FIFA officials back in court, Serie A status quo and Barca go on top
Kick your Monday off with all the news from this past weekend
Good morning and welcome to March!
Back in the news is the never-ending saga of FIFA’s corruption scandals. And when you thought men like Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were done with courtrooms and lawyers, we learn that the Swiss authorities are dragging them before judges once again.
On the field, two of Europe’s top leagues — Serie A and La Liga — both have three-team title races that are expected to drag out until the spring. That’sa. good thing, especially after the race for the top in England, Germany and France appears all but over.
Over in MLS, San Diego FC could only draw St. Louis City in its first-ever home game — although the season is just getting started and the 34,506 fans in attendance are a testament to just how big the game is in the league’s newest market.
Here are the biggest storylines to emerge from this past weekend:
FIFA: Blatter and Platini return to court
A week before his 89th birthday, former FIFA President Sepp Blatter will return to court on Monday for a retrial in a case of alleged financial wrongdoing that has run for nearly 10 years.
Blatter and French great Michel Platini were acquitted in July 2022 by three federal judges on charges including fraud, forgery, misappropriation of funds and mismanagement. They related to a FIFA payment of $2.21 million to Platini.
The acquittal came nearly seven years after the probe was first revealed and removed them from office as leaders of FIFA and UEFA. It also ended Platini’s campaign to succeed Blatter as FIFA president.
The Swiss attorney general’s office appealed against the first verdicts in October 2022 and a fresh trial opens Monday in Muttenz, near Basel.
A verdict is expected by March 25.
Serie A: Inter maintain lead over Napoli
It was a Saturday where Inter Milan could have extended its lead over Napoli. Or one where Napoli could have surpassed the Nerazzurri. Instead, a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Diego Maradona kept the title race the same.
Inter remained top of the table — just one point above Napoli and three over Atalanta, which drew 0-0 at home to relegation-threatened Venezia.
Napoli substitute Philip Billing stopped Inter Milan from taking a significant step toward retaining the Serie A title. The 87th minute goal secured a 1-1 draw for Napoli against the league leader and defending champion.
Inter took the lead after 22 minutes as Federico Dimarco floated a free kick over the wall and into the top left corner.
“It feels unbelievable. This is what you dream of, in a game like this,” said Billing, who was playing his second game for Napoli after joining the team on loan from Bournemouth. “And to be fair you dream of it, but I couldn’t really have thought of it. You know, you come on and you just try to do your best.”
La Liga: Barcelona routs Real Sociedad
Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 win against 10-man Real Sociedad to regain the lead in Spain on Sunday.
Gerard Martín, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski all scored to put Barcelona one point ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid at the top of the Spanish league.
Barca is three points ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Real Betis on Saturday, when Atletico beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at home.
“Very happy with the match we played,” Araujo said. “It was important to win and become leaders again. It was a great effort by the team.”
Sociedad played a man down from the 17th minute after Aritz Elustondo was shown a straight red card for grabbing Barcelona striker Dani Olmo to thwart a breakaway attempt.
In other news: Naomi Girma, women’s soccer’s first million-dollar player, was injured and substituted on her Chelsea debut on Sunday. The USWNT defender was taken off after 59 minutes of the 2-2 draw against Brighton and it was not immediately clear how serious the unspecified injury was. … San Diego FC played to a 0-0 draw with St. Louis City in the MLS expansion team’s first home match on Saturday night. The final score hardly dampened the excitement at sold-out Snapdragon Stadium, which was packed with 34,506 fans for the home debut of the league’s 30th franchise. The game was also marred by a series of homophobic chants in the second half. … Rule makers are taking another crack at reducing time-wasting by goalkeepers who hold the ball too long. The International Football Association Board approved a rule change Saturday whereby the opposing team will be awarded a corner kick if a goalie holds the ball for more than eight seconds. The new rule will first be used at this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup in June. It replaces the current (and mostly unenforced) rule that states a referee can give an indirect free kick to the other side if a goalkeeper holds the ball for more than six seconds.