The week in football: Wonga’s community focus; Gigi Becali says sorry; plus what makes footballers a good catch

Mr 4,012 percent

Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi: backing the club’s £24m shirt deal with Wonga.com after critics attacked the payday lender for deliberately targeting a deprived region: “Speaking to the guys from Wonga it was certainly my impression that they want to make sure it’s a fans’ club. They want to see the whole community brought into things.”

• Taking a moral lead on the deal: the FA’s Alex Horne – assessing Wonga’s logo as potentially “inappropriate” for children’s replica shirts, “in the same category with gambling and alcohol”. Not in the category: FA community partner McDonald’s, on branded football kidswear nationwide.

More sponsor news

• £720k: Football League sponsor npower’s funding for their Tackling It Together project – npower aiming to use football to fight “social alienation” in UK areas hit hardest by poverty. • 9%: Increase in UK energy bills last week – npower aiming to build on last year’s 34% profit rise. • £1.27bn: Parent company RWE’s total profit in the first six months of 2012.

Reliving the dream

Also looking to the future: the reformed Rangers – moving on from the old club’s pre-liquidation debt of £134m, including £94m tax, to raise £20m via a flotation to spend on “players and property”. Chief executive Charles Green: “Rangers is debt-free and a huge club with a 140-year record of success. Our aim is to return to the glory days.”

War on racism: update

2011: Sepp Blatter says his statement that “there is no racism in football” was misunderstood. “I would like to make it very clear: Fifa has fought this plague for years, we would never deny it.” 2012: Ángel María Villar Llona, Spain’s Fifa executive since 1998: “There is no racism in Spanish football.”

• Villar Llona’s other big positive message last week, speaking at the Leaders in Football conference in London: a refusal to rule out a run for the Uefa presidency. “For now I am focused on the present. The future is created by hard work in the here and now.”

Apology of the week

Swedish reporter Bo Hansson, 78, reacting to complaints after his references to “darkies” were broadcast live by mistake. “It wasn’t meant to go out… I was just sitting, speaking to myself. I’m so old so I have a different background with these kinds of words. I can say ‘yellow’ about a Chinese person, I could bloody well say ‘whitey’ too. For me, it’s mostly just a description.”

Journalists: idiots

Leading last week’s exits:

• Portugal, 24 Sep: Ricardo Sá Pinto, Sporting Lisbon coach. “The press are lying. I talk to the board every day and they’ve never questioned my job, so these stories are outrageous. We are really united here. Together we’ll turn this round.” 5 Oct: Sacked.

• Argentina, 1 Oct: San Lorenzo president Matias Lammens calls a press conference to “calm the waters” after irresponsible media speculation over coach Ricardo Caruso Lombardi’s future. “Let’s be clear on this, there are no ultimatums, no deadlines, he’s in good spirits. We are together, and stronger than ever.” 10 Oct: Sacks him.

Best newcomer

Bulgaria, 10 Oct: Lokomotiv Plovdiv president Veselin Mareshki unveils Georgi Ivanov as manager, looking to end a month of internal conflict. “I am delighted. I hope he will be here many years.” Ivanov: “I grew up here, I love this club, it is part of me. I’m not worried about what people say about the state it’s in: we’ll show our character.” 12 Oct: Resigns. “This place is a mess.”

Comeback of the week

4: Weeks between Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini starting a self-imposed media blackout to avoid causing more controversy (“I’m saying nothing for six months”), and breaking cover to assess the merits of PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti. “He criticises Pastore? Pastore is a phenomenon. Ancelotti does not understand a shit about football.”

Best backtrack

Romania: Gigi Becali, Steaua owner, clarifying last week’s view that “gays cannot be in football”. “I love gays, I love blacks, I love whites, I love Gypsies equally. Seriously, I love gays, even if what they do is demeaning.”

On reflection

Romania: Gloria Bistrita coach Nicolae Manea, asked if he regretted throwing a stretcher on to the pitch in response to a refereeing decision. “No regrets. I was actually restrained. I wanted to beat him, to trample him, to go down in history. After the game he told me it was ‘just human error’. Hell!”

Plus: best endorsement

Argentina: Uruguayan model Vitto Saravia on dating her third footballer, Pablo Mouche – former partner of rival model Luli Fernandez. “It is going well. Four months now. In general, I would say footballers are pleasing. They are fairly clean, have good physiques, and make for good companions. I have nothing off-putting to say.”