June 21 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, who has done much to stabilise the region since taking over a year ago, will be more delighted than anyone at the organisation’s decision to stage next year’s CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 tournament in his native Cayman Islands.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 21 – Arsenal’s problematic pre-season tour of Vietnam, the first to the country by an English Premier League side, will go ahead despite another dispute – this time over a promotional video.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – Lionel Messi, the world’s finest footballer and one of the richest and most iconic sportsmen on the planet, has been sensationally summoned to appear in court on September 17 over tax fraud allegations.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – As a wave of social unrest continues to sweep through Brazil, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has urged the public to stop using football as a means of expressing their anger and says they can only benefit from the tournament returning to the country next year for the first time in over half a century. The protests, timed to co-incide with the ongoing Confederations Cup, has cast a shadow over the World Cup dry run event that has produced several exhilarating games in full stadia.
By Mark Baber
June 20 – Following a complaint from BT, Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, is launching an investigation into BSkyB over the supply of its sports channels to rival broadcasters.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – In the same month that Scottish football agreed on a ground-breaking strategy to preserve the future of lower-league clubs, one of its most iconic, Heart of Midlothian, has ironically been forced to go into administration and has been docked 15 points for the start of the season.
By Mark Baber
June 20 – Beşiktaş has signed a preliminary agreement with Vodafone Türkiye for shirt sponsorship and naming rights to the team’s new stadium. The final agreement, which is expected to be signed shortly, is expected to be worth €20 million annually.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – A relieved Michel Platini has heaped praise on Israel following the European Under-21 championships that ended with Spain beating Italy 4-2 to retain the title.
By Paul Nicholson in Rio de Janeiro
June 20 – Look around Rio de Janeiro you could be forgiven for wondering where the Confederations Cup party is taking place unless you were outside the Maracana or an official ticket collection point.
By David Owen
June 19 – BT Group has surprised investors by announcing that Ian Livingston is to quit as chief executive, as the traditional telephone company is gearing up to take on BSkyB in the market for live coverage of Barclays Premier League matches.
By Monica Villar
June 20 – The depth of the Spanish club football crisis become clearer this week with the LFP confirming a drop in attendances across the La Liga last season. Lower down the league Salamanca was liquidated and finally went out of business.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – The Premier League may be the most popular football product in the world, watched by billions of armchair fans globally, but English supporters are losing patience over inflated ticket costs which price the majority of fans out of the market.
By David Owen
June 20 – The majority owner of CFR Cluj-Napoca, the Romanian champions, is looking for a financial partner to help consolidate the club’s place among the European elite.
Dealing with the tough demands of earning one’s crust, as a professional in top flight European club football, whilst serving one’s country – regarded as a sacred duty, by compatriots, during World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers – has always been a high-wire balancing act for players.
Unlike their European counterparts, who can normally reach any part of their continent within a few hours and return to their clubs rather quickly,
It was almost inevitable that the UEFA Under 21 tournament should have once again focussed English discussion on the perennial problem in English football: why is the national team so bad? More so, when the Premier League is so powerful and rules the world, at least in terms of the spectacle it provides week after week, and in its reach, exposure and ability to make money?
This is a problem that seems to be always with us like death and taxes.