...Frankfurt, carnival-visiting families got more than they bargained for – Gianni Infantino with his pants down
WEIRD WORLD OF FOOTBALL
1 “AVERT YOUR EYES, DARLING!”
Gianni Infantino gets everywhere these days – sometimes without even knowing it.
In London for a March conference, the FIFA head honcho decided to watch Millwall against Norwich at The Den rather than go to Arsenal or Chelsea on the same day. Maybe he just couldn’t get a ticket?
He’s been in Germany, too. Well, sort of. Frankfurt’s annual carnival features a parade where 300,000 turned out to see giant figurines on floats, including Vladimir Putin eating a map of Ukraine, Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner holding the 2022 Europa League trophy, and a ‘creative’ depiction of Infantino.
As horrified parents watched on, bent-over Gianni sidled past with his pants down and dollar notes in his eyes, while a man in Arab dress stood behind him sporting a World Cup football for a face. What could the creators have possibly been trying to say about the 2022 tournament? If only they’d been less subtle.
Legal disclaimer: Mr Infantino was not the FIFA president when the tournament was awarded, and there’s no suggestion he acted improperly. Or had any dealings with a man wearing a football for a face.
2 RELEASE CLAUSE
Spectators haven’t exactly been flooding in to watch Romanian relegation strugglers Mioveni during the current campaign, so they had a novel idea to boost attendances.
Sitting bottom of the country’s top division, the Yellow and Greens have been averaging gates of less than 2,000, so invited 25 prisoners for their fixture at home to Sepsi. The inmates helped to clear snow from the stands before the match, and were closely guarded at all times, presumably to stop them legging it when they went for a hot dog.
It wasn’t just the inmates who got out of jail that afternoon, though – Mioveni bagged a 95th-minute goal to somehow avoid yet another loss.
3 BATTLE OF YPRES
Belgian side Westhoek called Stijn Meert ‘the right man in the right place’ after unveiling him as their new boss – that quickly looked a bit daft.
The former Zulte Waregem winger had been convicted last year of driving under the influence of cocaine, which was awkward, given that Westhoek’s home ground in Ypres is entitled the Crackstadion, and their sponsors are the Crack furniture company.
Probably fearing the incoming jokes, Crack reportedly weren’t happy about Meert’s arrival – mysteriously absent for his first planned meeting with the squad, it was soon announced that he wouldn’t be taking charge after all.
