footballcircus: Hostage Footballer, UFO Sighting and Ass Tattoos

Welcome to the first Football Circus of 2014. We've a lot lined here at Football Circus this year, so make sure to keep reading. As far as the football world goes, new year, same old nonsense. So without further farting about, here's your first installment of 2014.

Brazilian Player Claims to be being held Hostage in Saudi Arabia

Brazilian midfielder Rafael Bastos has alleged that he is being held hostage by his club, Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.

Bastos has told Italian website Tuttomercaweb.com:

"For more than three weeks myself, my wife and two small children have been stuck here. The club has not given us a visa to leave the country.

"I was promised a really attractive salary when I signed with Al Nassr, and since I arrived I’ve have trained hard and I played with maximum energy. However I’ve not seen a dime. It’s been four months now.

"I’ve spoken with the management of the club, and initially I was told that I would be paid the following week. Since then I’ve written letters in vain. So I decided to give the club an ultimatum: Either you pay me or I I go.

"They still have not paid me. They have broken my contract with the club, so I’ve asked for a new visa to go home because the old one had expired.

"I spent Christmas here with my wife and children, while in Brazil the rest of the family cried over what’s going on. Nobody has done, nor are they doing, anything to help me get a visa. I asked the Brazilian embassy for help about 15 days ago, but so far I’ve not had a reply.

"I just want to go home with my family. But I do not know if it is possible to this point. I’m asking for help from the press, from fans, from anyone. I want people to know what is happening to me so that this doesn’t happen again in the future.

"It’s incredible to think that last year was winning at Manchester United in the Champions League for Cluj, and now I’m a hostage to my club. It’s really incredible".

UFO Spotted over Werder Bremen Stadium

Perhaps German police have been watching too many X-Files re-runs, but reports have emanated from Deutschland this week that a UFO was spotted 300 metres over the Werder Bremen stadium, the Weserstadion.

Bremen police confirmed that there was a sighting of a UFO at around 6.30pm on Tuesday in the area. This was no "Hey ma'w I thunk I done saw one them aliens" UFO sightings, it was rather more serious than that. So serious in fact that the airspace over the city was closed for three hours, resulting in delays for numerous flights.

A police spokesperson said:

"There was something there, but we don't know what it was".

The truth is out there.

Fan Makes an Ass of himself with Jon Obi Mikel Tattoo

We've seen some shocking football-related tattoos in the past. Why Nile Ranger even made our 'Golden Clown Shoe Award' shortlist for his idiotic head tattoo recently. But our attention was drawn this week, to the rear end of football fan and Twitter tweeter, Lee Mitchell.

The silly twit tweeted the following prior to Chelsea's match against Derby:

Well guess what? Mikel only went and scored. The tweet quickly went viral.

Mitchell, to his credit, proved he wasn't talking out of his ass by getting the midfielder's name permanently inked on his buttock. And to prove to the world that he wasn't lying, he duly tweeted a photo of his new tattoo.

Bum deal.

What's Mad Mario Upto This Week?

Will he stay or will he go? Since the January transfer window opened, and even in the weeks prior, Balotelli's AC Milan future has been in doubt. At the end of December, Balo's agent Mino Raiola was quoted:

"Mario wishes to leave Milan in January. We don’t know where he will go at the moment, we are looking at the different possibilities".

However, Balotelli himself has now come out to deny that he will be exiting the San Siro, at least not until after the World Cup. Balotelli has stated:

"I am staying at Milan. I have to get ready for the World Cup and stay calm".

This followed a vehement denial earlier in the week by Milan president Silvio Berslusconi that the Rossoneiri were ready to part with the mercurial striker.

So for the moment, it would seem, Balo will be staying put.

Italian Football Story of the Week

- Niang Apologises to Allegri

Former AC Milan star M'Baye Niang has apologised to his former manager, Massimo Allegri, for he retweeted a tweet labeling Allegri a "son of a whore" and essentially blamed the Milan manager on his exit from the club.

The retweet was posted after Niang scored on his debut for new club Montpellier.

The striker has moved swiftly to apologise however and has stated:

"I retweeted a tweet that I shouldn’t have done.

"I cancelled it as soon as I realised, but I never wanted to lack respect towards anyone, especially those who believed in me.

"I apologise if I hurt anyone. Now enough with the pointless controversy!"

Artist's Impression

This week we have recreated the UFO sighting over Werder Bremen's Weserstadion. Believe it or not, this is NOT a photo taken at the scene by an onlooker.