Inside World Football - Page 1794 of 2159 - For the Business of Football

Ethiopian blunder punished by FIFA, reopens African WC qualification hopes

ethiopian football fans

By Mark Baber
July 2 – In a set-back to Ethiopia’s ambitions to qualify for a World Cup final tournament for the first time, FIFA has overturned Ethiopia’s original 2-1 win against Botswana and awarded a 3-0 victory to Botswana. FIFA has confirmed that the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) has been sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player in the preliminary competition match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Botswana and Ethiopia played on 8 June 2013.

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Blatter declares success as Cup fever dies down after a blockbuster finish

blatter3

By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter once again declared the Confederations Cup a success at his final news conference of the two-week event – and re-iterated that football was playing a unifying rather than divisive role in the country.

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FIFpro’s Evangelista calls for share of the FIFA and UEFA TV cash

joaquimevangelista1

By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – FIFA and UEFA should share television revenues from their respective tournaments with footballers who most need financial help, according to international players union FIFPro board member Joaquim Evangelista. Evangelista, head of the Portuguese Professional Footballers Association, said he would urge fellow board members at this week’s FIFPro general assembly in the Netherlands to lobby football’s governing bodies to hand out more of their money to unions in countries where players are struggling.

Rolf Willi

Will football unite Cyprus?

iwf cyprus

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Thailand’s True Corporation partners Manchester United

True Corp

By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – Manchester United have announced yet another new sponsor – specifically to co-incide with their pre-season tour of Thailand. United, who won their 20th English league title in May, have struck a three-year deal with Thai telecommunications group True Corporation Plc though no figure has been made public on the agreement.

John Yan

John Yan: 国足未到选帅时 Lippi the next head coach for Team China?

当那三封道歉信出现时，我小小地惊诧了一下。大致浏览了署名中国足协的那一封，其他两封不看也罢。

新闻客户端的推送功能，让我知道有这三封道歉信的出现，可见网易移动内容的同事，还确实在继续关注着国足消息，道歉信也上升到了”重点新闻”的级别。只是”615耻辱”已经过去了9天，为什么到了6月24日才有了道歉信？为什么道歉信一出现就是三封？

最紧要的是，为什么道歉信的口吻，仍然不能”说人话”？

Africa

Cameroon face suspension as government steps into vote row over Iya Mohammed

Iya Mohammed

By Mark Baber
July 1 – The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) is in chaos and faces potential suspension from FIFA following the annulling by a judicial authority of Iya Mohammed’s overwhelming re-election as President.

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Doncaster Belles lose appeal over demotion from Women’s Super League

Doncaster Belles

By Mark Baber
July 1 – In a major blow to Doncaster Belles and their supporters, the club has lost its appeal to retain its place in the re-structured English Women’s Super League. The FA has re-assigned clubs to leagues according to various license criteria, rather than performance on the sporting field.

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Exclusive: Valcke slams criticism of cost of staging World Cups

jerome valcke3

By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
July 1 – FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has accused UEFA of “opportunism and irresponsibility” after Europe’s governing body denounced FIFA for asking World Cup hosts to fork out a fortune on infrastructure to the detriment of more important social needs.

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Baghdad pitch bomb kills fans and players, AFC demands increased security

Iraqi kids playing football

July 1 – Between nine and 15 people have been killed in a bomb blast while watching and playing football in Baghdad, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Iraqis either competing or watching and prompting a plea by Asian football authorities to beef up security in the region.

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Blatter upbeat as the Confederations Cup closes with Brazil, as winners

blatter3

By Andrew Warshaw
July 1 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter insists the Confederations Cup, which concluded on Sunday with Brazil’s resounding 3-0 win over Spain, rose above the mass street protests that co-incided with the tournament.

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Bulgarian arrests as angry CSKA fans march on FA offices

Bulgarian FA building

By Andrew Warshaw
July 1 – Fifteen CSKA fans have been detained after an attack on the headquarters of the Bulgarian FA in protest at the debt-ridden club facing the prospect of being plunged into obscurity. CSKA will play in the amateur championship next season if they fail to merge with another first division club in time for the start of the Bulgarian league on July 20.

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High-flying Swans land new shirt sponsorship deal

Goldenway sponsorship

By David Owen
June 29 – Further evidence of the Barclays Premier League’s remarkable international pulling power has emerged with a new shirt sponsorship deal announced by Swansea City. The South Wales club, whose rapid advance from the lower reaches of the professional game in Britain was underlined last season by victory in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley, has agreed a £2 million deal with a Hong Kong-based financial services provider called Goldenway.

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Inside Insight: Just another day at the Confederations Cup of contrasts

Spain’s Confederations Cup semi-final win on penalties over Italy in Fortaleza was marred by more protests as 5,000 protestors clashed with police who responded with tear gas prior to the game.

Inside the stadium a 58,000 capacity crowd watched Spain break the world record by marching to 29 consecutive competitive matches unbeaten. A match that to the world’s TV audience had drama and celebration of the positive football kind – in abundance.

The vast majority of colour in the stadium was the yellow of Brazil and TV pictures couldn’t resist the image of the parents feeding their baby at half time.

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Players to get panic buttons to report match fixers

match fixing

By Andrew Warshaw
June 28 – Players who are approached to fix matches or who suspect games are being rigged will be able to push a ‘panic button’ on their mobile phones to report their suspicions. The plan has been devised with European funding so that footballers across the continent can download an anti-match-fixing app to their phones and will be given a password to blow the whistle on fellow professionals via a red button.