Governing Bodies
BARCELONA TO TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST FORMER VICE-PRESIDENT
Barcelona will bring legal action against a former vice-president who has made accusations of management corruption, the La Liga champions announced on Monday (April 13).
Last week Barcelona furiously denied accusations from Emili Rousaud, who was one of six directors to resign on Thursday, that someone at the club had “put their hands in the till”.
“The Board of Directors categorically denies any action that could be described as corruption and have agreed to bring the corresponding criminal action accordingly,” Barca said in a statement.
“FC Barcelona cannot tolerate allegations that seriously damage the institution’s image. The criminal action to be taken is in defence of the honour of the club and its employees. The existence of an ongoing audit must put an end to this matter.”
Rousaud’s allegations focus on February’s social media controversy, when Barcelona were accused of hiring a company called I3 Ventures to discredit opponents of the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu online, including players like Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.
“If the auditors tell us the cost of these services is 100,000 euros and we have paid one million, it means someone has put their hand in the till,” Rousaud told the programme RAC1 on Friday.
Bartomeu terminated the club’s contract with I3 Ventures in February.
Barcelona added in their statement that an audit of the club’s social media monitoring contracts being carried out by PriceWaterhouseCoopers was being slowed down by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The current State of Alarm as a result of Covid-19 has had an impact on the development of certain analytical procedures,” the statement read.
The announcement is the latest episode in a political crisis for the club under Bartomeu. All six resigning board members have called for the club’s 2021 presidential election to be brought forward.
Rousaud had been appointed as a club vice-president in January and was seen as a leading candidate to succeed Bartomeu, who cannot stand again for the post.
Instead, Rousaud quit alongside fellow vice-president Enrique Tombas, as well as directors Silvio Elias, Josep Pont, Jordi Calsamiglia and Maria Teixidor.
Barcelona have since moved to restructure their board, which had approved the appointments of Jordi Moix as vice president for economic and equity, Pau Vilanova as institutional vice president, Oriol Tomas as vice president of the commercial area, Marta Plana as board secretary, and David Bellver as treasurer.
“Javier Bordas will be the manager responsible for the football first team, while Xavier Vilajoana will be in charge of Barca B, the youth teams and women’s football,” the club said in a statement.
In recent months Bartomeu has been involved in a string of political spats being played out in public.
Messi reacted angrily in January to Eric Abidal, the club’s technical secretary, suggesting the players were to blame for the sacking of coach Ernesto Valverde and last month, the Argentinian star criticised the club’s handling of negotiations with the squad over pay cuts.
– AFP, Reuters
World football governing body, FIFA, today clocks its 122nd anniversary, celebrating more than a century of overseeing and expanding the global game.
Founded on May 21, 1904, in Paris, France, FIFA began with just seven member associations — France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
From that modest beginning, the organisation has grown into the most influential sports governing body in the world, with 211 member associations spread across all continents.
Over the decades, FIFA has transformed football into a truly global phenomenon through competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Club World Cup, youth tournaments, and developmental programmes aimed at growing the game worldwide.
The organisation has also witnessed remarkable milestones, including the expansion of the men’s World Cup from 13 teams in 1930 to 48 teams beginning from the 2026 edition to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
FIFA’s journey has equally reflected football’s growing influence beyond sport, with the game becoming a major tool for diplomacy, social inclusion, youth empowerment, and economic development across the world.
As FIFA celebrates 122 years of existence, attention is now focused on the future of the game, technological innovations, expanded competitions, women’s football growth, and the continued globalisation of football.
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UEFA has issued a lifetime ban to Petr Vlachovsky, a Czech women’s soccer coach who secretly filmed his players, the governing body announced on Tuesday.
Czech media reported that the coach was convicted in May 2025 and initially received a suspended one-year prison sentence and a five-year domestic coaching ban for filming FC Slovacko’s players in changing rooms, the youngest of whom was 17.
In a statement, UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) said it had decided to ban Vlachovsky “from exercising any football-related activity for life” following the appointment of an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate allegations of potential misconduct.
“The CEDB further decided to request FIFA to extend the abovementioned ban on a worldwide level and to order the Football Association of the Czech Republic to revoke Mr Petr Vlachovsky’s coaching licence,” the statement added.
FC Slovacko did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Football players’ union FIFPRO welcomed the ban as well as UEFA’s request for world soccer governing body FIFA to impose an international ban on Vlachovsky.
“This outcome sends a strong and necessary message that abusive and inappropriate behaviour has no place in football and that safeguarding the well-being of players must remain a priority at every level of the game,” FIFPRO added in a statement.
Vlachovsky had also previously served as coach of the Czech women’s Under-19s team.
RELATED STORY: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/04/08/outrage-as-male-coach-who-secretly-filmed-women-players-still-free-to-work-in-football/
-Reuters
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Southampton have been kicked out of the Championship playoff final after being found guilty of spying on semi-final opponents Middlesbrough, the English Football League said on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough, who lost 2-1 to Southampton on aggregate in the semi, have been reinstated and will face Hull City on Saturday in what is dubbed the world’s richest soccer match.
Promotion to the Premier League, even with an immediate relegation, is estimated to be worth in the region of 200 million pounds ($268.10 million) over three seasons.
Southampton, who admitted the charges, were also found guilty of filming training sessions involving Oxford United in December and Ipswich Town in April during the regular season.
They have also been deducted four points from the start of next season in England’s second tier.
“An Independent Disciplinary Commission has today expelled Southampton from the Championship play-offs after the club admitted multiple breaches of EFL regulations related to the unauthorised filming of other clubs’ training,” the EFL said.
“Southampton admitted breaches of Regulations requiring Clubs to act with the utmost good faith and prohibiting the observation of another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match.
“The effect of today’s order is that Middlesbrough are reinstated into the 2026 play-offs and will proceed to the play-off final against Hull City. The final remains scheduled for Saturday 23 May, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.”
The EFL confirmed that Southampton could appeal against the decision and that “parties are working to try and resolve any appeal on Wednesday 20 May.
“Subject to the outcome, it could result in a further change to Saturday’s fixture,” the statement said.
‘BORO CALLED FOR SOUTHAMPTON EXPULSION
Middlesbrough had called for Southampton’s expulsion after having a training session at their Rockliffe Park site filmed 48 hours ahead of the first leg of their playoff semi-final with Southampton which ended 0-0.
The north-east club said they welcomed the decision.
“We believe this sends out a clear message for the future of our game regarding sporting integrity and conduct,” the north Middlesbrough said in a statement.
“As a club, we are now focused on our game against Hull City at Wembley on Saturday.”
Southampton were relegated from the Premier League last season and were struggling in the early part of this campaign until a storming finish in which they went unbeaten in 19 league games to finish fourth and enter the playoffs.
The south-coast club are the first to fall foul of the Football League’s regulation 127 — brought in after Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County seven years ago, an offence for which they were fined 200,000 pounds.
-Reuters
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