By David Gold
September 3 – The renovation of the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, which will be the venue for the 2014 World Cup final, as well as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, has been hit by a second strike in as many weeks by construction workers.
By David Gold
September 2 – Branding experts Lambie-Nairn are to be honoured at the prestigious red dot design awards ceremony in Berlin later this year for the work they did on Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
By David Gold
September 1 – North American Asian sports network One World Sports (OWS) has agreed a multi-platform rights deal in the region for a number of football matches from the third stage of qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, to be held in Brazil.
By David Gold
August 27 – Russia’s 2018 World Cup stadium in Yekaterinburg has been re-opened after renovations which began in 2006 were completed on the 54-year-old ground.
By David Gold
August 20 – Following Syria’s suspension from the Brazil 2014 World Cup qualification programme, the country has claimed that FIFA’s decision to kick them out of the competition was politically motivated.
By David Gold
August 19 – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (pictured) has given a staunch defence of the country’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup despite continual delays on stadium renovation and the slow pace of expanding airport capacity.
By David Gold
August 18 – Construction workers have gone on strike at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana following an explosion during renovation work.
By David Gold
August 17 – The Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which is set to host the final of the 2018 World Cup, is unlikely to be demolished ahead of the competition despite concerns over the cost of renovating the venue.
By David Gold
August 17 – Belize has been cleared to compete in World Cup qualifying after FIFA removed a threat to suspend the country over alleged Government interference in football affairs.
By David Gold
August 17 – Brazilian legend Romario (pictured) has claimed that the 2014 World Cup will only benefit the wealthy, calling ticket prices “absurd”.
By David Gold
August 16 – A police inquiry has been opened up against Brazilian football chief Ricardo Teixeira, who is suspected of involvement in the embezzling of nine million reales (£2.5 million /€2.8 million) generated from a friendly game between Brazil and Portugal in 2008.
By David Gold
August 10 – Argentina and Uruguay moved a step closer to formalising a joint bid to host the World Cup in 2030 when the two countries’ respective Presidents formed a bilateral commission to promote the prospective bid.
By David Gold
August 7 – Zhemchuzhina Sochi are the latest professional Russian league club to fold as a result of financial difficulties, and will now drop out of the first division.
By David Gold
August 2 – FIFA has published a letter on its website attacking British politicians, with secretary general Jerome Valcke claiming that they should “act and speak on facts and not on unsubstantiated headlines”.
By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro
July 30 – Eighty-one years to the day since Uruguay won the first ever World Cup, the race for Brazil 2014 was launched in earnest today at a glittering $20 milion qualifying draw ceremony that threw up a whole host of intriguing match-ups that will get under way in Septemer next year.