Mexico 1 Honduras 0
July 2 – The question on the lips of pundits and fans at Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, was “would tonight be business as usual or unusual business?” as Mexico and Honduras met for the right to face the United States in the Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Sunday in Houston.
Spain 5 Portugal 0
July 3 – With an imperious display, world champions Spain waltzed past neighbours Portugal at the Wankdorff Stadion in Bern, winning 5-0 to back up their status as tournament favourites.
By Matt Scott
June 19 – Olympiacos’s owner Evangelos ‘Vangelis’ Marinakis must step down as president of the club after a seven-hour plea hearing at an Athens court on Thursday in which he was accused of running a racketeering and match-fixing ring in Greek football.
News that FIFA president Sepp ‘despot’ Blatter and Jerome ‘not me’ Valcke have lawyered up in the US with a couple of the most aggressive rottweilers available comes as no real surprise. Or does it? And does the fact that this is actually news tell us a bit more than perhaps the news leaker had intended.
By Mark Baber
June 18 – A poorly conceived marketing campaign for China’s World Cup qualifiers, which included a poster saying “don’t underestimate black skin, yellow skin, white skin Hong Kong” has led to accusations of racism, an apparent apology from the Chinese FA (CFA) and a sharpening of tensions between the mainland and Hong Kong fans.
By Mark Baber
June 18 – Amendments to the community empowerment bill, proposed by the Scottish Green party, were supported by members of the Scottish Parliament yesterday evening, opening the way for fan groups to buy their clubs if they fall into financial difficulties, and perhaps even to be granted a general “right to buy”.
By Paul Nicholson
June 18 – The Russians may be on target with their infrastructure build for the World Cup in 2018, but they look to be way off target with their preparation of a team for the home championship. Defeat against Austria in the Euro 2016 group qualifiers again raised doubts over whether Italian Fabio Capello is the right manager for the Russian team.
June 18 – Manchester City has gathered 30 young leaders from its global outreach programme for a week-long summit at the City Football Academy in Manchester.
By Ben Nicholson
June 18 – Minnesota’s MLS expansion franchise is in peril as their plans to build a soccer-specific stadium are struggling to receive attention in the State Capitol.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 18 – Within weeks of being temporarily suspended as general-secretary of the Asian Football Confederation over claims he was involved in a cover-up during an investigation into corruption allegations dating back to the era of Mohammed bin Hammam, Dato Alex Soosay has quit with immediate effect rather than stay and fight to clear his name.
By David Owen
June 18 – Brazilians and Portuguese have emerged as the worst football offenders in a new report on anti-doping rule violations compiled by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
By Matt Scott
June 18 – Olympiacos’s president Evangelos ‘Vangelis’ Marinakis is due in court today to enter his plea in the match-fixing scandal gripping Greek football.
By Matt Scott
June 17 – UEFA’s Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has recommended the inclusion of a club under criminal investigation for match fixing into next season’s Europa League competition, Insideworldfootball can reveal.
By Mark Baber
June 17 – Switzerland’s top federal prosecutor Michael Lauber (pictured) has revealed that more than 104 banking relationships are being looked into as part of its investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids. Each of these relationships involves several accounts, with 53 banking relationships (some overlapping) having been separately been flagged up by the Swiss Money Laundering Reporting Office.
By Mark Baber
June 17 – The chaos in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) continues with an Extraordinary Congress on Tuesday reportedly suspending its president and secretary ahead of the elections planned for June 30.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 17 – Radoslaw Osuch, the owner of Zawisza Bydgoszcz, has announced plans to sell the club following its relegation from Poland’s top tier, the Ekstraklasa, and the decision by the municipal authorities of Bydgoszcz to reduce their support to the troubled side.
By Samindra Kunti
June 17 – The Belgian National Study Commission has approved a new league format that will be introduced in the 2016/17 season. Only 24 clubs will continue to play professional football with 16 clubs in the top-flight and eight clubs in the second division.