August 15 – The hate-hate relationship between Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley and and Rangers FC’s board is heading back to the Scottish courtrooms with Rangers claiming Sports Direct paid itself illegal dividends from Rangers Retail and suing former directors of the club for £4 million.
August 15 – The long march of Chinese money into Europe’s big leagues took a significant step into France’s Ligue 1 this weekend with Olympique Lyonnais owner OL Groupe announcing that Chinese investment fund IDG Capital Partners has agreed to take a 20% stake in the club.
August 15 – Roma’s proposed Stadio della Roma may not have started its build yet but it does have management consultants contracted, emphasising AS Roma’s American president Jim Pallota’s ambition for the club to build a new home in what is a challenging local construction environment.
August 15 – It was the shock result of the tournament, The US women’s team, so dominant in the women’s game as current World and Olympic champions, crashed out on penalties in the quarter finals to Sweden who only scraped into the knockout rounds as third place qualifier in their group.
August 15 – Trials of the video assistant referee system (VAR)has continued in the US with the third tier USL league, working in collaboration with Major League Soccer (MLS).
August 15 – Premier League Stoke City has stepped up its push into Arabic markets with the appointment of KingFut as the club’s official digital media partner.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 12 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the former Chilean FA boss who led the FIFA evaluation team for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, has broken his long silence over his ban from the game, accusing FIFA of double-standards and of blocking his attempts to gain justice.
August 12 – Charlton Athletic (CAFC), relegated to England’s third tier Division 1 with a cacophony of complaint from its fans last season, has acted to control the social media agenda by threatening a fan to withhold his season ticket unless he stops posting aggressively about the club’s ownership.
August 12 – An arrest warrant has been issued in Turkey for former international striker Hakan Sukur as part of the investigation into the failed July 15 coup. Houses in Istanbul and Sakarya were raided but Sukur is understood to be living in the US.
August 12 – Premier League Crystal Palace have added a third new sponsor partner in time for the start of the season this weekend. New Amsterdam Vodka has become the club’s Official Vodka Partner.
August 12 – Russia’s search for a winning national coach to prepare the team for the 2018 World Cup has ended with the appointment for former international goalkeeper Stanislav Cherchesov (pictured).
August 12 – The Chinese buyers of Italy’s AC Milan have named Marco Fassone, former Juventus and Inter Milan general manager, as chief executive once their takeover has gone through.
August 12 – Will he stick to his promise? Halfway through last season, as Leicester City, 5000 to 1 outsiders at the start of the campaign, looked like they might win the English Premier League title, former England striker and BBC television presenter Gary Lineker boldly proclaimed that he would appear in his underpants at the start of this season’s campaign if his beloved Foxes somehow went go all the way.
August 12 – Another Premier League club has announced an Asia-Pacific regional betting sponsorship. Online sportsbook Tempobet has become an Official Regional Betting Partner of Manchester City.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 11 – Just days after he was controversially cleared by FIFA’s ethics committee of any wrongdoing, Gianni Infantino has been plunged into yet more embarrassment over his pledge to clean up the organisation in the wake of the Sepp Blatter regime.