By Tom Parsons
December 17 – Twitter accounts predicting the outcomes of several high-profile football draws, leading some to conclude that those in charge of the draws are corrupt, have turned out to be a scam to build twitter audiences for these newly created and so-called ‘ITK’ (in the know) accounts.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 17 – The majority shareholder of Lechia Gdansk, currently playing in the Ekstraklasa, is planning to sell its stake in the Polish football club.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Having increasingly preached zero tolerance when it comes to racism, FIFA have dealt their severest penalty to date by banning Croatia midfielder Josip Simunic for 10 matches, ruling him out of next year’s World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Already embroiled in a tax evasion case that has clouded his image, Lionel Messi, through his representatives, has fiercely denied allegations in a Spanish newspaper that his father is suspected of being involved in helping to launder Colombian drug money.
December 16 – Big-spending Manchester City’s reward for reaching the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time is a mouth-watering clash with four-time winners Barcelona, while holders Bayern Munich face Arsenal for the second year in a row in the other big tie of the last 16 following today’s draw.
By David Owen
December 16 – FIFA has announced the appointment of Glasgow-based Aggreko as a branded licensee for the 2014 World Cup, in a move expected to save about $20 million in running costs for the 12 host-cities that will stage the tournament in Brazil next year.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Brazil’s preparations for next year’s World Cup have been rocked by yet another fatality at a stadium being used for the tournament after a young construction worker fell to his death, heightening safety fears six months ahead of the big kickoff. The latest death came at the Manaus Arena in the Amazonian jungle region where England will meet Italy.
Nelson Mandela, as we have been told endlessly in the last few days, belongs to the world. So it was no surprise to arrive at the Doha Goals Forum last week to see that pictures of Nelson Mandela were festooned all over Aspire Academy, the multi purpose sports and conference venue where the forum was being held. Even had this not been the week when the eyes of the world were glued to Mandela’s funeral a forum such as Doha Goals,
December 16 – CONCACAF have announced the winners of their inaugural Confederation awards across six categories. Mexico’s Oribe Peralta and Alex Morgan (pictured) of the United States were named the first-ever CONCACAF Male and Female Players of the Year.
December 16 – Moroccan champions Raja Casablanca have struck a mighty blow for the north African hosts by reaching Wednesday’s semifinal of the Club World Cup with another dramatic victory, this time 2-1 over Concacaf’s Monterrey of Mexico.
Can politics (though I hesitate to use the word) ‘succeed’ where football has failed?
I raise the question in the context of a referendum on independence that the President of Catalonia, the region around Barcelona, seems keen to hold in November 2014, less than two months after a similar vote in Scotland.
For the moment, it is far from sure this Catalonian referendum will even take place, or be seen as legally binding,
By Paul Nicholson
December 16 – US clubs have had their qualification process for their four Champions League spots changed following a request by US Soccer to CONCACAF. The region’s top club competition has to date been dominated by Mexican clubs who have won every edition.
December 13 – Valencia, struggling with €300 million of debt, has run into further trouble with Bankia, who holds most of the debt, saying there will no refinancing available for the club.
The last person who would ever think of Scottish footballer Frank McKeown as a hero is Frank McKeown.
But to people around him…
He didn’t ask for the spotlight to be on him, but despite his humility, his story needs telling. And the support of everyone around him at one of the world’s oldest football clubs, Stranraer FC, deserves the widest recognition possible.
