⚽️The Footy Thread: German Super Cup, International Champions Cup, Copa Libertadores

[PRIME]

Giovinco looks to be byke in the Azzurri squad.

SN: Just an observation.... Giovinco seems to be shorter than Insigne, and Verrati is taller than Insigne

Bruh... Italy puts those 3 out at the same time against a Belgium or somewhere with trees for players and it would be straight comedy

 

[Armada]

One of the guys on Men in Blazers mentioned how his son keeps calling Ross Barkley John Cena and now I can’t unsee it

 

[Belgium]

Holy ****
Damn near the whole Belgian league is under criminal investigation.

10 club offices getting raided, top referees involved, the Club Brugge manager (won title last season and currently #2 in league), ...

 

[8pm at msg]

Sounds like poaching time to me

 

[Belgium]

I suppose the positive since my domestic club's (AA Gent) offices are also being raided in the investigation is that maybe we weren't really this bad and were just losing on purpose or getting screwed by a paid off referee.


Edit: 57 known property search warrants executed so far. 44 domestically and 13 abroad.
From what I can tell the highlighted foreign countries on this crappy excuse for a map are of course France to the left, the small island of Corsica to its right and what appears to Servia on the right.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Hate to sound so cynical, but most sports are rigged... Here in the states, niffle is definately rigged. Lots of niffle players are into the betting oligarchs for dough...

 

[jape]

Lukaku went on social media to tell everyone on social media how much he doesn’t care about people talking ****.

Sounds legit.

I always get on social media to talk about things I don’t care about

 

[PRIME]

Obi Juan the freekick master?

 

[sfc415]

Verde Shuttles sfc415

Bruhhhh, Gamorra is ****** dopeeeeeee.....


The main character looks like a better looking Pep Guardiola and the Don looks like Mauricio Sarri

Napolitans have crazy accents/dialects

Show had me feeling like getting a terrible high fade/mohawk and G Star track suit

 

[Belgium]

Edit: Police also confirmed that all individuals who were taken into custody are being held as suspects, not witnesses.
A total of 24 individuals have been taken into custody, ranging from club executives, player agents, referees and a former attorney to jewelers and a few journalists.

Mogi Bayat has been arrested and will presumably be indicted. He's the top player agent in Belgian football and has a strong influence at pretty much every club. Almost all transfers from our league go through him. He became an agent roughly 8 years ago and now handles 90% (no exaggeration) of transfers within and from the Belgian Pro League.
One of the clubs that got raided said that the police were confiscating all records on Bayat.

One of the allegations against Bayat claims he was able to somehow acquire and sell loads of players whose clubs found it almost impossible to get rid of them due to lack of interest or price demands. He repeatedly managed to swoop in and get a good deal that was satisfactory to both the player and selling club. Those particular transfers often went to the same handful of clubs such as Udinese.

The Club Brugge manager was taken into custody for interrogation early this morning (GMT+2) and is still being interrogated as far as we know.
Edit: It's confirmed he will spend at least tonight in jail.

One of the referees in custody was supposed to oversee a Nations League match this weekend between Georgia and Andorra. UEFA has taken swift action and replaced him.

The foreign search warrants as part of the investigation took place in France, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. Serbian authorities confiscated €800.000 in cash from 6 properties, allegedly from suspicious transfers.

Another agent, Christophe Henrotay, is confirmed to be under criminal investigation as well, though not specifically related to the larger corruption, money laundering and match fixing investigation. He's accused of withholding millions of euros in foreign shell company constructions off transfers from players like Lukaku and Youri Tielemans.
He's also Thibaut Courtois' current agent.
A professional trainer who worked with Henrotay filed a criminal complaint against him, which resulted in the current investigation against him.

 

[jape]

All this self campaigning Griezman is doing is pitiful

 

[layziegunts]

http://www.goal.com/en/news/bayer-l...and-speculation-by/1i6qurb0vfwgd18ainyrvt63zr

Bailey finally pledges to Jamaica, you people have no idea how big this is for us

 

[Verde Shuttles]

All this self campaigning Griezman is doing is pitiful

he's been average this season too

 

[Belgium]

All this self campaigning Griezman is doing is pitiful

Can’t stand him after that whole blackface and “la décision” media circus

 

[jape]

Edit: Police also confirmed that all individuals who were taken into custody are being held as suspects, not witnesses.
A total of 24 individuals have been taken into custody, ranging from club executives, player agents, referees and a former attorney to jewelers and a few journalists.

Mogi Bayat has been arrested and will presumably be indicted. He's the top player agent in Belgian football and has a strong influence at pretty much every club. Almost all transfers from our league go through him. He became an agent roughly 8 years ago and now handles 90% (no exaggeration) of transfers within and from the Belgian Pro League.
One of the clubs that got raided said that the police were confiscating all records on Bayat.

