By Andrew Warshaw
May 28 – The match-fixing epidemic that has swept through world football has been underlined by UEFA teaming up with Europol to combat organised crime. The European Union’s police agency says it is involved in nine separate investigations linked to match-fixing and will share information with UEFA on suspected rigging and illegal betting within Europe’s 54 national federations.
Football, as we know, is often all about fine margins. Just ask Atletico Madrid. Whilst no-one can possibly condone the ridiculous behaviour of their otherwise admirable coach Diego Simeone when he lost his cool as victory slipped agonisingly away in Lisbon’s Stadium of Light last weekend, let’s not underestimate what the Spanish capital’s so-called poorer sister achieved over the season as a whole.
Real Madrid finally collected their 10th European crown after 12 years of pain –
May 27 – Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph over Atletico Madrid wasn’t their only success of the past few days against Spanish rivals. Off the field, the European Club Association have appointed Real vice-president Pedro Lopez Jimenez as its 2nd vice chairman.
By Mark Baber
May 27 – The alleged flare thrower, who injured APOEL player Kaka (pictured) during the Cypriot league decider between AEL Limassol and Apoel Nicosia, has been released on bail. Meanwhile APOEL supporters will be holding a march this evening to protest the Cyprus Football Federation (CFA) decision to repeat the game on neutral ground without fans.
May 27 – Despite football’s lawmakers insisting scientific aids for referees will never go beyond goal-line technology, FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has indicated he would seek a change in the rules if he succeeds in his unlikely bid to oust Sepp Blatter next year.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
May 27 – Lech Poznan has extended its sponsorship deal with Polish betting operator STS by a further two years. STS is using its sponsorship to launch the first TV advertising campaign by a betting operator on Polish television.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – Corruption in Asian football has spread to the Maldives islands, with the Asian Football Confederation warning the local federation risked being suspended for unilaterally launching an investigation into alleged misconduct in selling AFC Challenge Cup tickets.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – President Sepp Blatter says he is determined to resolve the impasse between Palestine and Israel as the clock ticks towards the FIFA Congress in Sao Paolo just before the World Cup when the issue is officially on the agenda amid threats that delegates might be asked to call for Israel’s expulsion. Blatter is back in the region for crucial talks with both sides but admits it could prove difficult to persuade Israel to agree to a compromise that would allow Palestinian players and officials to move freely in the occupied territories.
May 27 – Jamaica will join Mexico in CONMEBOL’s Copa America tournament in Chile in 2015, the 44th time the competition has been held. The 45th edition in its hundredth year – Copa America Centenario – will be held by CONCACAF in the US in 2016.
By Alexander Krassimirov
May 26 – The owner of Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia Todor Batkov has hit out at UEFA’s sanctions accusing gas giant Gazprom for failing to deliver on its promised sponsorship. Batkov claims that if the sponsorship had been activated the fine would not have been imposed on the club.
By Ben Nicholson
May 26 – Brazilian female footballer, and five times FIFA World Player of the Year, Marta Vieira da Silva, will open the Football for Equality Plaza in Rio de Janeiro on June 4. The plaza will boast a multimedia exhibition that tells the history of female football in Brazil.
By David Owen
May 26 – Manchester United’s annus horribilis has pushed them down to third place in a listing of the 50 most valuable football club brands drawn up by Brand Finance, the brand valuation and strategy consultancy. United have swapped places with Real Madrid, the newly-crowned European champions, having seen almost $100 million wiped off their brand value since 2013, according to Brand Finance’s assessment.
Whether or not Real Madrid achieve their cherished goal of Decima tomorrow, which would mark the tenth time they have won Europe’s premier club competition, the Champions League Final in Lisbon once again emphasises that in all of world football’s many club competitions, spread across the various continents, nothing comes close to matching the glory of winning this coveted European trophy. It may be a competition that only European clubs participate in but not only do players from all over the world take part but,
May 23 – In her first major press conference since being appointed as the first female coach in the top two divisions of any of Europe’s major leagues, Helena Costa said she just wants to be treated like her male colleagues.
By Tom Parsons
May 23 – Social media platforms are already buzzing about what could be one of the greatest World Cup’s of all time. Players and fans alike are sharing news, views and opinions on Brazil 2014 with just 21 days until it begins.