Football Federation Australia and A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers "are investigating the series of flares that were lit during Wednesday night's pre-season match in Canberra, threatening to track down culprits and issue five-year bans" (CANBERRA TIMES, 8/16). ... Spanish Football League (LFP) President Javier Tebas has blasted the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) "for what he believes is a failure to take the current revelations of match-fixing seriously enough." In an attack on RFEF President Angel Maria Villar, Tebas said, "I believe they should be getting more involved in what is being done. It is not enough to let the public investigators act. The Federation, as much as the league, have the ability to take decisions with the information we have" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 8/15). ... The South African national football team's "tottering hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup in Brazil have just got worse as a result of decisive, far-reaching decisions" taken by FIFA. FIFA revealed that the qualifying game between the Central African Republic and Ethiopia on Sept. 7 "has been switched" from CAR's home in Bangui to the neutral venue of Brazzaville in the Congo Republic (SOWETAN LIVE, 8/14). ... Spain and Chile "will play a friendly match in Geneva, Switzerland" on Sept. 10 (FOOTBALL ESPANA, 8/15). ... La Liga Real Betis received 700 tickets to sell to its fans from Real Madrid, which will host Real Betis on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. The price of each ticket was €20 ($26), and "they sold out in two hours." For fans who bought tickets, "the travel agency that works with Real Betis chartered an AVE high-speed bus to go to and from Madrid on Sunday." This AVE is full and "the club is already selling tickets for a second train" (AS, 8/15).
