July 1 – Between nine and 15 people have been killed in a bomb blast while watching and playing football in Baghdad, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Iraqis either competing or watching and prompting a plea by Asian football authorities to beef up security in the region.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 1 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter insists the Confederations Cup, which concluded on Sunday with Brazil’s resounding 3-0 win over Spain, rose above the mass street protests that co-incided with the tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 1 – Fifteen CSKA fans have been detained after an attack on the headquarters of the Bulgarian FA in protest at the debt-ridden club facing the prospect of being plunged into obscurity. CSKA will play in the amateur championship next season if they fail to merge with another first division club in time for the start of the Bulgarian league on July 20.
By David Owen
June 29 – Further evidence of the Barclays Premier League’s remarkable international pulling power has emerged with a new shirt sponsorship deal announced by Swansea City. The South Wales club, whose rapid advance from the lower reaches of the professional game in Britain was underlined last season by victory in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley, has agreed a £2 million deal with a Hong Kong-based financial services provider called Goldenway.
Spain’s Confederations Cup semi-final win on penalties over Italy in Fortaleza was marred by more protests as 5,000 protestors clashed with police who responded with tear gas prior to the game.
Inside the stadium a 58,000 capacity crowd watched Spain break the world record by marching to 29 consecutive competitive matches unbeaten. A match that to the world’s TV audience had drama and celebration of the positive football kind – in abundance.
The vast majority of colour in the stadium was the yellow of Brazil and TV pictures couldn’t resist the image of the parents feeding their baby at half time.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 28 – Players who are approached to fix matches or who suspect games are being rigged will be able to push a ‘panic button’ on their mobile phones to report their suspicions. The plan has been devised with European funding so that footballers across the continent can download an anti-match-fixing app to their phones and will be given a password to blow the whistle on fellow professionals via a red button.
Brazil. World Cup hosts. Olympic hosts. 2014-2016. What an opportunity, what an honour, what a privilege and a pleasure.
But during a fraught fortnight off the pitch at the Confederations Cup the Brazilians – and FIFA – have been reminded that hosting is a double edged sword. Underestimating the power of the public can have major consequences, whether or not their ire is deserved, whether or not the event is actually the cause of the trouble.
June 27 – The Fans All Star Global Vote (FAS) had its official launch today in London, with former England player and manager Glenn Hoddle and former Argentina captain and world cup winner Ossie Ardiles weighing into the debate on who the best players in Europe and the Rest of the World are.
By Mark Baber
June 27 – English Football Conference side Macclesfield Town has withdrawn their pay-to-play offer to fans. The cash-strapped club had planned to allow a fan to make a 10-minute appearance in the league or cup in exchange for a £20,000 donation.
By David Owen
June 27 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will be forced to scale back its activities if Governments are not prepared to stump up more cash, chairman John Fahey (pictured) has warned. Writing in an annual report that reveals a 60%-plus advance in WADA’s annual deficit, Fahey describes limited funding as WADA’s “biggest constraint ahead”.
By Gareth Messenger
June 27 – Good news, bad news in Spain. During the launch of the club’s new season ticket drive this week, Spanish Primera club Granada announced that within the coming days they will be clearing all outstanding tax debt. At the same time Xerex, relegated from Segunda B, missed payments to the Spanish taxman and moved a step closer to bankruptcy.
June 27 – UEFA is convinced France will be ready to stage Euro 2016 even though a good deal of the necessary stadium construction has yet to get under way. At a news conference to unveil the 2016 tournament logo, both UEFA president Michel Platini and his number two Gianni Infantino shrugged off any doubts about the tournament stadia, the first tournament to comprise 24 teams, not being ready on time.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 27 – FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi is refusing to step down as boss of Thai football following the election row that shows no sign of abating.
Those in Brazil who are now so angry about staging the 2014 World Cup should blame their fellow South Americans, the Colombians, for making it such a high profile political event.
It was the Colombians in 1973 who both invented modern football World Cup bidding and linked it to politics. Seeking the 1986 World Cup, they entertained a visiting FIFA delegation lavishly and at a reception the president of Columbia, Dr Borrero, made it clear that hosting the competition would prove Colombia had arrived as a nation.
June 26 – Qatar’s 61-year-old emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani announced yesterday that he has transferred power in the energy-rich and increasingly influential gulf nation to his fourth son – the 33-year-old crown prince, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (pictured), who has strong footballing links.