Allianz set to add Sao Paulo stadium to its global portfolio of rights
April 19 – Europe’s biggest insurer Allianz is reportedly in talks to buy the naming rights for a new stadium in Sao Paulo.
News
Real Madrid top ManUtd on Forbes rich list
By Mark Baber
April 18 – Real Madrid has displaced Manchester United as the world’s most valuable soccer club in the new Forbes list.
Women call for inclusion in FIFA 14 virtual world
By Mark Baber
April 16 – As EA Sports prepares to unveil its plans for the launch of FIFA 14, evidence suggests Brazilian 2nd division sides will be included in the new game, speculation has renewed over when women will be included.
FIFA investigator Garcia blacklisted by Russian government
By Paul Nicholson
April 14 – FIFA’s chief investigator Michael Garcia has been declared persona non grata and put on a ‘black list’ by the Russian government. He is one of 18 US citizens on the list who will be denied any entry to Russia.Garcia, who is central to the FIFA investigations into allegations of corruption, has yet to report any findings but is known to be looking into the ISL case and the 2022 Qatar World Cup award.
Noisy reaction from football for a minute’s silence for Maggie
By Mark Baber
April 10 – A proposal by two politically right-wing-leaning football figures for a minute’s silence before this weekend’s Premier League fixtures, in tribute to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, has been met with an almost unanimously hostile reaction from English football fans and writers, who have been remembering her approach to football.
Schenk shanks FIFA over progress of clean-up programme
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
April 4 – FIFA’s reform process has been “haunted by the past”, according to Sylvia Schenk, senior advisor for sports for the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, which produced an eight-page report in 2011 that was used as basis for FIFA’s subsequent and ongoing clean-up campaign.
Boateng; ‘There is no vaccine to fight racism, no anti-biotics to take’
By Andrew Warshaw
March 22 – Kevin-Prince Boateng, the Italian-based footballer who made headlines by famously taking his AC Milan teammates off the pitch in protest at racism, has described it a “dangerous disease” with no easy cure.
International day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
By Mark Baber
March 21 – Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This year the theme, chosen by the UN Human Rights Office, is racism in sports.
In the heat of Doha’s sun, Brits come out for a Winter World Cup
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
March 20 – Any time Qatar stages a high-profile sports conference – and there have been a good number in recent months – the increasingly divisive debate over switching the 2022 World Cup to winter invariably springs to prominence. So it was at the Securing Sport 2013 summit in Doha. Except this time, it wasn’t supposed to happen quite like that.
Match-fixing guru warns of ‘easy target’ player recruitment
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent, in Doha
March 19 – Chris Eaton (pictured), one of the world’s leading experts on match-fixing, has warned that the recent investigation into possible rigging at lower-league English level could be the start of something far more sinister.
Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, out the game
By Mark Baber
March 19 – John Riccitiello is resigning as CEO of Electronic Arts after six years in the job, taking responsibility for what are expected to be disappointing quarterly results, despite record breaking numbers for its FIFA games.
The Times retracts its Dream League nightmare story
By Paul Nicholson
March 18 – The Times has today published a retraction of the Dream League story it ran over its three back pages last Wednesday morning (March 13).
Sports leaders gather in Doha for Securing Sport 2013
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
March 17 – High-ranking decision makers from across the globe converge on Qatar on Monday and Tuesday for another prestige summit organised by the Gulf state, keeping itself firmly in the sporting spotlight.
Forbes lists football’s richest billionaire owners
March 13 – Football at the top level is a rich man’s ownership game and attracts the richest men in the world. Business magazine Forbes has issued a list of the 11 richest football billionaires from the Forbes Rich List.
Celebrity powers to the top of player Rich List
March 12 – The power of Brand Beckham was never more evident than in a Rich List just published by Goal.com, the football web site owned by Perform.