By Duncan Mackay
December 24 – The Australian Government has set-up a special taskforce to try to resolve the bitter row between the rival football codes that is threatening to undermine the country’s bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 23 – Tottenham Hotspur are convinced they can persuade FIFA to choose their new ground over the Olympic stadium if England wins the right to stage the 2018 World Cup.
December 23 – A players’ survey published today has criticised the standard of some A-League pitches, including venues proposed for World Cup matches if Australia wins the right to host either of the 2018 or 2022 events.
By Duncan Mackay
December 21 – England will launch their World Cup preparations on March 3 when they take on Egypt at Wembley, a match that will also give the country’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup an opportunity to promote their campaign to to Hany Abou Rida, a member of FIFA’s Executive Committee.
December 21 – Opponents of Nottingham’s new 45,000-capacity stadium earmarked to host World Cup matches if England’s bid to host stage the 2018 World Cup is successful have promised that they will not stop their campaign.
By Duncan Mackay
December 19 – England’s 2018 World Cup bid received a massive boost tonight as Gordon Brown’s Government confirmed it is backing the campaign with a £2.5 million loan.
December 19 – Australia’s rival football codes are scared of the country staging the World Cup in 2018 or 2022 because it could sideline them, one of the ambassadors for England’s bid has claimed.
By Duncan Mackay
December 19 – A major doubt has been cast over Bristol City’s planned new £92 million 44,000 stadium at Ashton Vale only two days after it was chosen to be part of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
December 18 - Sheffield United and Everton, overlooked to be part of England’s 2018 World Cup bid, have complained about being snubbed.
By Duncan Mackay
December 18 – Hollywood actor Anthony LaPaglia (pictured right), a former goalkeeper with Adelaide City, has urged the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL) not to act like “twits” and scupper Australia’s bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
December 17 – Hull City’s future as a Premier League club could be threatened by the decision not to include the KC Stadium in England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup, the club’s chairman has claimed.
By Duncan Mackay
December 17 – Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium, which is due to stage the 2014 World Cup final, is to get a $300 million (£175 million) face-lift, the city’s Secretary of Sports and Tourism announced today.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – England 2018 bid chief Andy Anson insists the stadiums selected to host the World Cup in nine years’ time will not suffer the same fate as the ill-fated 2006 campaign.
By Duncan Mackay
December 17 – Milton Keynes’ inclusion as part of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup has been condemned by officials at AFC Wimbledon, who claim that it has re-opened the scars caused by the MK Dons controversial take-over of Wimbledon’s place in the Football League.
By Duncan Mackay
December 17 – Qatar’s under-20 team that reached the final of the FIFA World Youth Championships in 1981, beating Brazil and England along the way, have been appointed as bid ambassadors for the country’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup, it was announced today.