By David Owen
February 10 – Another high profile Chinese investment in international sport has been unveiled, with the announcement on Tuesday that Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group has reached a deal to acquire Infront Sports & Media from the private equity firm Bridgepoint for €1.05 billion.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 10 – Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, one of the three candidates vying to take over from FIFA president Sepp Blatter, is the latest official to express his concern at FIFA allegedly changing a key independent report into reform of the organisation.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 10 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup chief organiser Hassan al-Thawadi, who failed in 2013 to win a seat on FIFA’s executive committee, has decided not to stand again.
February 10 – Sepp Blatter and the three candidates vying to dethrone him have been successfully vetted, making them eligible to officially battle for the presidency of FIFA on May 29.
February 10 – Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has said that he will be submitting a bill on quotas of foreign players this week. The draft law will outline eligibility criteria for players which will include age, proof of standard of the player and terms of their employment and length of stay in Russia.
By Paul Nicholson
February 10 – Russian clubs hoping to get a break in the financial fair play rules because the ruble has effectively halved in value over the past five months have been told by UEFA there will be no concessions in the regulations.
By Mark Baber
February 9 – Egypt’s government has ordered the suspension of all Egyptian Premier League matches in the country after at least 22 fans were killed and many more injured outside the Air Defence stadium on Sunday, prior to the game between Cairo clubs Zamalek and ENPPI. Some reports now put the death toll at over 40.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 9 – Petrolul Ploiesti has filed for insolvency as the Romanian club’s financial base has become unstable following the arrest of its owners and management. The side is representative of a wider trend plaguing Romania’s football, with five other major clubs filing for insolvency earlier.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 9 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s chief legal adviser faces allegations of watering down a key report into reform recommendations in order to spare Blatter from potentially damaging criticism.
February 9 – Qatar’s senior team may have disappointed at the recently completed Asian Cup in Australia after their Gulf Cup win, but their U17 players are making a global imprint at the fourth Al Kass International Cup tournament for clubs, currently being played in Doha, Qatar.
Non è bastato il gesto della scorsa settimana – rinunciare allo stage per la Nazionale – per farsi ascoltare dai padroni del calcio italiano. Dopo le decisioni della Lega di Serie A del 6 febbraio, Antonio Conte è sempre di più un uomo solo al comando, dove ormai è doveroso mettere l’accento più sulla parola “solo” che su quella “comando”.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 9 – Ivory Coast’s first Africa Cup of Nations title since 1992 on Sunday failed to mask a series of controversial events that blighted the tournament on and off the pitch.
By David Owen
February 7 – West Ham United, the Premier League football club preparing to move into London’s Olympic Stadium, has agreed a new long-term sponsorship deal with Betway, an online gaming brand. The deal installs Betway as the Hammers’ principal sponsor, with the company logo to appear on the front of the well-known claret and blue team shirts, starting with Sunday’s clash with Manchester United. Betway has also secured naming rights to the Boleyn Ground’s West Stand.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 6 – While the three contenders bidding to unseat FIFA president Sepp Blatter fine-tune their tactics, Jerome Champagne, the first to put his name forward more than a year ago, has strengthened his criticism of Europe for deliberately squeezing him out of the race.
The mountain has given birth to three mice. What started out as a solid promise to “dismantle the FIFA monster”, has taken on the characteristics of playground posturing and classroom semantics.