World Cup Archives - Page 67 of 168 - Inside World Football

Artistic venue selected for FIFA banquet and preliminary World Cup draw

Konstantinovsky Palace

By David Owen at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi
April 21 – A highly cultured venue has been chosen for the FIFA banquet coinciding with the Preliminary Draw for the 2018 World Cup. Russia 2018 chief executive Alexey Sorokin has told Insideworldfootball that the banquet is to be held at the Russian museum of fine arts in St Petersburg. The draw itself – the first official event of the World Cup – has been scheduled for this coming July 25 at the restored 17th century Konstantinovsky Palace.

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LibDems manifesto pledges to make homophobic chants a crime

By Mark Baber
April 16 – With the UK’s Labour Party having already entered the race to woo football fan voters in the upcoming general election May 19, now the Liberal Democrats have included a football policy to win over those same fans. Though one suspects the LibDem policy might be less of a vote winner.

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Spurs head to US for pre-season MLS all-star game in Colorado

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April 16 – In a further boost to their brand awareness drive, Tottenham Hotspur are to become the latest European club to take on an all-star MLS side during the off-season.

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Judge pours water on Bradford stadium fire arson claims

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April 16 – The judge who chaired the inquiry into the Bradford City fire disaster that killed 56 people in 1985 has described claims the blaze may have been started deliberately as “nonsense”.

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Russia to replace imports with domestic products for World Cup 2018

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By Mark Baber
April 14 – The Russian government has extended their import substitution policy to construction projects for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in response to fall of the rouble, oil price fall and Western sanctions.

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Former top-flight player acted as game-rigging fixer, court told

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April 14 – An Ex-Premier League footballer searched for players to help “fix” lower-league matches, a English court has been told.

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Shaky start for Russian legacy as Rotor Volgograd goes bust

Rotor Volgograd fans

April 14 – World Cup legacy is championed as an important ingredient of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event and generally the build-up to the event generates enthusiasm and excitement for the game – it is a catalyst for the growth of the game in the country. So the news that Rotor Volgograd, one of Russia leading clubs in the 1990s has gone bust, is a an unfortunate counter to the legacy proposition.

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Russia set to cut $502m from hotel build for 2018 World Cup

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By Mark Baber
April 8 – Despite encouraging signs of resilience in the economy, Russia looks poised to cut back on the number of hotels built specifically for the 2018 World Cup, following the publication of a consultation document by the Sports Ministry.

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Brazilian stadium legacy wobbles as Dunas and Fonte Nova owners seek sale

Dunas Arena

April 2 – The word legacy seems to accompany every World Cup but post-tournament the evidence is frequently conspicuous by its absence. Reports in Brazil have revealed that the World Cup stadium in Natal is up for sale since the company that owns it is suffering from cash flow problems following a corruption scandal.

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US senators fire second salvo at Russia 2018 hosting

Capitol Hill

By Andrew Warshaw
April 2 – A group of US senators is back on the attack over Russia’s staging of the 2018 World Cup and have written to FIFA urging it to consider stripping the country as hosts because of the occupation of Crimea.

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Saints join swelling ranks of Premier League’s financially virtuous

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By David Owen
March 31 – Southampton have joined the stampede of Premier League clubs reporting unusually strong profits for last season. The South Coast club, currently lying an impressive sixth in the league table and playing consistently well under Dutch coach Ronald Koeman, have announced that after-tax profit for the year ended June 30, 2014 reached £33.4 million, compared with a £7.1 million loss the previous year.

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Wonga keeps flowing in at Ashley’s Newcastle

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By David Owen
March 30 – Newcastle United have become the latest Premier League club to report strong financial figures for the 2013-14 season. For the year ending June 2014, the Magpies generated a record after-tax profit of £18.7 million, not far off double the £9.9million achieved in 2013, and the fourth consecutive year in the black for the club which is owned by businessman Mike Ashley.

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Yekaterinburg to build 35,000 capacity fan zone for 2018

Russian fans

March 27 – With Russia having completed its final planning for 2018 World Cup stadium build and construction underway, the current focus is now switching towards budgets and planning for infrastructure around the championships.

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Qataris buoyant and move on, despite Zwanziger’s fading voice

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By Andrew Warshaw
March 26 – Hassan al-Thawadi’s (pictured) mood was as bright as the spring sun that shone down over Zurich. For months – no, make that years – Qatar’s multi-lingual 2022 World Cup organising chief has had to field all manner of attacks over his country’s right to stage the tournament, whether it should be in summer or winter and what would happen if workers’ rights were not improved.

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It’s official, officially: Qatar’s 2022 Winter World Cup will be played in Nov-Dec

By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
March 19 – After more than four years of often heated and fractious debate, FIFA finally confirmed today that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be played in November and December with the final on Sunday, December 18.