CONMEBOL confirmed that it reduced the penalty given to Boca Juniors for incidents against River Plate last May, when fans of Boca Juniors attacked River Plate players with pepper spray. Boca Juniors' penalty was reduced from eight Copa Libertadores games without its fans in attendance to two -- one at home and one on the road. The team's fans will be banned from the Feb. 24 game against Deportivo Cali in Colombia and the game against either Puebla or Racing at the Bombonera on March 3 (OLÉ, 2/2). ... A Spanish third division game between Paterna and Castellón on Dec. 20 "has reportedly raised suspicions of match-fixing." The match drew 2,000 times more bets than a typical third division game, "with the special circumstance that many of these bets were from Asia." Another factor that "set off alarms" was the illogical pattern of the betting on the game. For example, "after Paterna went ahead, the bets on Castellón winning the game increased, which is opposite of what is typical" (AS, 2/2). ... For the second time in a week, a preseason tune-up between Argentine first division rivals "went absolutely haywire." Estudiantes and Gimnasia "have been butting heads for nearly a century, and the latest installment of the La Plata derby was abandoned following a brutal, bench-clearing brawl" (FOX, 2/1). ... 60 Chinese football coaches will spend three months studying at Bournemouth University this summer on a British Council China UK Football Study Programme project. The Chinese football coaches will participate in a "specially developed" program to improve their skills and knowledge in collaboration with BU and Premier League club AFC Bournemouth (YUTANG SPORTS, 1/30).
