August 30 – Football Federation Australia (FFA) has granted in-principle approval for a new domestic cup competition, based on the model of the English FA Cup and including amateur, semi-professional and top flight teams.
By Paul Nicholson in Prague
August 30 – Besiktas have lost their last minute appeal against the decision by UEFA to exclude the Turkish club from the Europa League 2013/14. The draw for the group stages, taking place today in Monaco, will now see Besiktas replaced by Norwegian club Tromsø – who had lost to Beşiktaş in the play-off round.
August 30 – The first round of public ticketing for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil saw more that more than 400,000 fans request over 2.3 million tickets in the first 24 hours. Brazilians led the way in terms of demand by country.
Getting a substantial number of women into the corridors of administrative power remains a major challenge for football, which is still seen – not without justifiable cause, I might add – as being a stuffy old boy’s club.
If there is one thing in which Africa is certainly pointing the right way to Europe and the rest of the world, it is in giving women a chance at the top of the administrative ladder.
By Andrew Warshaw, in Monaco
August 30 – Michel Platini is again insisting on the Qatar 2022 World Cup being switched to winter – in line with a number of other stakeholders.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Monaco
August 30 – It may not quite have had the razzmatazz of previous years but the group stage draw for the Champions League nevertheless provided its fair share of anticipation and excitement today.
By David Owen
August 30 – Summer transfer spending by Premier League clubs is set to surge to record levels in coming days, triggering concerns that the latest TV bonanza risks being frittered away rather than used to strengthen club finances.
By Mark Baber
August 29 – Gibraltar-based online casino operator 32Red is to become the official casino partner of Italy’s Bologna FC in a new two year deal. 32Red’s logo will be displayed on the pitch-side LED advertising boards at every home game, on interview backdrops and on the official club website.
By Mark Baber
August 29 – Epson has agreed a three-year sponsorship worth S$1 million with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS). The partnership was launched at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday and sees the printer and projector manufacturer supporting the match-day experience of fans, the development of strategy for coaches and youth development.
FIFA. They really are the masters at changing their stance on an issue, taking ownership of it, and complimenting themselves on their new stance.
Please don’t misunderstand me. It’s a compliment. There are some clever operators in and around the Zurich HQ.
Blatter’s nifty footwork to become a racism trailblazer after his horrible gaffe to me in 2011 is one example.
By Panos Bletsos
August 29 – The Greek football authorities have again reformatted the leagues in a desperate bid to create more revenue. This time the format of the Football League, the country’s second tier, has been changed with immediate effect as the league seeks to generate more TV money.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 29 – Turkey’s Fenerbahce have had their appeal against Champions League expulsion rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport which upheld UEFA’s two-year ban from European competition over a much-publicised match-fixing scandal.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 29 – Will he or won’t he stand for FIFA President? It’s a question that has persued UEFA boss Michel Platini wherever he has turned up in recent months – and now he has told the football world exactly when he will give a clear indication one way or the other. Platini says he is still weighing up whether he wants to succeed Sepp Blatter in 2015 but will most likely end all the waiting during UEFA’s next executive committee meeting in Dubrovnik on September 19 and 20.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 29 – Kazakhstan champions Shakhtar Karagandy, dramatically knocked out by Celtic 3-2 on aggregate in the Champions League playoff round on Wednesday, have been warned by UEFA that they could face disciplinary action if they continue the practise of ritually slaughtering sheep before European games.
By Alexander Krassimirov
August 29 – Bulgaria’s former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov (pictured) has set a record as the oldest professional football player in the history of Bulgaria. The leader of the GERB political party was registered as a professional footballer in the Bulgarian Football Union on August 19 and a week later officially made his debut in Vitosha Bistritsa’s goalless draw against Rakovski in the country’s second-tier league (B grupa).