The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has suspended Atlético Madrid Manager Diego Simeone "for eight matches on Monday after he was sent off during the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup" against Real Madrid for "tapping the back of the assistant referee's head." He will "miss four Spanish league matches, with the remaining four-match ban applying to future Spanish Super Cups" (AP, 8/25). ... Spanish second division side Llagostera's first home game of the season Saturday against Leganés will be played behind closed doors. The sanction is related to "a racist act by a Llagostera fan" during a game on May 18 (AS, 8/25). ... La Liga side Athletic Bilbao announced on Monday that tickets for its home Champions League playoff match against Serie A side Napoli on Wednesday are sold out. The winner of the game -- the second leg of a playoff following a draw last week -- will advance to the group stage of the Champions League. It will be Athletic's first game at its renovated San Mamés stadium, "with 50,000 fans expected to fill the stadium" (AS, 8/25). ... Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho "wants NFL-style timeouts to be introduced to football so that he can discuss tactics with his players twice during each game." Mourinho believes that managers would benefit from two brief stoppages -- one in each half -- "to give specific instructions to their team and change formations" (London DAILY MAIL, 8/25). ... The Bank for Investment & Development of Cambodia on Friday donated $6,000 to the Cambodian U21 squad, "who returned home the day before from their 2014 Hassanal Bolkiah trophy campaign in Brunei." The team "won three of their Group B matches against hosts Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia" (PHNOM PENH POST, 8/25). ... Italy’s Federal Prosecutor’s office has “confirmed that no action will be taken” against Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Carlo Tavecchio for “racist comments.” FIGC Federal Prosecutor Stefano Palazzi has “closed his investigation” because it did not “reveal any facts of disciplinary importance to charge” the newly elected president “both in objective and subjective terms” (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 8/25). ... Striker Teerasil Dangda became the “first Thai to play” in La Liga when he came off the bench for Almeria in its 1-1 draw with Espanyol on Sunday. The 26-year-old is on a “season-long loan from Thai Premier League side Muangthong United as he bids to seal a permanent deal with the Spanish side,” which “narrowly avoided relegation last term after finishing one point above the drop zone” (REUTERS, 8/25). ... A Vietnam court
found nine footballers and a bookmaker "guilty of match-fixing on
Monday after they colluded to throw an AFC Cup game in Malaysia" in
return for a $40,000 bribe. The court jailed
bookmaker Dao Duc Loi and former national team player Tran Manh "each for
30 months, but gave suspended sentences to eight others from Vissai
Ninh Binh who rigged the away match against Malaysia's Kelantan in
March" (REUTERS, 8/25).
