" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 6/2). ... South African Premier Soccer League Chippa United coach Mark Harrison "is raging about the format of the post-season" PSL playoffs and says "the diktat that the results of their matches are provisional is 'nothing sort of a joke.'" Thanda has "launched a legal bid to halt the play-offs, and on Wednesday the high court instructed the league to announce before each play-off game that 'the results of the fixtures are provisional, pending a finalisation of the review appeal by Thanda Royal Zulu'" (SOWETAN LIVE, 5/31). ... FIFA's top corruption buster "has hinted for the first time that 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar have no corruption case to answer and says a statement of intent of some kind should be made by his department by September or October" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 5/31).
