Serie A club Parma revealed it “expects to be deducted points as punishment for having been late” in paying salaries. The club was barred from this season's Europa League due to its financial problems, finishing last season’s campaign owing €300,000 ($375,000). Parma said Tuesday it would use "all legal means to have the penalty reduced to a minimum." The club said the problems were “only related to ‘liquidity’” and came about because it is in the process of being sold to one of "numerous interested parties in Italy and abroad." That deal was “supposed to be finalised” by Nov. 10 so the new owners could pay the outstanding salaries, but that was delayed (TIMES LIVE, 11/19). ... Belarusian Premier League side BATE Borisov was sentenced to a "partially closed match after the manifestations of racism from its fans" toward Brazilian striker Luiz Adriano on Oct. 21, UEFA announced Wednesday. For the “racist behavior” of its supporters, the club was punished with a “partial closure” of the stadium for its next European home match on Nov. 25 against Portuguese club Porto in Group H (L’EQUIPE, 11/19). ... Ligue 1 side Nice "will be heard" by the French Football Federation's superior appeals commission Thursday, the club announced Tuesday. Nice was punished by the French Football League (LFP) disciplinary committee with two "partially closed matches (closure of the South stand) and a completely closed match" after incidents that occurred at the end of the Nice-Bastia match. The club said it found the original sentence to be “disproportionate and unfair” (SPORT 24, 11/18). ... Singapore's high court has rejected an application by the “alleged head of a global football match-fixing syndicate to review a detention order that has allowed him to be held for more than a year without charge,” his lawyer said Wednesday. The local businessman, known as Tan Seet Eng or Dan Tan, was arrested in ‘13 for his alleged role in “trying to rig football matches.” He had been labeled by Interpol as the "mastermind" of the world's most notorious match-fixing syndicate (REUTERS, 11/19). ... The FA intervened Tuesday to stop the England supporters’ official band from accompanying the away support at Celtic Park in their chant of “F*** the IRA” during the 3-1 win over Scotland. The traveling support chanted about the IRA for “long periods of the first half to a beat kept by the England band,” which has what the FA describes as a “semi-official” relationship with the governing body. Members of the band were contacted during the game by FA officials and “asked not to play the tune in question to discourage the chant” during the second half (London INDEPENDENT, 11/18). ... Real Madrid will receive €1.8M ($2.3M) "in compensation for the injury Luka Modric suffered in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Italy on Sunday." Madrid "will be covered financially in conjunction with the Croatian’s salary and the time he will now spend away from playing football for his team, estimated to be a period of between three and four months" (FOOTBALL ESPANA, 11/19).
