By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 8 – Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy has hit back at claims that the country’s A-League is suffering because too much attention is being paid to their bid to host the 2022 World Cup.
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September 8 – FIFA’s World Cup inspectors had breakfast today at the White House, meeting with aides to President Barack Obama.
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By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 7 – Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has today blamed the British media for the racism row that is threatening to overshadow his country’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup and claimed that there was corruption in England, an allegation that draw could draw the attention of FIFA watchdogs.
September 6 – A delegation of FIFA inspectors, led by Chilean Football Fedederation President Harold Mayne-Nicholls, has arrived in the United States to assess the Americans’ bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 6 – Former Chelsea midfielder Alexei Smertin has denied fears his country’s World Cup bid is at the centre of a dirty tricks campaign being waged by the UK media.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 4 – Nigeria are to actively campaign against Russia’s bid to be awarded the 2018 World Cup following the alleged racial abuse suffered by its striker Peter Odemwingie when he played in the country for Lokomotiv Moscow.
September 3 – A campaign has been launched by officials in Pasadena to ensure that the Rose Bowl, the venue for the 1994 World Cup final, is included in the list of stadiums if the United States is awarded the 2018 or 2022 tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 3 – The head of the United States’ bid to stage the World Cup has hinted the country may be prepared to leave the field in 2018 to Europe and concentrate only on the 2022 tournament.
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By Andrew Warshaw
September 3 – The Japan 2022 Bid Committee has appointed Alberto Zaccheroni, the country’s new national coach, as its latest ambassador.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 2 – Spain and Portugal’s joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup received the expected high marks from the FIFA inspection team, led by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, as they wrapped up their evaluation of the European candidates today.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 2 – Racism is not endemic in Russian football and should not stop the country being awarded the 2018 World Cup, the bid’s chief executive Alexei Sorokin claimed today – but was contradicted by Peter Odemwingie, the Nigerian player whose treatment has sparked the latest controversy.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 2 – Milton Keynes’s stadium has the most potential among the 17 short-listed by England 2018 if their campaign is successful, it has been claimed by the MK Dons manager Karl Robinson.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 1 – FIFA’s inspectors, led by Chilean Football Federation President Harold Mayne-Nicholls (pictured), have begun looking at the proposed facilities to be used if Portugal’s joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup is successful.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 31 – Being chosen to host the 2018 World Cup would cap a perfect year for Spain, the country’s Sports Minister Jamie Lissavetzky admitted today as its joint bid with Portugal rolled out Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo to help give it a boost.
August 31 – AT&T today signed-up as a sponsor of the United States bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.