By ‘Alex O’Loughlin
August 27 – Gareth Bale looks set to join Real Madrid before the close of the transfer market for a world record fee in excess of €90 million, and Madrid have already started work on recouping that ooutlay.
The transfer of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid is set to generate £83 million and more in fees. This is by any measure a staggering sum of money. Whether the world-record sum represents value for money and whether his club can justify it under UEFA’s financial fair play rules are subjective matters for Real and UEFA to consider.
But it is intriguing to wonder whether Real’s owner, Florentino Perez, considered recent legal arguments as he haggled with Tottenham Hotspur’s chairman,
By Alexander Krassimirov
August 27 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia will lose its main sponsor GLOBUL. The telecommunication company, which is the second largest in Bulgaria announced that it would not continue its cooperation with the club when the current sponsorship contract expires at the end of August.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 26 – Former French international striker Nicolas Anelka is reported to be considering retiring following the death of his agent, Eric Manasse.
August 26 – AC Milan midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng, known as much for his famous walk-off in January that led to a spate of new anti-racism measures as for his exploits on the pitch, has decided to come out of international retirement and play again for Ghana.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 26 – President Sepp Blatter has given the strongest indication yet that the Qatar 2022 World Cup will be moved from summer – but tellingly can’t confirm exactly when it would be staged instead.
By Paul Nicholson in Grand Cayman
August 26 – “This is where it all starts. CONCACAF has a duty to develop its youth players and these are the seeds to expand the vision of youth development. How many opportunities do these young players get to play against the best of their own age group? Before this they had no opportunity,” said CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb as the final of the confederation’s U15 boys tournament came to a close in the Cayman Islands.
By Mark Baber
August 26- Swiss billionaire investor Klaus-Michael Kühne wants to see radical reforms and Felix Magath, known for his tough management style, brought in to run Hamburger SV – and unless he gets his way he will not be putting any more of his money into the club.
By Paul Nicholson in Grand Cayman
August 25 – At a reception in honour of the inaugural CONCACAF U-15 championship, the Premier of the Cayman Islands, Alden McLaughlin, declared the country “open for business and sports tourism. I am immensely proud and honoured that we in Cayman are hosting this U15 tournament – the first (under 15 tournment) for CONCACAF. It is also appropriate since we in Cayman also have the CONCACAF president.”
By Alex O’Loughlin
August 26 – The Spanish tax authorities will collect almost €50 million from star trio Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar for the 2013-14 tax year.
By Mark Baber
August 25 – Malawi’s Belgian national team coach Tom Saintfiet says his solicitors will be reporting Stephen Keshi (pictured) to FIFA after the Nigerian national team coach called him “a white dude who should go back to Belgium.”
By Alex O’Loughlin
August 23 – Barcelona have become the first football club in the world to boast more than a million YouTube subscribers to its channel.
By Mark Baber
August 23 – Arsenal Football Club has announced betting company Paddy Power as its Official Betting Partner in the UK, Ireland and Italy for the next three years.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 23 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke (pictured) is keeping up the pressure on Russia over the country’s contentious new anti-gay legislation, saying his organisation will not accept any form of discrimination at the 2018 World Cup.
By Mark Baber
August 23 – Armenian referee Andranik Arsenyan and assistant Hovhannes Avagyan have been handed life bans by UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Body (CDB) after admitting attempting to manipulate the outcome of a Europa League match.