All bets off as FA clamps down on English pros
May 22- All professional footballers in England will be banned from betting on football matches from next season following a string of damaging incidents that have rocked the domestic game.
FIFA move Sao Paulo stadium test date to ensure a big crowd
By Andrew Warshaw
May 22 – A vital final test event at the troubled stadium that is hosting the opening game of the World Cup has been postponed for three days, raising fresh concerns that the Sao Paulo venue will be far from ready for the June 12 kickoff.
Right places, right time: Brazil 2014 digital football guide launches
May 22 – Fans looking to find the authentic Brazilian football experience in Rio or Sao Paulo at the World Cup this summer should download a couple of digital guides written by Brazilian journalist Qiana Martin and writer of the of www. http://eatsoccer.wordpress.com/ blog.
Lee Wellings: World wide Webb tackles racism his way
Jeffrey Webb knows it should be harder to find examples of racism in football
While in London to speak at an event marking 20 years of the trailblazing anti-discrimination group Kick It Out, yet another example of racism in football reared its ugly, pointless head.
The morning of our meeting in a London hotel, Mario Balotelli had been abused by a group of Italy fans at the team’s training base in Florence.
Brazilian players go legal with FIFA, complaining it is too hot for early kick offs
By Andrew Warshaw
May 22 – FIFA is holding firm on kickoff times for the World Cup despite being threatened with legal action by Brazil’s athletes’ union (Fenapaf) which is calling for two-minute water breaks at the midway point of each half.
City Football Group invest in Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos
By Mark Baber
May 21 – City Football Group (CFG), owners of Manchester City, Melbourne Heart and New York City Football Club have taken a minority stake (believed to be 20%) and formed a partnership with the Nissan-owned Yokohama F Marinos, one of Japan’s leading sides.
End to hijab ban welcomed in Jordan as game is opened to more women
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – The lifting of the ban on Muslim women footballers wearing the hijab has been welcomed by organisers of the 2016 under-17 Womens World Cup in Jordan, a tournament viewed as potential breakthrough it terms of breaking down social barriers.
IMG picks up master licensee rights package for Euro 2016
May 21 – IMG Licensing has been appointed by UEFA as the master licensee for Euro 2016 and will have global rights until the end of the following year. The contract, to be run from IMG’s Paris office, also covers the UEFA European U21 Championship, the UEFA European Women’s Championship and the UEFA Futsal Euro.
Webb calls for more education and tougher sanctions in the fight against racism
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – The FIFA vice-president leading the campaign to wipe out racism in football says there must be no let-up in the effort to spread the message and punish the offenders. Jeffrey Webb, President of CONCACAF and head of FIFA’s anti-discrimination Task Force, was a guest speaker at Tuesday night’s star-studded 20th anniversary of Britain’s Kick It Out movement and called for collective solidarity and inclusion.
BSports releases Power50 rankings, Suarez tops list
By Paul Nicholson
May 21- Bloomberg have released their ‘BSports Power 50’ ranking of the top European footballers over the 2013/14 season. Liverpool’s Luis Suarez tops the ranking while, not surprisingly, Spain’s Atlético de Madrid were the top represented club with eight players in the top 50.
FIFA call for extra test event in Sao Paulo as Pele turns up the heat on corruption
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Brazilian legend Pele says the delays that have plagued the World Cup in his country have been “a disgrace” as FIFA called for a further test event at the stadium that is hosting the opening game. Sao Paulo’s Itaquerao, Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal and Curitiba’s Arena da Baixada are all unfinished despite the tournament starting in less than a month, and Pele is dismayed.
INSIDE nominated in World Soccer Talk Awards; help David beat the Goliaths
May 21 – With good fan support upstart minnows can occasionally knock out the bigger and bullying football fish. INSIDEworldfootball has been nominated for a Readers’ Choice award in two categories in the 2013/14 World Soccer Talk Awards. Nominations are for Best Online Coverage for insideworldfootball.com, while Matt Scott has been nominated in the Best Writer category for his columns on the site.
Matt Scott: FFP Judgement Day tests the work clubs have done
“Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw – each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.” Corinthians 3:12-13
When the angel comes out of heaven with the key to the Abyss and holding that great big chain thingy,
UNCAF to play its 2014 Cup in the US in September
May 21 – The US has rapidly become the country of choice for Central and South American championships. Earlier this month CONCACAF announced it would be hosting the Copa America Centenario in the US in 2016. Now the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) have confirmed they will play their 25th anniversary Central American Cup in the US.
Premier League backs Scudamore but the ‘sexual’ tension continues
May 20 – The Premier League has given its chief executive Richard Scudamore a vote of confidence following his now infamous emailed sexism comments that were published in an English Sunday newspaper. But the adverse reaction to his comments has kicked up a storm that shows no sign of abating.