By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – England’s campaign to stage the 2018 World Cup would have died on its feet had FIFA vice-president Geoff Thompson (pictured) been left without a role to play, a senior bid source has exclusively told insideworldfootball.
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November 20 – Europe was riddled with a match-fixing betting scandal involving more than 200 suspected members who fixed or tried to fix around 200 matches across the continent, it has been claimed by police in Germany today.
November 20 – Trevor Birch (pictured), the man who helped Roman Abramovich buy Chelsea, has joined Sheffield United as its new chief executive.
November 20 – Work on a football stadium being built in the West Bank, and financed by FIFA, has been stopped, after Israel claimed that it wanted to use some of the land for its own use.
By David Owen
November 20 – Russia might have crashed out of the 2010 World Cup last night, but its bid to stage the tournament in 2018 or 2022 appears to be gathering momentum.
By Duncan Mackay
November 20 – David Beckham is the most influential figure in English sport since Bobby Moore who has helped revive the fortunes in the United States, former Manchester City and England star Rodney Marsh says today in a new column for insideworldfootball.
November 19 – Police have arrested several people in Germany and abroad today suspected of bribing soccer players and referees to fix matches in top European leagues, German prosecutors said.
November 19 - The 12 cities that will host matches if France wins its bid for Euro 2016 have been selected.
By Duncan Mackay
November 19 – England’s 2018 World Cup bid is set to save £50,000 on transporting David Beckham (pictured) to South Africa to promote its campaign after Los Angeles Galaxy cancelled its post-season tour of Germany.
November 19 – South African organisers of the 2010 World Cup today held a symbolic flag-raising ceremony at its headquarters in Johannesburg after Uruguay by the 32nd nation to qualify for next year’s tournament, meaning the line-up of nations is now complete.
November 18 – Concerns among the States in Australia over the country’s bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup will be discussed by a special Government group in Queensland next month.
November 18 - South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) recorded a loss of R8.3 million (£660,000) after rising costs and a failure to secure sponsorship for the First Division plunged the company into the red, it was announced today.
November 18 – A coordinated bid from Southeast Asia, involving a number of countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, could one day make a bid to host the World Cup, it has been claimed.
November 17 – West Midlands Police have visited Premirship club Birmingham City after being called in by new owner Carson Yeung (pictured), who is angry after inheriting bills for over £6 million from various agents’ fees and transfer instalments.
November 17 – Vitaly Mutko (pictured) will step down next week as President of the Russian Football Union (RFU) because it clashes with his position as the country’s Sports Minister and he is set to be replaced by Sergei Kapkov, a close friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.