Nike swoops to oust Umbro with new Norway deal
By Mark Baber
September 12 – Nike and the Norwegian Football Association have announced a new partnership that sees Nike become the federation’s official apparel sponsor, taking over from Umbro.
No turning back: Allam stands by his word, and name, putting Hull up for sale
September 12 – The symbolic Hull City name change saga that has generated interest way beyond English shores has taken a potentially decisive turn with owner Assem Allam revealing he put the club up for sale several months ago.
Balotelli buy is proof of Liverpool’s new stability and competitiveness
By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre says the club have learned valuable lessons on and off the field in terms of long-term sustainability.
Moscow World Football Forum adds Smertin to FFP panel line-up
September 12 – The World Football Forum 2014, to be held at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow, November 13, has added former Russian footballing legend Aleksei Smertin to the panel discussion on the implications of UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations (FFP). Smertin will be on the panel led by the Chief Executive of Chelsea Football Club, Ron Gourlay. Chelsea were one of the clubs Smertin played for.
FIFA to dip into solidarity fund to help Ebola-hit associations
By David Owen
September 11 – FIFA plans to dip into its solidarity fund to help three impoverished West African nations – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – stricken by the deadly Ebola virus. The governing body said that at its next finance committee meeting in two weeks’ time on September 25 it would propose using solidarity fund resources to “support the member associations” of these three countries in the fight against the disease.
Matt Scott: In football someone will always be miserable. What’s important is to make life fair
“C’est bien facile d’être bon, le malaisé c’est d’être juste.” Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
Financial Fair Play has posed football’s regulators with a quandary that Victor Hugo would no doubt quickly have recognised. When making the law it’s dead easy to be good; the hard part is being fair.
Nigeria: CAS rejects Giwa faction’s attempt to restrain FIFA
By Mark Baber
September 11 – An attempt by the Chris Giwa-faction in Nigeria’s Football Federation (NFF) to hang on to power by appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a restraint order against FIFA fell at the first hurdle this week.
Prince Ali declares to run again in Asia for seat at FIFA’s top table
By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
September 11 – Three months after discovering that he will lose his position as Asia’s FIFA vice-president, Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan has come out fighting by announcing that he will stand for election as a member of FIFA’s executive committee next year.
Swedish ‘Syrians’ under suspicion for match-fixing
By Mark Baber
September 11 – The Swedish Football Association (SvFF) announced has reported a case of “suspected bribery” to the police in relation to Jonkopings Sodra’s match against Syrianska on August 25 which Jonkoping won 4-0.
FIFA women’s chief Dodd backs Canada 2015 and artificial pitches
September 11 – The head of FIFA’s Task Force for Women is taking a diplomatic approach to the outcry over the use of synthetic pitches at the next year’s women’s World Cup in Canada.
Platini says UEFA has leading record on racism but harder rules needed
September 11 – UEFA president Michel Platini has taken a veiled swipe at FIFA’s zero tolerance approach towards racism at the World Cup.
UEFA reveals Euro 2020 bid city evaluations ahead of final vote
By Andrew Warshaw
September 11 – Countries hoping to stage the pan-European Championship finals in 2020 have received mixed news from UEFA’s evaluation panel with the vote just a week away.
CFU qualifiers progress to second round in race for Jamaican finals
September 11 – The race is hotting up in the Caribbean for qualifying places at the CFU Caribbean Cup finals in Jamaica this November. The finals will not only crown the Caribbean champions but will also provide the region’s qualifiers for the CONCACAF 2015 Gold Cup and the 2016 Copa America Centennario, both to be played in the US.
Zenit Arena contracts tendered for 2016 stadium completion
September 11 – St Petersburg city officials have launched a tender for the completion of the Zenit Arena, which is currently being built on Krestovskiy island for the 2018 World Cup. The 61,251-capacity stadium will cost about €934 million. The total value of the contracts that will complete the project is RUB 9.14 billion (€190 million).
ESSA and CONCACAF combine their integrity assault on match-fixers
By Paul Nicholson
September 11 – Betting industry integrity body ESSA has signed an information sharing agreement with CONCACAF, the only hook-up for the online sportsbook organisation with a football confederation. ESSA already has agreements with FIFA and a number of national federations including the English FA and Germany’s DFB.