MLS’s Minnesota expansion plan snags on shaky foundations
By Ben Nicholson
June 18 – Minnesota’s MLS expansion franchise is in peril as their plans to build a soccer-specific stadium are struggling to receive attention in the State Capitol.
Archive
Soosay calls it a day and quits AFC role
By Andrew Warshaw
June 18 – Within weeks of being temporarily suspended as general-secretary of the Asian Football Confederation over claims he was involved in a cover-up during an investigation into corruption allegations dating back to the era of Mohammed bin Hammam, Dato Alex Soosay has quit with immediate effect rather than stay and fight to clear his name.
Brazilians top table of doping rules breakers
By David Owen
June 18 – Brazilians and Portuguese have emerged as the worst football offenders in a new report on anti-doping rule violations compiled by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Greek court turns focus on ‘Mr Big’, Olympiacos’ Marinakis
By Matt Scott
June 18 – Olympiacos’s president Evangelos ‘Vangelis’ Marinakis is due in court today to enter his plea in the match-fixing scandal gripping Greek football.
Exclusive: UEFA ethics chief clears Greeks in match-fixing scandal for Europa League
By Matt Scott
June 17 – UEFA’s Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has recommended the inclusion of a club under criminal investigation for match fixing into next season’s Europa League competition, Insideworldfootball can reveal.
Swiss prosecutor identifies money laundering targets but says no to US link-up
By Mark Baber
June 17 – Switzerland’s top federal prosecutor Michael Lauber (pictured) has revealed that more than 104 banking relationships are being looked into as part of its investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. Each of these relationships involves several accounts, with 53 banking relationships (some overlapping) having been separately been flagged up by the Swiss Money Laundering Reporting Office.
Pakistan congress suspends its FA president as civil war returns
By Mark Baber
June 17 – The chaos in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) continues with an Extraordinary Congress on Tuesday reportedly suspending its president and secretary ahead of the elections planned for June 30.
Zawisza Bydgoszcz up for sale after relegation from Ekstraklasa
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 17 – Radoslaw Osuch, the owner of Zawisza Bydgoszcz, has announced plans to sell the club following its relegation from Poland’s top tier, the Ekstraklasa, and the decision by the municipal authorities of Bydgoszcz to reduce their support to the troubled side.
Belgian reform cuts professional leagues to 24 teams in two tiers
By Samindra Kunti
June 17 – The Belgian National Study Commission has approved a new league format that will be introduced in the 2016/17 season. Only 24 clubs will continue to play professional football with 16 clubs in the top-flight and eight clubs in the second division.
CSKA Sofia battles on with plan reverse into Litex Lovech
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 17 – One of Bulgaria’s leading clubs looks set to disappear from the country’s football map if ownership negotiations over the franchise and its name are completed. Litex Lovech owner Grisha Ganchev is currently in discussions to rename the club ‘CSKA’.
‘He who has the peso has the say so’ – €200m+ is wage cost to win CL
By Paul Nicholson
June 17 – You can’t win the Champions League unless you lash out at least €200 million in wages, according to the first set of figures and analysis released from the new Football Benchmark database launched by accountancy giants KPMG’s sports team.
Hankook re-treads for another 3 years of Europa League
June 17 – South Korea-based Hankook, one of the world’s biggest tyre production companies, has renewed its sponsorship of the UEFA Europa League for a further three years it was announced on Tuesday.
Foreign invasions leave Italian and English players on the football scrap heap
June 17 – Updated figures for the CIES Football Observatory show the numbers of home grown players at clubs and getting first team playing time is at an all-time low, with Italy and England having the lowest amounts of local talent in their teams.
A new Colosseum for Roma
By Mark Baber
June 16 – A new stadium for AS Roma has moved a significant step closer with a media briefing to mark the submission of the master plan for the development of the Tor di Valle-Stadio della Roma construction project to the Rome municipality.
Vietnamese scandal as briber complains about being sacked
By Mark Baber
June 16 – Fresh from securing a third place finish in the South East Asian Games with a 5-0 victory over Indonesia, Vietnamese football has been hit by scandal as two officials are accused by a disgruntled ex-employee of receiving bribes from him and then sacking him.