The FA has insisted that research shows artificial 3G pitches "do not pose a health risk after a father linked his teenage son’s cancer to the artificial playing surface." The safety of the 3G surfaces was "brought back under the spotlight this week" when a former National Health Service manager claimed rubber pellets, used to give pitches more bounce, "contributed to his son’s illness." Nigel Maguire said that his 18-year-old son Lewis has Hodgkin’s lymphoma after being exposed to the "crumb rubber" on the surface (PA, 2/16). ... Police in Argentina are searching for a footballer "who is said to have shot and killed a referee after being sent off in a match played in the Córdoba province." According to local reports, the player "retrieved a gun from his bag after being shown a red card, returned to the pitch and shot 48-year-old César Flores dead" (London GUARDIAN, 2/16). ... Allegations of widespread drug-taking have "rocked Algerian football" following the suspension of int'l Youcef Belaili and "three other top-division players." Algeria was the only North African country to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, but "the latest controversy raises doubts over the country's footballing future." A media investigation has "suggested that corruption was common in Algerian football clubs." The report by London-based Al-Arabi al-Jadid on Jan. 27 said that the four recent cases "are not unique, and highlights 10 other instances where players tested positive for drug use" since '13 (BBC, 2/15).
IN SPAIN: Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) President Ángel María Villar's threat to again complain to FIFA about what he considers government interference in RFEF matters "is now a reality." FIFA acting Secretary General Markus Kattner now has in his hands a letter in which Villar "alleges interference" from Spain's Superior Sports Council (CSD) in his federation's electoral process. Villar also requests in the letter that FIFA act immediately (EL PAÍS, 2/15). ... There has been an "abrupt end" to the controversy that hit the headlines last October "when there were allegations that a top-flight assistant referee had been pressured" into favoring Real Madrid in the run-up to November's Clásico vs. Barcelona. Anti-corruption prosecutors in Barcelona have reportedly "closed the case due to a lack of evidence to support the complaint brought by the assistant referee's lawyer Jacinto Vicente" (MARCA, 2/16).
