Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter's lawyer said that Blatter has not spoken to U.S. prosecutors in Switzerland. Blatter said that he had "met lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice in Zurich last October or November." Yet his lawyer, Richard Cullen, said that Blatter "may have mistaken American lawyers who were conducting an internal investigation on behalf of FIFA for officials from the Department of Justice" (REUTERS, 5/2).
The FA will trial "sin bins" in the lower leagues of English football from next season. The FA plans to introduce what it calls "temporary dismissals" in England's step seven -- six tiers below the National League -- and the leagues below. They will "only apply to yellow cards shown for dissent, and will see players leave the field for 10 minutes" (BBC, 5/3).
Sunderland and Bournemouth have been "charged with failing to control their players in Saturday's Premier League match at the Stadium of Light." The FA charge "relates to an incident in the 76th minute of Bournemouth's 1-0 win, which saw Sunderland relegated." The clubs have until May 5 to respond to the charge (BBC, 5/3).
German FA (DFB) President Reinhard Grindel said that Germany will "play some national team matches at smaller stadiums after crowds declined in recent years." The DFB will "scrap its 40,000-plus capacity rule for home games" and Grindel said, "In the future, we also want to go to regions we've not been to for a long time with our national team" (ESPN.com, 5/3).
Britain's Kick It Out anti-discrimination group called Italy's football authorities "gutless" following Pescara midfielder Sulley Muntari's ban for walking off the pitch at Cagliari "after being subjected to racist abuse from the crowd." Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Garth Crooks, an independent trustee at the organization, "urged black players in Italy to go on strike this weekend unless the ban is withdrawn" (REUTERS, 5/3).
The Czech Football Federation said that it was "raided by police" and its chair has been detained. Federation spokesperson Michal Jurman said, "We can confirm that federation chairman, Mr. [Mirolsav] Pelta, has been detained." He added that football officials "cooperated with police but offered no details about the ongoing investigation" (AP, 5/3).
