July 9 – All doping tests on players competing at the World Cup have proved negative, according to FIFA. Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s chief medical officer, said both blood and urine samples from the first 58 games came back clean as did 777 out-of-competition tests conducted between March 1 and June 11.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 9 – Match Hospitality, part of the Byrom group that is one of FIFA’s key partners, is standing by its British director arrested as part of the investigation by Brazilian authorities into the illegal sale of World Cup tickets.
July 9 – The second African Football Film Festival (AFFF) takes place in Lagos, Nigeria, this weekend. Organised by PLAY!YA, the event mixes films and discussion of the social issues raised in the films, with interviews, games and music.
July 8 – The last few weeks, with the tournament in full swing, have been a lot better. But I don’t think anyone could justifiably argue that Brazil’s first of three years in the global sporting spotlight has gone entirely to plan. Today in Belo Horizonte Brazilians must face up to the distinct possibility of more bad news: can their yellow-shirted warriors, shorn of their two best players, feasibly get the better of a typically well-drilled,
Tempo fermo. L’orologio del calcio italiano non si è mosso da quel triste ultimo 24 giugno, quando l’uruguaiano Godin ha rispedito subito a casa la Nazionale azzurra, togliendola di scena dal Mondiale in Brasile. In realtà sembrava che tutto dovesse cambiare in fretta. Pochi minuti dopo il fischio finale il commissario tecnico Cesare Prandelli rassegnava le sue dimissioni “irrevocabili”, seguito nel giro di una manciata di secondi da quelle del presidente della Federcalcio, Giancarlo Abete.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – Brazilian police have arrested a British director of a FIFA partner company as the ongoing investigation into the illegal sale of World Cup tickets intensifies. Ray Whelan from Match Hospitality, a familiar face at recent World Cups, was detained at a Rio de Janeiro hotel where officials from the world’s football governing body were also staying.
By Paul Nicholson
July 8 – English club ownership continues to attract investors though the anticipated sale of Premier League Aston Villa by its American owner Randy Lerner has faltered. Neighbouring Premier League club West Bromwich Albion has seen ownership control shift further to chairman Jeremy Peace, while mercurial sports entrepreneur Barry Hearn has sold his League 2 club Leyton Orient to Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – The man who devised the revolutionary vanishing spray that been used at the World Cup to keep defensive walls 10 yards (9.15 metres) from the ball at freekicks says he has no immediate interest in making money and just wants his invention to be taken up globally.
July 8 – The first of two Europe vs South America giant clashes. In 20 meetings Brazil have won 12 times and Germany just four times. But Germany may not come across a better time to meet a Brazil team without their inspirational goalscorer Neymar out, and with their dominant captain Thaigo Silva suspended. Bring it on!
July 8 – Tributes are pouring in for Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, who died on Monday after suffering a heart attack at the weekend 24 hours after his 88th birthday.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – FIFA have forcefully denied suggestions that referees have been deliberately ordered not to hand out red and yellow cards at the World Cup in order to provide a more entertaining spectacle.
By David Owen
July 7 – And so, with just four of the 64 matches remaining, Brazil 2014 has come down, as one always suspected it might, to a duel between the two biggest brands and the two confederations whose top teams have monopolised the World Cup trophy for 84 years.
July 8 – Manchester United FC are extending their reach into Taiwan, China by launching their first ever football camp in the Taipei Municipal Stadium. Their Official tyre partner of China and Russia, Federal Tyres is sponsoring 32 children aged 6-14 to take part in one of two 3-day camps.
With two African teams making the knockout rounds in Brazil, the continent has obviously written a new chapter in tournament history.
Ever since Morocco became the first African team, at the 1986 finals in Mexico, to reach the Round of 16, the continent has maintained a solitary presence there.
Considering that I had, in a previous piece, seriously considered the possibility that its five teams were at risk of being knocked out in the first round,
July 7 – Etihad Airways has expanded its Australian football presence, sponsoring Hyundai A-League side Melbourne City FC in a five-year deal that will see the airline branding on the club’s shirts.