Argentine first division side Godoy Cruz on Tuesday started selling tickets for Sunday's game against River Plate to the "general public." Tickets for Godoy Cruz fans were scheduled to go on sale on Wednesday. The game will start Sunday at 9:15pm at Godoy Cruz's home stadium in Mendoza. With "visiting fans banned by the Argentine FA from football stadiums, this plan was devised to deceive the AFA and its security organizations" (CLARIN, 8/12). ... Ligue 1 side Monaco "still has three points" this season after the French Football League's (LFP) appeals committee canceled a two-point penalty the club received last season. Part of the penalty "also included playing a game behind closed doors, and that has been maintained." Monaco was sanctioned "because a fan invaded the field and attacked a referee during a game on May 17" (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 8/13). ... The Nigeria FA said that the protest by the Malawi FA against the southeast city of Calabar, Nigeria, as a World Cup qualifying match venue "is unfounded." Malawi national team Manager Tom Saintfiet had written to FIFA, "urging a change of venue for the Sept. 7 World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria, from Calabar to Abuja." He had cited "inadequate security and a lack of good hotels in Calabar" (XINHUA, 8/13). ... Israeli Premier League side Beitar Jerusalem said that "it will stop playing on the Jewish Sabbath." Owner Eli Tabib "made the decision to stop playing from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday in order to allow its religious and traditional fans to attend home games" (JTA, 8/12).
GOAL-LINE TECHNOLOGY: The German Football League (DFL) has stated that "it remains unconvinced by goal-line technology" despite the opening weekend of the 1st Bundesliga season being affected by a controversial decision. TSG Hoffenheim forward Kevin Volland's goal "was not awarded after crossing the goalline during his team's 2-2 draw with FC Nuremberg on Saturday." Match referee Thorsten Kinhöfer "admitted his mistake after consulting TV replays at half-time," but the DFL will continue to wait for further testing of new technology until at least July '15. DFL Managing Dir Andreas Rettig said that FIFA's accepted margin of error of three centimeters "is simply too big for us" (SOCCEREX, 8/13).
