May 22 – Russia is warming to its World Cup 2018 task and preparing to welcome FIFA’s 208 federations to St Petersburg for the Preliminary World Cup Draw on July 25, the first major world event in the country running up to the finals.
By Samindra Kunti and Andrew Warshaw
May 22 – Michael van Praag says it was always the plan to end up with one candidate to go against Sepp Blatter for FIFA president and that it gradually became apparent he could not poll as much global support as Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.
By Samindra Kunti
May 22 – In July 2013 KAA Gent chairman Ivan De Witte inaugurated the Ghemlanco Arena with the promise that his club would become champions within the next five seasons. It was perceived as grandiloquence and bluff, bordering on megalomania, but yesterday’s 2-0 victory against Standard de Liege, propelling De Witte’s club to a first-ever title, proved De Witte was not bluffing. Gent’s success is the result of the modernisation of a once troubled club.
May 21 – Premier League Liverpool are to unveil their third new kit for the final game of the season this Sunday against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium. But neither the club nor their new kit partner New Balance are giving away any preview of the design before the match kicks off.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan, the young reformist who entered the FIFA presidential race knowing it was win or bust, will go head-to-head with Sepp Blatter next week after Luis Figo joined Michael Van Praag on the sidelines as both dramatically withdrew on the same day.
May 21 – Former France and Manchester United legend turned film actor Eric Cantona is suing the New York Cosmos, saying they failed to pay him nearly $1m in salary and provide a share of equity in the club.
By Mark Baber
May 21 – Paris Saint-Germain has, for the first time, come out top in Sporting Intelligence’s global sports salaries survey (GSSS) of average player wages in teams across the world’s richest sporting leagues.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Visa has expressed its “grave concern” over the plight of migrant workers in Qatar in the strongest reaction to date by any of FIFA’s commercial partners over an issue that continues to plague organisers of the 2022 World Cup.
May 21 – Russia’s build for the 2018 World Cup is having a knock-on effect for other sports with Samara being the latest to announce that as well as the new Kosmos Arena, the region is proposing a number of other new sports facilities.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Michael van Praag has withdrawn from next week’s FIFA presidential election campaign and has joined forces with Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein in a strategic bid to oust Sepp Blatter.
May 21 – Italy’s Juventus has agreed a regional beer sponsorship with Cervezas Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. DE C.V. – Heineken Mexico, with its Tecate brand becoming the new Juventus Official Regional Beer.
By Alexander Krassimirov
May 21 – CSKA Sofia’s Portuguese winger Toni Silva has again been the victim of racially motivated vandalism. His car was marked with a nail as vandals scratched a swastika on it. Silva published a photo of his car on his Twitter account and wrote “Oh and again and again”.
Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Sepp Blatter has completed his Middle East “peace mission” and can now only wait nervously to see whether his shuttle diplomacy has had the desired effect of persuading Palestine to drop its formal proposal to have Israel thrown out of FIFA.
By Alexander Krassimirov
May 21- Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia have failed to get licenses for European club competitions and for the domestic championship in Bulgaria. Alongside CSKA, three other clubs – Lokomotiv Sofia, Marek Dupnitsa and Haskovo – alson failed to get licenses, according to the Bulgarian Football Union.
By David Owen
May 21 – Paris Saint-Germain have made a new move to exploit the presence of Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović in their squad, agreeing a one-year regional sponsorship deal with Billys, a Swedish-produced pizza snack.