Man of the week

Maurizio Zamparini, 75 – selling Palermo after 15 years and 40 coaching changes, but ready to stay as “football consultant” to the club’s new Anglo-American owners. “I’m needed here. They don’t know a damn thing about football.”

• Zamparini’s first big football intervention at Palermo, a year after taking over in 2003: telling the press he planned to work round his coach and “personally kill” his players for “being shit”: “I’ll cut off their balls and eat them in my salad.” He said his style was “impulsive … I’m not an easy president.”

Also calling it a day

Nigeria’s former Fifa ExCo member Amos Adamu. His Fifa story arc:

2006: Denies he bribed his way in. “Corrupt people go to jail, not to Fifa. The truth is always constant.”

2010: Caught soliciting World Cup vote bribes; banned for three years.

2013: Returns. “I am free again to contribute to football in Nigeria, Africa and the world. I am now a different person. This is the new Amos Adamu.”

2017: Banned again for unspecified “unethical conduct”; says he’s retraining as a clergyman. “I’ve had enough of football politics. My calling is different now, my life has changed. I’m back in the seminary to serve God.”

Democrat of the week

Bahrain ruling family member Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa – calling for open and fair Asian Football Confederation elections in May. “We will see different views, different approaches … there will be winners and losers. That is normal in football.”

And most joined-up

Fifa.com – offering new Obese Person Tickets based on body mass index for “easy access extra-width seats” at June’s Confederations Cup in Russia. Tournament sponsors: Budweiser and McDonalds.

Other news: strongest voice

Mexico’s FA – reacting to Liga MX side Querétaro players wearing “rivalry is not violence” T-shirts next to a banner reading “respect, tolerance, passion, love, dignity, education, peace, friendship, coexistence, fair play” – fining them £4,800 for breaching rules on political messages.

• Taking a more relaxed view on code breaches last week: Italy’s FA, ruling out a fine for Lazio over “repeated” racist chants because it was “impossible to ascertain the number or percentage of fans who joined in”.

Most wanted

Brazil: Ex-Flamengo keeper Bruno – jailed for 22 years in 2010 for having his girlfriend killed and fed to dogs to avoid paying child support – in talks with ten clubs after being released on parole. “I have paid, I’ve paid dearly. Now I’m starting over.”

• Among Bruno’s suitors: Brasiliense president Luis Estévão, directing contract talks from jail while serving 31 years for corruption, criminal conspiracy and embezzlement. Bruno’s lawyer Lúcio Adolfo: “I confirm Brasiliense is an option. Negotiations are well advanced.”

Bruno: starting over. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

• Last week’s other Brasiliense headline: a new legal setback after 38-year-old midfielder Souza was arrested in the changing room before a league match over alleged “substantial tax crimes”. He denies wrongdoing.

Most patient

Spain, 23 Feb: Real Murcia sports director Deseado Flores defending coach Paco García: “My confidence in the coach and in the work he is doing is absolute. Let’s show some patience.” 26 Feb: Sacks him.

• Also making moves in Spain:

16 Feb: Deportivo president Tino Fernandez on coach Gaizka Garitano. “Garitano has to be encouraged, exhorted. There’s no question of his exit, there’s no ultimatum. Let’s grit our teeth.” 27 Feb: Sacks him.

2 Feb: Almería president Alfonso García on coach Fernando Soriano: “He’s still learning – he’s only just hung up his boots – but no coach has ever worked so hard. He lives for football. He works all day on football, then goes home and watches football. He embodies our philosophy. Soriano stays.” 26 Feb: Soriano goes.

Best messaging

Aston Villa owner @Dr_TonyXia: a) Talking to Villa fans on Twitter: “#We are a team. #Fight through …. I didn’t buy Villa 4 business purpose. I never expected making money from it.” b) Talking to Bloomberg in Beijing about how he nearly bought Southampton instead. “We held discussions with a lot of clubs. Even if we didn’t buy Villa, we would have entered the sports industry through other means. Now that we have control of Villa, we will leverage this opportunity and use it to further our business in the sports industry.”

Most got at

France: Bastia captain Yannick Cahuzac, shown his fourth red card in 10 games after slapping the fourth official’s number board. Coach François Ciccolini: “Leave Cahuzac alone, leave the boy alone. They systematically harass him. Lamentable.”

Best advice

Italy: Massimo Ferrero, Sampdoria president, telling the press to “stop breaking the balls of referees. I’ve had my moments with them, but they have a really difficult job. Be constructive, let them work, think of the image of our game.”

(Most recent Ferrero moment – January: “This referee is a thief, it is a robbery. In Italy robbery is a crime. Who will give us our points back? And what about the linesman, was his arm broken? He never raised it. How is it these errors are always against small to medium clubs? I am truly pissed off.”)

And most upbeat

Diego Maradona, pulling out of Italy’s Dancing with the Stars after being offered a chance to follow £615k-a-week Carlos Tevez to China as national football advisor. Agent Matías Morla: “The same people who took Tevez want Diego. Diego is very excited.”