Spain's first openly gay referee will be invited to attend a Barcelona game in the coming weeks as the Catalan club looks to "lead the fight" against anti-gay behavior in football. Barcelona confirmed that it has "already been in touch with Jesus Tomillero," but is yet to "pencil in a date for him to visit Camp Nou." As well as the presence of Tomillero, Barça also plans to organize other acts to take a stand against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) prejudice in sport (ESPN.com, 10/6).
Fantasy football start-up Oulala has revealed it plans to "target football clubs and i-gaming operators in Latin America," starting with Argentine football clubs. Although Daily Fantasy Sports has had most growth in the U.S., the vertical has begun to take off in other continents, including Europe. Oulala, a European DFS company, will be looking to capitalize on this momentum "by introducing its version of the game to another part of the world" and will target Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico (GAMBLING INSIDER, 10/5).
Six people, including five former and current football players, "were arrested in connection with allegations relating to bribery and the fixing of results" of Hong Kong football matches involving a local club, the Independent Commission Against Corruption confirmed on Thursday. The five were arrested in an operation codenamed "Flower Field," which was launched on Tuesday. They included an assistant coach cum player, three serving players and a former player. The remaining individual is a suspected bookmaker. The alleged bribes were said to amount to over HK$90,000 ($11,600) (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 10/6).
