Archive Archives - Page 366 of 722 - Inside World Football

Autopsy finds Ecuador’s Benitez had pre-existing heart condition

Christian Benitez

By Paul Nicholson
August 13 – Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez who died in Qatar a day after playing his first game for the Al Jaish club on July 29, had a congential heart ailment that had gone undetected in numerous physical examinations. The 27-year-old Ecuadorian striker’s death had added fuel to the debate over whether to switch the 2022 Qatar World Cup to winter, partly so as not to endanger players’ health. However,

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Europe’s leagues flex muscle and issue warning over Winter 2022 proposal

Frederic Thiriez

By Matt Scott
August 13 – European clubs have warned FIFA not to push for a winter World Cup in 2022 without due process. Frédéric Thiriez (pictured), the president of the European Professional Football Leagues [EPFL] and president of France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), has written to FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, urging “exhaustive analysis” and “general consultation” before moving to hold the tournament in the Qatari winter.

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Hull owner grabs Tigers by the tail, but upsets fan group

Hull City Tiger

By Mark Baber
August 12 – The announcement that Hull City AFC will be renamed Hull City Tigers has been met with some hostility from fans of the Yorkshire club, despite club owner Assem Allam touting the benefits of marketing the club as Hull City Tigers locally and Hull Tigers to national and international audiences.

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Mexican players escape drug sanction over contaminated meat

sombrero fan

By Mark Baber
August 12 – Two Mexican league players have escaped punishment, despite testing positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug clenbuterol, after they claimed to have eaten the substance accidentally in contaminated meat, according to the Mexican Football Federation (FMF). In Mexico, the eating of contaminated beef has been accepted as a legitimate excuse for the presence of clenbuterol in an athlete’s sample since 2011, when the Mexican government pledged to address the public health problem of contaminated meat.

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Bulgarian player arrested on murder charge in Sofia

By Alexander Krassimirov
August 12 – Former Bulgarian under-21 international and Slavia Sofia midfielder Borislav Baldzhiyski has been charged with murder after a man was killed on Tuesday night in Sofia. Lawyer Peter Aleksov was beaten to death in front of a casino. Baldzhiyski could face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.

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CONCACAF debuts first coach licensing course in Mexico

Jeff Webb 3

August 11 – CONCACAF took the first steps with its own coaching programme at the weekend with the launch of its D License coaching course in Mexico City. The D License is the first official licensing programme for coaches and will be the foundation of the Confederation’s coaching educational programme.

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Premier League isolated further as FA’s Dyke backs Winter 2022

greg dyke

By Andrew Warshaw
August 11 – England’s two main football authorities are on a collision course over the 2022 Qatar World Cup after new Football Association chairman Greg Dyke (pictured) backed calls for the tournament to be switched to winter. In one of his first media briefings since taking up his role last month, Dyke said it would be “impossible” to stage the event at the traditional time because of the searing Gulf heat.

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CAS ruling on Fenerbahce to come after CL play off

By Andrew Warshaw
August 11 – Fenerbahce’s appeal against a two-year ban for match-fixing has thrown their Champions League playoff clash with Arsenal into confusion, with UEFA unwilling at this point to make a ruling on what has become a thorny issue for all parties.

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Rio’s doping control lab suspended again

WADA

By David Owen
August 9 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of the UFRJ doping control laboratory in Rio de Janeiro just 10 months before the 2014 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to get under way in Brazil. The move – likely to cause acute embarrassment to Brazilian authorities – comes less than a year after the laboratory, also known as Ladetec, was reinstated following a partial suspension from January 2012.

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FFA hits licensing road-block in Victoria as clubs protest

FFV

By Mark Baber
August 9 – The Australian football federation’s (FFA) move to introduce a new model for State elite-level football for Australian semi-pro clubs, one tier below the A-League, is running into difficulty in Victoria, where an alliance of clubs is seeking to make changes to the proposed licensing structure.

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Adidas cuts sales forecast as it prepares ground for 2014 World Cup bonanza

adidas football

By Mark Baber
August 9 – Adidas cut its sales forecast for 2013 saying it was expecting low mid-single percentage sales, down from the previous mid-single digit forecast. The downgrade was blamed on weak European trading and adverse currency movements, especially in Japan, masking the company’s high sales growth in Latin America and China and solid foundations being laid for the World Cup in 2014.

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Hawk-Eye launch Premier League GLT but don’t intend to stop at the goalline

goal line tech

By Andrew Warshaw
August 9 – English football leaders have hailed the forthcoming introduction of goalline technology in the Premier League as one of the most crucial breakthroughs in the history of the laws of the game.

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UEFA suspends Armenian officials for Europa League match-fixing attempt

UEFA badge

By Andrew Warshaw
August 9 – UEFA has suspended two Armenian officials who attempted to “manipulate the outcome” of a Europa League fixture last month.

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Salman condemns use of football for political means following Karachi killings

Shaikh Salman

By Andrew Warshaw
August 9 – Asian Football Confederation President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has called for an end to sports events being targeted for political ends following the deadly bomb blast at a local football match near Karachi that killed at least eight people, several of them children, and wounded more than 24.

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Pakistan bomb targets and kills fans leaving Karachi stadium

Pakistan security

By Mark Baber
August 8 – A bomb blast at around 2:20am on Wednesday morning, following a football match in the Lyari district of Karachi, killed at least 11 fans, injuring many more, mostly children.