Denmark's men's football team offered the women's side £60,000 ($81,495)-a-year as their pay dispute with the Danish FA (DBU) continues. Denmark women are "on strike and did not play their friendly against the Netherlands on Friday." The DBU offered a temporary deal to the Danish Professional Footballers Association on Saturday "but an agreement could not be reached" (BBC, 9/17).
Italian Football Federation (FIGC) prosecutor Giuseppe Pecoraro on Friday requested that a sporting tribunal ban Juventus President Andrea Agnelli for two years and six months for "allegedly breaking the rules by having relations with a hardcore 'ultra' fan involved in ticket touting," sources said. Pecoraro also requested that Juventus "be made to play two home matches behind closed doors," with its stadium's curva sud stand shut for another game, and pay a €300,000 ($358,341) fine (ANSA, 9/15).
In the initial 24 hours of ticket sales for the 2018 World Cup, more than 500,000 tickets were requested by fans from all over the world. Russian fans top the list, followed by Mexican, Argentinian, Brazilian, Chinese, U.S., Colombian, German and English supporters. More than 50,000 tickets have been requested for the final, with just under 40,000 for the opening match (FIFA).
FIFA issued a "stern warning" to Kochi, India, that "any kind of non-adherence" to FIFA guidelines with respect to holding the U17 World Cup matches "would not be tolerated." This comes as the Kerala High Court "rapped the Greater Cochin Development Authority for asking for shops in the stadium complex to be shut until the end of the tournament without mention of any compensation" (INDIAN EXPRESS, 9/17).
