The Premier League will "not rush to introduce video technology to assist referees despite a series of high-profile mistakes in the latest round of matches." The Premier League said that it remains "committed to a minimum two-year trial of Video Assistant Referees," meaning the earliest the technology could be introduced is the '18-19 season. The trials in a non-live environment "are being supervised" by the Int'l FA Board, the body that determines the laws of the game (London DAILY MAIL, 1/3).
During testimony before Judge Pablo Ruz in July '14, former Barcelona President Sandro Rosell and current President Josep Maria Bartomeu "admitted the club negotiated with Neymar while he was under contract" with Brasileiro side Santos, an action "explicitly prohibited by FIFA." FIFA rules say that a club can "only contact a player from another team when the player is in the last six months of his contract" (AS, 1/4).
Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian coach Fabio Cannavaro could "continue the Chinese club's impressive European buying spree by snapping up Serie A strikers Nikola Kalinic and Carlos Bacca, according to reports." Quanjian on Tuesday "beat several top European clubs, including Serie A champions Juventus, to the signature of Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel." Cannavaro has "now set his sights" on Fiorentina's Croatian striker Kalinic. Meanwhile, a report in Turin-based sports daily Tuttosport said that Quanjian, Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai Shenhua "were all considering making offers for Colombia striker Bacca, who plays for AC Milan" (AFP, 1/4).
The Somali Football Federation has inaugurated its "first ever regional football league in the port city of Kismayo," about 500km south of the capital Mogadishu. The new league is "part of a planned development structure" announced by Somali Football Federation President Abdiqani Said Arab in August last year (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 1/4).
