By Paul Nicholson
September 17 – While talk in Russian football has been about quotas on foreign players and the need to raise the quality and number of Russian coaches, top clubs still appear to be looking outside Russian borders for top management.
By Mark Baber
September 16- Liverpool FCs expansion of Anfield stadium has been recommended for approval by Council planners, with a Planning Committee vote expected next week, whilst, not to be upstaged, Everton have revealed they intend to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park.
September 16 – The owner of Spartak Moscow, Leonid Fedun, said that the newly opened Otkritie Arena cost RUB 14.5 billion (S378 million) to build. But that this is only the start of the project with hotels and an indoor arena to come next.
September 11 – St Petersburg city officials have launched a tender for the completion of the Zenit Arena, which is currently being built on Krestovskiy island for the 2018 World Cup. The 61,251-capacity stadium will cost about €934 million. The total value of the contracts that will complete the project is RUB 9.14 billion (€190 million).
By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
September 10 – Organisers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar believe they will be exonerated in the 350-page report into possible corruption surrounding the ballot for the tournament which also covered the 2018 event in Russia.
September 9 – Moscow’s telecoms operators are gearing up for a streamed 2018 World Cup with task forces dispatched to work out how this can best be done, according to Russian news agency ITAR-TASS.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – Human rights organisations have renewed their offensive against 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, this time after the apparent disappearance in the Gulf state of two British researchers probing workers’ rights. Krishna Upadhyaya and photographer Ghimire Gundev reportedly arrived in Qatar on August 27 to research a forthcoming report on the conditions of Nepalese migrant workers but there are fears they may have since been detained according to the body that employs them,
September 4 – The World Football Forum 2014 to be held at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow, November 13, has announced that a panel discussion on the implications of UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations will be led by the Chief Executive of Chelsea Football Club, Ron Gourlay.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 3 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has re-iterated his stance that Russia will not be stripped of the 2018 World Cup despite European diplomats reportedly considering calling for a boycott in protest at the worsening crisis in eastern Ukraine.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 2 – The FIFA-appointed Task Force set up 10 months ago to decide on the best date for the 2022 Qatar World Cup will meet for the first time on September 8.
September 2 – Finding accommodation at affordable prices at World Cups can often be more of a challenge for fans than buying tickets. Russia 2018 may have found a solution with the Snoozebox Football Village that is planned for Saransk.
By Paul Nicholson
August 27 – Spartak Moscow’s new stadium will be opened today with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev attending the opening ceremony. Putin will tour the stadium and discuss preparations for the 2018 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 22- What started out as an English top-flight club unexpectedly losing the manager voted the best in Premier League last season has developed into a sordid saga that has made back-page headlines and tarnished the integrity of the game.
22 August – With Russia rapidly putting in place preparations to host the world’s football community in 2018 for the FIFA World Cup, early movers can get a head start in the market at the World Football Forum that will be held at Ritz-Carlton in Moscow, November 13.
August 22 – Speaking in Saransk, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko again repeated that there would be no change to the number of cities hosting the 2018 World Cup and that it would remain as 11, with a further 20 cities hosting national teams.