February 15 – Coca-Cola may have the World Cup rights but Pepsi own Lionel Messi, Marcelo, Tono Kroos and US women’s star Carli Lloyd. It is a classic global event brand vs the cult of the personality marketing war. Coke have the greatest show on earth, Pepsi have the greatest showman, and some of the next best too.
February 15 – Internazionale, who recently opened their state-of-the-art ‘Media House’ to drive the club’s content proposition, have taken another new step entrusting their official Instagram account to their mercurial Brazilian midfielder Rafinha for a day.
February 15 – Valentines Day may be over but the Climate Coalition is still encouraging people to #ShowTheLove.
February 14 – The Early Bird conference registration rate for the Tackling Matchfixing conference, March 9/10, at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel, London, closes Monday 19 February.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 14 – The bubble hasn’t exactly burst for domestic rights to show Premier League games but maybe a ceiling has been hit in terms of the value of matches.
By Mark Baber
February 14 – An updated study of Stadium Naming Rights by Duff & Phelps, the global valuation and corporate finance advisor, finds market rates of Premier League stadium naming rights have increased by over 80% over the last four years – rising from £74.6 million in 2013 to £135.6 mllion in 2017.
February 14 – Los Angeles is being given more time to submit its bid to be one of the host cities for the 2026 World Cup.
February 14 – A former English league coach has been found guilty of multiple sex offences in the 1980s in the latest development in the abuse scandal that has shocked the country.
February 14 – Uruguayan club Nacional have been fined $80,000 and their fans banned for three away games for taunting Brazilian rivals Chapecoense about the plane crash which killed 71 people including 19 Chapecoense players and staff in November 2016.
By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – The Jersey FA is seeking to become the 56th member of UEFA at the confederation’s Congress in Bratislava, Slovakia, next week. The island nation, part of the British Isles, has increased its lobbying and sharpened its case for inclusion, including making its case to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
February 14 – Tottenham Hotspur broke the Premier League attendance record for the third time this season with 83,222 at Wembley Stadium watching their 1-0 win over fierce local rivals Arsenal.
February 14 – German giant Bayern Munich has formed a player development alliance with MLS side FC Dallas to provide a pathway for players in their professional academies inot the game in Germany and the US.
February 13 – Inter Milan have expanded their academy programme into Indonesia with the launch of Inter Academy Indonesia that will see Italian coaches working in partnership with PERSIB Bandung and its elite academy.
February 13 – Who says sport and politics don’t mix? With Ukrainian journalists having already been refused accreditation by their national fa and having to approach FIFA directly, Ukraine’s public broadcaster has now decided not to show any of the games in Russia.
February 2 – As controversial refereeing decisions go, few are as worthy of condemnation as the booking meted out over the weekend to Nice’s former Italian international striker Mario Balotelli after he reportedly claimed he was the victim of racist chanting during a top-flight French game.