By David Owen
November 1 – Stock market investors seem to have given a thumbs-up to BT’s strategy of acquiring highly compelling sports content, such as live rights to Barclays Premier League football matches, after yesterday’s publication of the telephone company’s first quarterly financial results since the launch of BT Sport on August 1.
I’m not sure I’ve that much in common with Cristiano Ronaldo. Though maybe we’ve both had a sense of humour bypass.
Cristiano was of course so offended by the FIFA President joking about him that he felt the need to respond, in a barely concealed waspish fashion.
But I certainly haven’t found much to laugh about from the world of football recently. And just as I baulk at world leaders who latch on to sporting success with hollow congratulations,
Amidst all the rhetoric in recent days from FIFA and UEFA over the separate issues of racism and World Cup slots, the bigger picture seems to be one of canny manoeuvrings being played out in front of the world’s media by Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini in order to gain the moral high ground.
“Anything you can do, I can do better” appears to be the basis of the rather silly (at best uncomfortable) mind games being employed by the respective presidents of football’s two main governing bodies.
By Jamie Styles
October 31 – Football clubs looking to recruit the best talent into their academies might consider turning to social media which was used by the Boston College Eagles American football programme with transformational effect.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – The climax to the African World Cup playoffs have been thrown into confusion after Cape Verde appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over a FIFA ruling which resulted in them being kicked out of the qualifying competition.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – Qatar’s relentless bid to secure a major profile in Europe has been significantly enhanced by a deal between Qatar Tourism Authority and Paris Saint Germain worth a reported €150-€200m a season. Widely rumoured last season, the partnership is designed to promote Qatar as a tourist destination to European audiences.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – FIFA has imposed global bans on four players and a coach from Australia’s Southern Stars Victorian Premier League side in an escalation of the most serious match-fixing scandal to hit the country.
By Paul Nicholson
October 30 – Amid the figures presented by Martin Wagner, delegate to the Board of TEAM Marketing, at the International Football Arena (IFA) conference earlier this week, was an explanation from the coal face of sports marketing of why, if football rights are handled correctly, their value will continue to increase.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – UEFA has ordered the partial closure of CSKA Moscow’s stadium for their next home Champions League tie as a result of the highly published racist chanting towards Manchester City’s Yaya Toure. The Russian club, which strongly denied the claims, were charged after Toure complained about being verbally abused by a section of the crowd during City’s 2-1 win on 23 October.
By Gareth Messenger
October 30 – The main supporters group of Spanish La Liga club, Elche, have publicly admitted they were responsible for racist abuse directed at Granada defender Allan-Romeo Nyom (pictured) at the Estadio Martinez Valero on Saturday.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – Seemingly light-hearted remarks made by Sepp Blatter during his much publicised appearance at the famed Oxford Union debating society last week have landed the FIFA president in hot water.
By Paul Nicholson
October 30 – The final session of the International Football Arena (IFA) event in Zurich lived up to expectations, producing a passionate debate across a wide range of issues surrounding the hosting of big events. If the final verdict was that there is still a place for mega events, the conclusion was clearly that more needs to be done in communicating what hosting of the events will entail.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – As widely anticipated having ended his illustrious playing career, David Beckham has decided his next move: starting a Major League Soccer team.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – For the first time ever, FIFA plans to offer companies the opportunity to purchase regional sponsorship packages for the World Cup, starting with Russia in 2018 and Qatar four years later. Speaking at a post-LOC 2018 board meeting in Kazan, FIFA’s Marketing Director Thierry Weil confirmed the new commercial structure, highlighting the opportunities and value on offer.