One of the allegations against Bayat claims he was able to somehow acquire and sell loads of players whose clubs found it almost impossible to get rid of them due to lack of interest or price demands. He repeatedly managed to swoop in and get a good deal that was satisfactory to both the player and selling club. Those particular transfers often went to the same handful of clubs such as Udinese.

The Club Brugge manager was taken into custody for interrogation early this morning (GMT+2) and is still being interrogated as far as we know.
Edit: It's confirmed he will spend at least tonight in jail.

One of the referees in custody was supposed to oversee a Nations League match this weekend between Georgia and Andorra. UEFA has taken swift action and replaced him.

The foreign search warrants as part of the investigation took place in France, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. Serbian authorities confiscated €800.000 in cash from 6 properties, allegedly from suspicious transfers.

Another agent, Christophe Henrotay, is confirmed to be under criminal investigation as well, though not specifically related to the larger corruption, money laundering and match fixing investigation. He's accused of withholding millions of euros in foreign shell company constructions off transfers from players like Lukaku and Youri Tielemans.
He's also Thibaut Courtois' current agent.
A professional trainer who worked with Henrotay filed a criminal complaint against him, which resulted in the current investigation against him.

This **** is crazy man.
that agent though. How did he get so much pull?

 

[Belgium]

This **** is crazy man.
that agent though. How did he get so much pull?

For starters he is very intelligent and an incredible negotiator but there's obviously the question of illegality.
One thing he does is charge significantly less in agent fees, at least from what we know officially, than any other agent in the country. Basically undercuts every other agent and not just by a little.
It's not very clear to me when exactly he started doing so but other agents have long complained about it. By undercutting everyone else he just keeps expanding his influence.
Aside from that he also manages lucrative transfers of unwanted players that just don't really make sense, especially when you see the same handful of clubs over and over again in those deals like Udinese. There almost has to be some shady backroom dealing involved there. He'll get rid of just about any unwanted player and get a deal that is somehow favorable to both the selling club and player.

In short, he gets much better deals than any other agent in the country by a fair distance, even when it comes to unwanted players that struggled to get any interest prior to his involvement. On top of that he does it for significantly less agent fees than anyone else.

Clubs and players in our league have virtually no reason to not use him as an agent other than taking issue with him as a person. I assume most are well aware there has to be at least some shady business involved.

From what has been reported, it appears that the investigation started from a lead about financial fraud in Belgian football transactions but along the way they expanded their inquiry to money laundering and potential match fixing due to what they found. Some of the activities are apparently being investigated in the context of a larger criminal enterprise.

If anything this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

http://www.goal.com/en/news/bayer-l...and-speculation-by/1i6qurb0vfwgd18ainyrvt63zr

Bailey finally pledges to Jamaica, you people have no idea how big this is for us

Sell off, Tun up, Wicked!!!!!

Edit - For those that know, I know it’s kind of corny but one of my best friends growing up (Jamaican) had a grand mother who used to say that when something exciting happened. I think thats how you spell it.

 

[noskey]

Jamaica putting together a more respectable squad at every turn Would love to see the Reggae Boyz pulling up for a spot in the next WC.

 

[sfc415]

Jamaica putting together a more respectable squad at every turn Would love to see the Reggae Boyz pulling up for a spot in the next WC.

Based on how England treats their Jaimaican descent players, I hope not a single Jaimaican ever joins that trash team again.

 

[Verde Shuttles]

Wish Monaco would do us a solid and loan us Falcao in January

 

[noskey]

Based on how England treats their Jaimaican descent players, I hope not a single Jaimaican ever joins that trash team again.

Is it too late for Raheem to file for a one time federation transfer?

 

[sfc415]

Is it too late for Raheem to file for a one time federation transfer?

I wish this was allowed. Too Western countries been showing their true colors lately. Nothing makes me happier than watching USA, Italy, Germany, England, etc. get relegated to trash status/stay trash

Makes no sense for players like Balotelli to only be allowed to play for Italy while he hears monkey chants and "My captain is not black" chants from their own fans every match

 

[jape]

 

[PRIME]

 

[flyeed]

Marca reporting Hazard can leave to Real with just a year left on his contract for the low next summer, like Courtois did.

Between washed Benz, injury prone Bale, and if Asensio continues struggling to put it all together, RM’s forward options can undergo a massive overhaul next summer. Their interest in both Neymar and Mbappe isn’t a secret either.

This is a season that can define much of Asensio’s career. Either he’ll ward off galacticos and keep his place safe by showing he’s a star, or Flo will be forced to buy reinforcements and Asensio might never get the minutes to fulfill the potential he’s shown.