Norwegian freelance journalist, mainly covering intl. football politics for
@josimarfotball
. Opinions my own, tweets mainly in English, but sometimes in Spanish
My latest story for
@JosimarFotball
includes Cristiano Ronaldo, counter-revolutionary camels, honey traps, Emmanuel Macron, a billion dollar contract, velvet pouches and geopolitics influence African football development. Oh, and Fifa, of course.
Sweden's players have taken the decision to not play the 2nd half against Belgium in Brussels after a gunman has killed two persons wearing Sweden's NT shirts. Gunman still at large, and Brussels on highest terrorism alert.
I think it's about time I give my take on the Qatar 2022 WC boycott movement we've seen this month. Not that nothing has been said on the topic - on the contratry - but I believe I can contribute anyway, since it touches on what I write about (thread)
Remember how Fifa rejected those rainbow armband at the 2022 World Cup, that political symbols had no place in football? For the 2030 co-host Morocco, however, they seem to have done a volte-face. My latest for
@JosimarFotball
:
A Danish football website is giving away a
@valenciacf
shirt. Ulla Beate Wass, Daniel Wass' grandmother, is keen to win it. Her message to them "I'd very much like to win a Valencia CF shirt, as my grandson plays for them."
Remember how Fifa rejected those rainbow armband at the 2022 World Cup, that political symbols had no place in football? For the 2030 co-host Morocco, however, they seem to have done a volte-face. My latest for
@JosimarFotball
:
So here it is. African WC qualifiers for free on
@FIFAcom
's Youtube channel. No income for Caf, after Fifa helped to destroy their one billion media contract with Lagardère. Caf now hi-jacked by Fifa. African football development in ruins for a fistful of votes.
Al Ahly of Cairo Caf champions after beating arch rivals Zamalek in the final. Ahmad banned from Fifa. What a shame Amr Fahmy isn't alive to witness this, the former secretary general of Caf who blew the whistle, and who died of cancer earlier this year.
Hoarding a national sport in Norway, as in many other countries. Not that people in Sarpsborg, arch rivals of neighbours Fredrikstad, want to survive on Fredrikstad Football Club-branded bread.
A third victim, also Swedish, reported to be in hospital in a critical condition. Fans slowly allowed to leave the stadium, Swedish fans awaiting a police escort, told to not wear clothes exposing them as Swedish.
Barça fined the astronomical amount of €300 for illegally negotiating with Griezmann while the latter was under contract with Atlético Madrid. Surely this will deter them from ever trying this trick again!
Also reported by
@La_SER
. Attacks on profiles like Messi and Puyol, while also instructed to make the current board look good. Tactic a blueprint from their Qatari friends, perhaps? Next general assembly will be worth a watch.
A bit proud to debut in Spanish daily sports press. Especially as I wrote this up in the restroom at a children's ball park during a birthday party for 4/5 year-olds.
Ex
@valenciacf
midfielder Enzo Pérez is River Plate's chosen goalkeeper tonight against Santa Fe in the Copa Libertadores as all of their four regular goalkeepers are out with coronavirus.
Confirmed now that both victims were Swedish nationals. Also confirmed neither the Swedish players nor their coach knew about the attack before kick-off. Still no confirmed report that the gunman has been neutralised, and fans still holed up in the stadium.
Once disliked and criticised by many Valencia fans(myself included), we can now only thank him for staying through all the bad times. Most underrated genius in modern football?
Inequality, visualized. The human brain is blind to huge figures, but this really puts waelth distribution into perspective
Be warned! You will be scrolling for a while, so recommend to do this on a desktop/laptop instead of a mobile/tablet.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino just annexed an entire confederation (54 votes), and he seemingly doesn't care whether we care anymore, nor Fifa's own rules. From
@PhilippeAuclair
and yours truly, here's how it happened, for
@JosimarFotball
:
Most have already been said in various excellent obituaries about Diego Maradona, so I won't bother you with another one. But I feel I have to say something, so I'll leave it in a thread here instead.
Muy orgulloso de debutar en
@RevistaPanenka
sobre el club de mi pueblo: Rosenborg BK en su zenit, y su entrenador mítico, Nils Arne Eggen. Ahora en venta.
Diego rakk dessverre ikke å motta
@JosimarFotball
-trøya før han omkom. Nå er Maradona-bibelen og trøya stilt ut i museet til Gimnasia de la Plata, hans siste klubb som trener. Her må man på pilgrimstur når det blir mulig igjen.
#GELP
Agradecemos la gestión de
@MaxoRandrup
a través de quien nos llegó esta donación para el Museo de nuestro Club de la revista noruega
@JosimarFotball
, indumentaria y la copia de la nota publicada en octubre del año pasado en el número especial sobre Diego Armando Maradona 👇
@sidlowe
@Craig_Foster
It's long, but this by
@JamesPiotr
is brilliantly told by someone who not only knows the region and the predicament of Hakeem, but also intimatedly many of the players. You can't go better.
Not often Fifa send emails in this way, if ever. Well, this is how much Gianni Infantino wants you to know he had nothing to do with the Qatari sheik not fist-pumping the female referees. For rigour and balance, I hope this is now reflected in this tweet.
La Liga boss Javier Tebas, who was a member of a borderline fascist group in his youth, says here he'll vote for VOX, Spain's emerging far-right populist party, in the next election. The reaction of the girl in the background says it all.
Gate 12 at Mestalla, an homage to recently deceased Bernardo España, better known as Españeta, kit man at Valencia CF for more than four decades. True legend.
A true hero. I will never forget that meeting in Cairo the day he was sacked. The subsequent night, I spotted Ahmad and Samoura together having a night cap (non-alcoholic, I presume) after the Afcon draw.
In 2019, Amr Fahmy availed a dossier detailing corruption & sexual harassment of
@CAF_Online
female staff by
@AAhmad_CAF
to
@FIFAcom
.
Instead,
@fatma_samoura
betrayed her oath of duty and had him sacked.
He passed away one year ago today.
We will never forget.
The president of Cameroon's football federation, Samuel Eto'o, is perhaps the country's greatest hero. But now he's the subject of investigations both at home and abroad, accused of match fixing, cronyism and corruption. My latest for
@JosimarFotball
That Sevilla-Eibar ending with Lucas Ocampos becoming a match winner then denying the opposition goalkeeper the equalizer as a stand-in goalie is the perfect pub quiz question in about three decades from now.
I've dreamed for a podcast raising issues on football outside the pitch for a long time, and here is a golden chance if you agree as well, as
@JosimarFotball
have teamed up with the brilliant FootballWeekly
@guardian_sport
podcast for just this purpose. (1/2)
Alexis Sánchez and Arturo Vidal played together at Colo-Colo in 2006/07, winning the Apertura and Clausura.
They played in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing third with Chile.
They won two Copa Américas with Chile.
Now 31 and 33, they're going to link up again at Inter.
2:10am in Valencia. Waiting for bus to take me to Barcelona and the Russian consulate there to get my visa for the FIFA congress in Moscow in June. I don't have an appointment as they haven't picked up the phone for the last two weeks (I've tried about 1200 times!). Wish me luck!
Our FR4978 flight has landed safely in Vilnius at 19:25hrs UK time (21:25hrs local time). Here is Ryanair’s statement on today’s diversion to Minsk Airport 👇