In the "latest case of football-related violence in the host country of the 2014 World Cup, a second-division match in Brazil was stopped when fans threw rocks and explosives on the field." TV images "showed one bomb thrown from the stands and exploding a few feet from police officers on the field." A few fans "tried to break the fences separating them from the field." Police used pepper spray and batons "against the fans in the stands" (AP, 10/19). ... Cyprus' FA said that its president "will meet with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart from the divided island's breakaway north at FIFA headquarters next month to finalize a 'provisional' deal aimed at unifying the two bodies" (AP, 10/18). ... Zambian immigration authorities have "confiscated the passports of three players that have been caught up in an ugly club versus country row." Democratic Republic of Congo side TP Mazembe players Rainford Kalaba, Nathan Sinkala and Stoppila Sunzu "had their travel documents taken away on Friday night" (BBC, 10/19). ... CONCACAF "has moved against" match-fixing by "appointing a new full-time executive to lead the fight regionally." Dr. Laila Mintas "will take up the new position of Director of Sports Integrity" on Nov. 15 with a brief to "design and implement processes that will prevent and investigate match-fixing issues in the region" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 10/20). ... Barcelona President Sandro Rosell has once again "explained why the club's board denied access to children without tickets, and admitted he would have liked to have already offered a solution to the problem." Rosell called the decision by the board "complicated but agreed upon." Rosell: "We have 20,000 fans younger than 8 and we want them to be able to attend games for free" (MUNDO DEPORTIVO, 10/20).
