By David Owen
September 26 – Buoyant footwear sales, including football boots, helped Nike to a highly satisfactory 23% advance in net income for the three-month period including the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 26 – Cypriot football has taken another symbolic step towards re-unification after a Greek-Cypriot player signed for a club in the Turkish-controlled north of the divided island.
By Mark Baber
September 26 – At a meeting at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Chinese Football Association Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Zhang Jian (pictured) and FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke have signed a technical cooperation agreement aimed at improving the technical level of Chinese football coaches, referees, and managers, improving the national team at all levels of achievement, and promoting the development of youth and women’s soccer.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 26 – Four of Europe’s major clubs – Liverpool, Monaco, Inter Milan and Roma – are among a fresh list issued by UEFA as being under investigation for possible breaches of financial fair play.
September 26 – Frequently denounced by FIFA and UEFA but still dangerously prevalant, match-fixing has struck at the heart of top-ranked Spanish football with the state prosecutor to question players over allegations of possible rigging in a 2011 league game between Levante and Real Zaragoza.
September 26 – Thirteen Estonia-based players and two from Slovakia, already suspended by their own respective federations for match-manipulation, have had their bans extended worldwide by FIFA.
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 26 – The construction of the Hristo Botev stadium in Plovdiv has restarted with the backing of the local city government. In July, construction work at the stadium was frozen after club owner Tsvetan Vasilev’s Corporate Commercial Bank was closed.
September 26 – Manchester City has announced a new partnership with Malaysia’s leading male grooming brand, Dashing. The deal makes Dashing Manchester City’s Official Personal Male Care Partner in Malaysia for the next two years.
By Andrew Warshaw
Spetember 25 – Just as FIFA president Sepp Blatter is due to inform his executive committee that he wants to stay in charge of the organisation for another four years, his only current challenger for the presidency says he has no intention withdrawing his candidacy and insists he is in it for the long haul.
By Mark Baber
September 25 – The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has said that eight referees have been arrested in connection with fixing the number of yellow and red cards in matches. The investigation is focused on commercial bribery offences which carry a 4-6 year prison sentence.
By Mark Baber
September 25 – Aminu Maigari, the outgoing President of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), was again taken in for questioning by the Nigerian Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday as officials stayed away from their fire-damaged HQ in fears of being “called in for a chat,” arrested for contempt of court, or served with a Court Order relating to the upcoming elections of September 30.
September 25 – Portugal’s new coach Fernando Santos has lost his appeal against an eight-match FIFA ban for misconduct at the World Cup when he was in charge of Greece.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – A clear and potentially damaging split within FIFA’s own ethics committee over the inquiry into possible corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process has been exposed just as the leaders of football’s world governing body meet for one of its most eagerly awaited sessions.
September 25 – Russia is building more than stadia and infrastructure for the 2018 World Cup. Next week the Russian Football Union’s (RFU) working group tasked with preparing a competitive team for the championship will meet to discuss a raft of suggestions to improve the competitiveness of the national team.
September 25 – The 2014 World Cup in Brazil reported a doping-free championship, but the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has had to step in with a suspension following a positive test at the Asian games currently taking place in Incheon, South Korea.