Africans pledge support to Blatter
September 22 – Any hopes rivals to Sepp Blatter might have in swaying the African vote away from the present incumbent at next year’s Fifa presidential election look like finding it tough going.
Rehner joins panel for Russian host cities debate, November 13
September 22 – Chris Rehner, CEO of Helios Partners, has confirmed he will speaking the session ‘Russia’s Host Cities: Development and Priorities’ at the World Football Forum in Moscow, November 13.
NYC FC targets Queens for life after Yankee Stadium
By Ben Nicholson
September 22 – The upcoming MLS expansion team NYC FC has targeted a new site for its soccer-specific stadium in the parking lot south of the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. Manchester City owned NYC FC will play its inaugural season, 2015, inside The Yankee Stadium – a baseball arena owned by the New York Yankees, who also own a fraction of NYC FC.
MLS rebrands with new logo for its ‘best days ahead’
September 22 – The MLS has unveiled a new logo ahead of its twentieth season, to go along with its rebranding and rejuvenated aspirations to become a leading league in world soccer. Discarding the old boot and ball in black and white, the league has gone for the classic crest template normally seen as club logos.
Brazilians swoop for Strikers while Miami still waits for Becks
September 22 – When Fort Lauderdale Strikers, a North American Soccer League (NASL) club, announced on its website that a major announcement was to be made on September 19, rumors started flying that David Beckham, whose group had suggested they had some announcements to make shortly too, may have had a change in strategy. However, the truth is that three Brazilians are the ones rocking this boat.
David Owen: Welcome to Wembley, UEFA’s Field of Dreams
‘If you build it, UEFA will come.’ With apologies to Kevin Costner and the rest of those responsible for Field of Dreams, the fantasy Black Sox baseball movie, this looks like a more and more apposite slogan for a venue some four thousand miles east of Ray Kinsella’s ploughed-under Iowa corn-field: Wembley Stadium.
2020 Euros go Wembley way as UEFA picks its host cities
By Andrew Warshaw in Geneva
September 19 – After two humiliating failures in trying to secure the World Cup, English football can at last celebrate victory after being handed the climax to the one-off pan-European Championship finals in 2020.
Eckert working to November deadline but report stays secret
September 19 – The man who will deliver verdicts following the report into the World Cup bidding investigation has re-iterated that he will try and make public any sanctions by November – and meanwhile keep the files secret.
Gornik Zabrze fans launch association to buy into Polish top tier club
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 19 – Gornik Zabrze supporters have set up a new entity, modelled on the associations of Spanish football clubs, aimed at acquiring an ownership stake in the Polish side. The latest move comes as a response to the continuing financial woes of Gornik which is controlled by the city of Zabrze.
Chagossians crowd-fund their first international
By Mark Baber
September 19 – The Chagossians, a people forcibly displaced from the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, have launched a campaign on Indiegogo to raise the funds to send a team to play their first game outside of the UK against ConIFA member, Szekelyföld LE, a Hungarian-speaking minority group in Transylvania.
Doctor’s orders: UEFA brings in 3-minute concussion rule
September 19 – UEFA are to introduce new rules to prevent players suffering possible concussion. With immediate effect, referees will be allowed stop matches for up to three minutes and the team doctor will decide if a player can continue under new procedures to be used in European competitions.
UEFA refs Ukraine vs Russia grudge match, extra time needed
By Andrew Warshaw in Geneva
September 19 – UEFA officials appear to have been caught unawares by a strongly worded demand by Ukraine’s football federation to suspend Russia from international football over the Crimea crisis.
Mutko wary on sanctions but calls for politics to stay out of sport
By Paul Nicholson
September 19 – Russia’s minister of sports Vitaly Mutko (pictured) has responded to European politicians’ calls for sports sanctions saying that nothing can be ruled out but that sports and politics should be kept separate.
More timebomb than timepiece. FIFA calls in CBF watch gifts
By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – Just as FIFA hosts a landmark summit on ethics in sport, fresh details have emerged that a raft of high-ranking officials were offered expensive watches at the World Cup.
Speculation mounts over Euro 2020 winners and losers as nations gather for vote
By Andrew Warshaw in Geneva
September 18 – Nineteen hopeful countries will learn on Friday which 13 of them have been selected by UEFA to stage the one-off pan-European finals in 2020.