By Mark Baber
May 28 – Just when it looked like everything was at last under control in Brazil in readiness for the Confedertion Cup which kicks off mid-June, another building disaster has sruck.
May 28 – UEFA have released a set Champions League numbers that show another year of impressive growth and making the final, says UEFA, “the world’s most-watched annual television sporting event on television and social media platforms”.
May 28 – Vincent Tan, Malaysian owner of newly promoted English Premier League club Cardiff City, has indicated that he would be prepared to sell or float the club on the stock markets.
By David Owen
May 28 – He is within two months of his 40th birthday – and now he can claim to be the £120 million man. Kevin Phillips, the former Baldock Town, Sunderland, Southampton, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham, Blackpool and (eight times) England striker, blasted Crystal Palace back into the Premier League from the penalty spot on Monday, sending opponents Watford, another of his former clubs, into the depths of despair.
Es schallt und raucht. Die Bildschirme biegen sich allenthalben unter dem Gewicht des Wortschwalls, der da laut und unmissverständlich aus angelsächsichen Laptops in den Cyberäther drängelt, dicht gefolgt von plagiarisierenden Deppen teutscher Sprache, die anstelle des Selbstgegorenen (weil eben schwieriger, eine eigene Meinung zu haben, als eine andere kopiert zu wiederkäuen), lieber den Schwachsinn aus englischen Landen, als die scheinbar abscheuliche Manna der “real existierende Rechstprechung” herumreichen.
Die Rede ist vom Abschreiberling, der – selber eher unzureichend mit Intellekt ausgestattet – die Kunst der Boulevaldisierung von allem und jedem bis hin zum Gehtnichtmehr beherrscht.
By Mark Baber
May 27 – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (pictured) has announced the broadcasting of live betting odds will be banned from sports coverage, with gambling advertising relegated to designated commercial breaks during quarter and half-times.
By Mark Baber
May 27 – The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) has moved this year’s edition of the biannual SAFF Championship, to be held in Kathmandu, forward by two weeks.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 27 – It’s not every day that Mauritius, renowned as one of the world’s most exclusive tourist destinations, becomes the centre of attention for footballing reasons.
I have been delving further into the detail of FIFA’s new Club Protection Programme (CPP), the scheme designed to remove a longstanding bone of contention by compensating clubs when players they employ are injured on international duty.
I was concerned lest an unforeseen spate of injuries sent costs soaring to the point where they absorbed most or all of FIFA’s positive annual result. This stood at $89 million in 2012.
The world football governing body has now told me that they have moved to protect themselves against unexpectedly high costs.
As the fraternity’s mandarins descend upon the picturesque Island of Mauritius, for the supposedly decisive FIFA congress, where ‘reform’ and ‘improving the quality of governance’ are the catch-phrases of choice, it is poignant to remember – for those who are conveniently beginning to forget – that the scandal over the award of World Cup hosting rights, for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, played a key role in igniting the ‘change’ process in the first place.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 24 – Playing politics in immaculate style, UEFA president Michel Platini gave a veiled hint for the first time today that his 53 members may not support FIFA’s reform process for cleaning up the game, due to reach its climax in Mauritius next week after two years of rhetoric and table thumping.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 24 – Gibraltar officially became the 54th member of UEFA today when delegates voted at their annual congress to give the tiny British colony full membership – with the Euro 2016 qualifying competition expected to be its first major tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 24 – UEFA president Michel Platini today stepped up his campaign to counter match-fixing by calling once again on governments and politicians to help tackle what he believes is the biggest crisis facing football.
May 24 – Borussia Dortmund has signed a one-year sponsorship deal with Lebara Mobile, a leading provider of mobile phone service to destinations outside Germany, in a deal put together by marketing agency Sportfive.
By Mark Baber
May 24 – The 2015 Champions League Final will be held in Berlin’s Olympiastadion, the UEFA Executive Committee decided on Thursday at its meeting in London. Warsaw’s National Stadium won the honour of hosting the Europa League Final 2015.