Argentine first division side Boca Juniors President Daniel Angelici, who is also an Argentine FA VP, "showed his disagreement with the 30-team tournament that will be held next year." Angelici: "If the Government decides everything, what is the AFA for? Following the meeting [last] Tuesday there will be a before and after in Argentine football." A "response did not take long," as AFA President Luis Segura said, "I did not read or hear this, I don't know in what context he said it, but he never said anything like this in our meetings. Tomorrow I will see him and I will ask him why he said it" (CLARIN, 11/24). ... EPL side Stoke City Chair Peter Coates is “ready to fight” the FA over a charge of misconduct. Coates was expected to deny the charge before Monday night’s 6pm deadline and is compiling a defense with Stoke’s lawyers after being accused of “bringing the game into disrepute.” The FA took action against the 76-year-old for comments made in an interview about referees in which he admitted “there does seem to be a bias towards other teams” (London TELEGRAPH, 11/24). ... Croatia's "biggest football derby was scrapped" on Saturday as visiting Hajduk Split refused to play against "champions and league leaders Dinamo Zagreb” after their fans were banned from entering Maksimir Stadium. Croatian media said around 50 of the 1,000 Hajduk fans who made the trip from the Adriatic coast were “blacklisted as troublemakers and barred from entering the stadium,” prompting the other fans to sympathize with them and boycott the match (REUTERS, 11/22). ... Russian Premier League football club Torpedo Moscow could be “punished for the second time in three months for ‘racist behaviour’” by their supporters. Russian Football Union disciplinary committee head Artur Grigoryants said, "We are looking into claims Torpedo fans were heard making monkey chants which were supposedly addressed at Rostov's dark-skinned players” (REUTERS, 11/24).
