Bayern Munich President Uli Hoeneß has said that "it is only a matter of time before the transfer record for a footballer reaches" €150M ($158M) or €200M ($211M). ManU set a new high mark when it signed Paul Pogba from Juventus for €105M ($111M). But Hoeneß "doesn't expect that figure to last long before it is broken with salaries and transfer fees continuing to rise." Hoeneß: "I said a number of years ago that we had reached the financial limits. I was wrong" (ESPN.com, 12/11).
Crewe Alexandra Dir Dario Gradi has been "suspended pending a Football Association investigation that will include looking into claims he 'smoothed over' a complaint of sexual assault against a Chelsea scout" in the '70s. A former youth player at Chelsea -- where Gradi was assistant manager -- said "he was assaulted by Eddie Heath, the club's chief scout, when he was 15." Gradi, 75, "denies any wrongdoing and says he will help the FA's review." The FA, as part of its widened review into child sex abuse allegations, expects to question Gradi after the London Independent reported that, in '74, "he went to see the parents of a youth player at Chelsea about a sexual assault" (BBC, 12/11).
Brasileiro side Chapecoense interim President Ivan Tozzo said that the team "will not accept the proposal from league clubs that Chapecoense avoid relegation for the next three years." Tozzo said that Chapecoense "does not want a fight off the field" and is calling for financial help to recover from the plane crash that killed 19 Chapecoense players (EL MUNDO, 12/10). Chapecoense appointed Vagner Mancini as its coach. He replaces Caio Júnior, "who was among those killed" (REUTERS, 12/9).
FIFA has banned former South African FA President Kirsten Nemantandani for five years. He will not be allowed to participate in any football-related activities at either national or int'l levels. The world football body found him "guilty of having violated general rules of conduct, loyalty articles and articles of duty of disclosure, cooperation and reporting of the FIFA Code of Ethics" (ENCA, 12/8).
Bangladesh labor activists said on Friday that "they had joined a lawsuit in Switzerland" against FIFA for allegedly "failing to use its influence to ensure people working on 2022 World Cup facilities in Qatar are treated fairly." The suit, filed in FIFA's home city of Zurich with the backing of the largest labor union in the Netherlands, calls on FIFA to force Qatar to adopt "minimum labor standards" for migrant workers (REUTERS, 12/9).
