football news round up
Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Xabi Alonso, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Gerard Pique are, according to El Mundo, are being investigated for tax discrepancies. Article in spanish here.
N.B. To be fair, what the players are doing is perfectly legal, in terms of receiving their salaries (15%) which is paid to their S.L. companies, which pay a 35% corporate tax instead of the 47% IRPF (income) tax.
Yes, they were doing this to save money on taxes.
Yes, what they were doing is absolutely legal as of the 29th of October of 2014
No, they are not being investigated for tax fraud
They have been asked to stop doing this, because of a new law coming in. The players have been asked to pay retroactively, due to changes in tax and they've done so (h/t to reddit for explaining this).
Sturridge defends misunderstood Balotelli
NGL, they seem to get on really well, and have good playing chemistry when they played once *sobs*.
“Mario’s a great guy, and he’s misunderstood sometimes,” said Sturridge.
“A lot of people are harsh on him. I get on really well with him, though. I have nothing but good words to say about him.
“We get on well off the field and in the changing rooms. We’re always laughing and joking.
“It's not hugely important to be friends to have a great (football) relationship with somebody, and if you're not friends you can still have a great partnership, but you can also be friends and have a great partnership (OP here: it's understood that Sturridge and Suàrez didn't get on, even though they were dynamite on the field).
“Once I get back fit I’m hoping we can strike up a partnership. rest of article here
Rio Ferdinand banned for three games due to tweet
Rio Ferdinand was banned for three matches and fined £25,000 on Wednesday night after failing to respond to an FA charge of misconduct regarding an abusive tweet.
The Queens Park Rangers defender had reacted to online provocation by using the word ‘sket’ in a post about the person’s mother. Sket is a Caribbean word meaning a whore or a promiscuous girl or woman. (OP here: the word is skettel, but sket is the abbreviation)
Failure to admit the charge may have counted against the 35-year-old, who recently served on FA chairman Greg Dyke’s England commission. The tweet may also have been considered a second offence, given it is only two years since Ferdinand was fined £45,000 for referring to Ashley Cole as a ‘choc ice’.
the tweet in question
story here
Match Round ups
Capital Cup
- Manchester City 0-2 Newcastle United
- Tottingham 2-0 Brighton
- Stoke 2-3 Southampton
Copa del Rey
- Cornella 1- 4 Real Madrid
- Sabadell 1- 6 Sevilla
DFB-Pokal
- Hamburger SV 1-3 Bayern Munich
- 1860 Munich 2-5 SC Frieburg
- Wolfsburg 4-1 Heidenheim
- RB Leipzig 3- 1Erzgebirge
- Eintracht 1-2 Mönchengladbach
- Wolfsburg 4 -1 Heidenheim
- Hoffenheim 5- 1 FSV Frankfurt
Pic Spam
Balotelli, Cam and Moreno in their dig out against Swansea during the Capital Cup match on Tuesday.
Thomas Muller holds his hands up, admitting that the red stripe detracts from what would have been a kick ass kit.
We won. Again. Yawn.
LOL, I like this picture, Idek why
Riberi has a punchable face, NGL
Manchester City vs Newcastle United. The picture says it all, really. Shout out to Manchester City's bosses for cutting the ticket prices- they got a good crowd in
I'm neutral on Man City, tbh, but I hope Silva's okay
I know that R B Leipzig gets a lot of sneers in certain parts of the German footballing community, so I won't risk it having pictures of their players here. Besides, photos of them seem to be thin on the ground
That's dangerous, Marcelo you might- oh, never mind
James and Chicharito. Glad to see that he's thriving!
James and Varane in the Copa del Rey.