By Andrew Warshaw
July 9 – Bulgarian icon Hristo Stoichkov has quit as coach of CSKA Sofia a week after 15 fans were detained following an attack on the headquarters of the Bulgarian FA in protest at the debt-ridden club facing the prospect of being plunged into obscurity.
By David Owen
July 9 – Buenos Aires has won the right to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games beating Medellín and Glasgow, in a vote held in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
By Paul Nicholson in Los Angeles
July 7 – It could become a football quiz question. Which is the only confederation in world football where every country has a beach? The answer is CONCACAF, the confederation that covers north and central America and the Caribbean.
By Mark Baber
Nigerian football, never far from controversy, faces increased scrutiny after the country’s House of Representatives Committee on Sports called for a total review of the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) agreements with sponsors and the Sports Minister set up a panel to investigate the recent bonus row.
By Mark Baber
July 8 – In a decision hailed as a sign of decreased tensions, South Korea’s Unification Ministry has given the go-ahead for the North Korean women’s national team to participate in the Women’s East Asian Cup which kicks off on July 20.
July 8 – A new initiative to promote integration and social awareness was unveiled by CONCACAF prior to the Gold Cup’s first game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena — a direct follow-up to Fifa’s Anti-racism and Discrimination campaign approved at its recent congress in Mauritius.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – The in-fighting surrounding the future of Thai football and its controversial boss Worawi Makudi has taken another twist with Makudi cancelling a news conference at which he was expected to outline his position and how the impasse could be resolved.
By Paul Nicholson in Pasadena
July 8 – CONCACAF’s blue riband event the Gold Cup opened here yesterday with a double-header in the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California – both upsets as Canada lost to tiny Martinique and Mexico were edged out by Panama – plus a new world record for the largest ever Mariachi serenade with over 500 performers taking to the field at half-time.
By Paul Nicholson
July 6 – An amateur game in the Maranhão region of north eastern Brazil turned violent last weekend resulting in the death of a player and the match referee. Reports are that 30-year-old Josenir dos Santos Abreu approached the referee, 20-year-old Otávio Jordão da Silva (pictured), arguing about a decision. When da Silva then red carded Abreu, he reportedly threw a punch at da Silva, who then took out a pocket knife he was carrying with him,
By Mark Baber
July 5 – The 12th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off on Sunday at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California as 12 nations from the confederation that covers North, Central America and the Caribbean compete for the region’s greatest prize culminating on July 28 at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 5 – The nine-month ban imposed on Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian sporting director Leonardo for barging into a referee last season has been extended by five months and will now run until June 30, 2014, ruling him out of next season entirely, following a French Football Federation appeals hearing.
July 5 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ordered the Togo Football Federation to pay former national team coach Jean Thissen 200 million Swiss francs ($400,000) for “abusive termination of contract”. The Belgian was appointed in 2008 and but was ousted in October the following year and went to the CAS citing breach of contract and reportedly claiming $800,000. Togolese officials claimed he had health issues and was no longer capable to work.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 5 – Cameroon’s hopes of competing at next year’s World Cup finals have been dealt a potentially damaging blow after the country’s national federation, FECAFOOT, was suspended by FIFA in the latest case of football’s world governing body clamping down on government interference, an issue that shows no sign of abating, especially in Africa.
By Gareth Messenger
July 5 – Spanish Segunda B division side Albacete Balompié S.A.D. have avoided automatic relegation – courtesy of World Cup superstar Andrea Iniesta. Albacete has now paid all outstanding player wages, the money coming via an increase in the capital of the club, rather than as a loan, thanks to its main shareholder, Barcelona, and Iniesta.
By Mark Baber
July 4 – FIFA have re-imposed its ban on Iraq hosting international friendlies following a surge in violence, including bombings aimed directly at players and fans. FIFA notified the Iraqi Football Association (IFA), citing over 2,500 deaths in violence from April through June and at least 123 people killed in the first three days of July.