April 7 – Australia will lose its bid to host the 2018 World Cup, but win 2022, according to John O’Neill (pictured), the man credited with modernising the sport in the country and giving it the platform to launch a campaign.
April 7 – A UEFA delegation headed by its President, Michel Platini, has arrived in Lviv on a two-day visit to check on the progress of the country’s troubled preparations for the 2012 European Championships.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
April 5 – FIFA have refused to back down in the row over Iran women’s football team being banned from wearing the hijab at the inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore later this year and have announced that Thailand will replace them in the tournament.
April 4 – Liverpool are set to reject a bid for control of the club from New York-based fund management company Rhône Group, which would enable them to pay off £100 million of debt demanded by Royal Bank of Scotland.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
April 3 – The Iranian Olympic Committee has called on Muslim states around the world to protest to FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the country’s women’s football team were banned were from wearing the hijab at this year’s inaugural Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
April 3 - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (pictured) has set-up a new high-powered Government committee to oversee preparations for the 2012 European Championships, which he admits have fallen badly behind.
April 2 – The future of former England and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler (pictured) is in doubt after Football Federation Australia (FFA) rescued financially-stricken A-League club North Queensland Fury.
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April 2 – A new panel has been set-up by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to help develop the sport in India, it has been announced.
April 2 – Australia has reached agreement with the country’s rival football codes and every State Government to support its bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy (pictured) has claimed.
April 1 – Nurdin Halid (pictured), the under-fire chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), appears to have survived the National Football Congress, a conference called by the Government to discuss how to improve the standard of the sport in the country.
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By David Owen
April 1 – Geoff Thompson, the top English administrator in international football, is to play a key role next month in determining the host of the 2016 European Football Championship.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
April 1- Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych today admitted that preparations for Euro 2012 had “fallen into terrible decay” but promised to spend 30 billion hryvnia (£2.5 billion/$3.8 billion) on getting the project back on track.
April 1 – Plymouth Argyle claim to have boosted their chances of securing the funding needed to turn Home Park into a 46,000-seater World Cup venue if England host the 2018 tournament after shareholders voted to sell the stadium to a newly-formed property company for £7.5 million.
April 1 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter (pictured) has criticised the amount of debt in the Premier League although he ruled out the introduction of a salary cap as a way of preventing more clubs entering administration.
March 31 – South Africa’s Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana (pictured) and World Cup chief executive Danny Jordaan will hold an urgent meeting tomorrow to discuss local musicians’ anger about why so few local artists will perform at the event.