2016 has begun with football and politics mixing again in Catalonia with unfortunate results — during three ‘derbi’ games packed with plenty of regretful incident on and off the pitch.

At an extraordinary session in Zurich last Tuesday, the Fifa Executive Committee appointed Spanish FA president Angel Maria Villar Llona as acting chairman of the Organising Committee for the Fifa World Cup 2018.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and company returned to action over the weekend - mercifully ending an off-season remarkable for the infighting and incompetence of those running Spanish football.

The death of a Deportivo La Coruna ‘ultra’ in fighting before last Sunday’s La Liga match at Atletico Madrid has led to attempts at expelling all such radical ‘supporters’ from the Spanish game.

La Liga’s winter transfer window shut more with a whimper than a bang last Thursday.