Barca official Twitter accounts hacked by Syrian Electronic Army
By Jamie Styles
February 19 – Barcelona’s three official Twitter profiles were hacked on Tuesday, just hours after their 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League.
Archive
Rosell cleared of liability in Brazil over marketing of Seleção friendlies
February 19 – Sandro Rosell, who dramatically quit as Barcelona president partly over an investigation into last year’s signing of star Brazilian forward Neymar, is reportedly no longer facing unconnected allegations that he benefitted illegally from a friendly match involving the Brazilian national team.
Curitiba keeps its World Cup games but pressure still on to be ready in time
By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – Brazil’s World Cup organisers are breathing a sigh of relief after FIFA gave the host venue of Curitiba a deadline-day reprieve by announcing that local authorities had done just about enough to warrant retaining its status.
Call for cash as Hearts moves towards fan ownership
February 19 – Fans of embattled Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian are being asked to contribute financially for a further two years as the club transitions out of insolvency towards fan ownership and, hopefully, stability.
FIFA to random dope test players pre-World Cup kick off
By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – For the first time ever, FIFA are planning impromptu precautionary dope tests ahead of the World Cup despite the tournament having no history of persistent drug-related issues.
Czech businessman acquires majority stake in Banik Ostrava
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 18 – Petr Safarcik has become the majority shareholder of FC Banik Ostrava, the Czech football club said in a statement. With the acquisition of shares from local businessman Libor Adamek, Safarcik controls a combined 95% of the shares in Banik through his company PAM Market and as a private investor. The amount of the deal was not disclosed by the two businessmen.
Kosovo invites Man Utd’s Januzaj to participate in making of history
By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – Kosovan footballing authorities are hoping to persuade Manchester United’s rising teenage star Adnan Januzaj to play in their symbolic first ever meaningful international friendly.
Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal passes structural checks and set for April
February 18 – Representatives of Brazil’s Cuiaba World Cup stadium have been quick to downplay suggestions that the venue is facing a race against time because of fire damage last October.
Bulgarian police act on new match-fixing reports
February 18 – Bulgaria has again been hit by match-fixing, with police launching an investigation into claims that fixers attempted to rig the result of a domestic league match earlier this season.
Shot Palestinian youth footballers told they will never play again
By Paul Nicholson
February 18 – The tensions and distrust between the Israelis and the Palestinians regarding the negotiation of freedom of movement for Palestinian footballers, have been sharpened with the news that the two young Palestinian footballers shot by Israeli security forces in the West Bank are unlikely to play again.
Inside Insight: No Swiss at the World Cup – really?
February 9, 2014 is a day to remember in many more ways than one.
It is not an earthquake that hit something somewhere. It is not a flood that engulfed English villages (although that happened too) and it is not some major lottery win that would have astounded folks around Europe (although that also happened).
February 9, 2014, is a day of shame (for 49.7% of the voting public) or indeed a day of glorious victory (for the slim majority of the voters,
Man City gets go-ahead to boost Etihad capacity by 14,000
February 17 – Manchester City’s status as one of the new elite of European football has been further enhanced by plans to increase the capacity of their Etihad stadium from 48,000 to over 62,000.
Herzog spearheads the European front of a US Soccer revolution
By Paul Nicholson
February 17 – The US men’s national team may face the ‘group of death’ in Brazil at the World Cup finals – Germany, Portugal and Ghana are their opponents – but it is very much alive and kicking as preparations for the Finals start to take shape with one eye also firmly fixed on the future.
Curitiba stadium deadline looms as teams gather for pre-finals logistics briefing
By Andrew Warshaw
February 17 – Twenty-four hours before the FIFA-imposed deadline for Curitiba’s World Cup stadium to meet completion requirements, tension is growing as to what, if any, contingency plans are in place for ditching the venue which is due to stage four group games.
Gazprom still in the frame at Levski as supporters launch trust
By Alexander Krassimirov
February 17 – Levski Sofia owner Todor Batkov (pictured) says that the Russian energy giant Gazprom is still an option for the main sponsorship of the club. The Russian company has frequently been named in connection with the Bulgarian cub for almost for two years, but there has been no firm developments to date.