By Andrew Warshaw
August 28 – Football clubs are often accused of self-interest and lack of sportsmanship so hats off to Yeovil Town boss Gary Johnson for at least trying to partially make amends after admitting poor judgement by him and his team.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 28 – Manchester City have dispelled rumours that they are poised to expand into Australia by purchasing A-League team Western Sydney Wanderers.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 28 – The thorny issue of Kosovan eligibility is back in the spotlight after a Swiss-based player was refused a visa by Russia to play for St Gallen in a Europa League game on Thursday. St Gallen midfielder Kristian Nushi, who moved to Switzerland 11 years ago but still holds a Kosovan passport, will therefore miss the playoff second leg at Spartak Moscow.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 28 – Inter Milan have renewed their sponsorship agreement with Nike by signing a 10-year deal worth a reported €200 million in what has become one of football’s longest established partnerships.
August 29 – The Pacific Islands opened their first outdoor, surfaced Futsal court in Samoa last weekend in Samoa, funded through FIFA’s development office as a GOAL IV project.
By David Owen
August 28 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has pressed ahead and revoked the accreditation of the Rio de Janeiro doping control laboratory less than 10 months before the 2014 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to kick off in Brazil.
After a weekend in which none of the Premier League’s big three managed to win, it remains tough to predict who will emerge as the 2013-14 champions. But you don’t need too powerful a crystal ball even at this stage to foresee which club is likely to make the season’s biggest pre-tax profit.
Assuming the soap opera of Gareth Bale’s transfer to Real Madrid (or A.N.Other) reaches a consummation before the window closes,
By Mark Baber
August 27 = The world-renowned Federation of International Robot-Soccer Association (FIRA) Roboworld Cup kicked off on Monday in Malaysia, with a hundred teams from universities around the world competing in categories including the Micro-Robot Soccer Tournament (MiroSot), the Simulated Robot Soccer Tournament (SimuroSot) and the Humanoid Robot Soccer Tournament (HuroCup).
August 27 – Lazio, currently feeling the heat due to a racist element amongst their supporters and without a short sponsor, wore a strong anti-racism message for Sunday’s Serie A match against Udinese.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 27 – India could represent the next major market for the world’s leading clubs to promote themselves, according to Manchester United who have just signed a three-year partnership with high-performance manufacturers Apollo Tyres Ltd. Last week’s high-profile announcement between the two parties was one of the first initiatives between an Indian multinational and a global football brand and United’s group managing director Richard Arnold says it could act as a precedent for rivals to follow.
August 27 – Australia has become a full member the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), which represents south-east Asia, the latest move in the country’s efforts to secure complete integration into Asian football.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 27 – Hosts United Arab Emirates have been placed in the same group as Brazil as excitement mounts for the under-17 World Cup in October, an important showcase for the region with so much attention focussed on the 2022 World Cup in nearby Qatar.
By Mark Baber
August 27 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter is expecting a reply in the next few days from Russian authorities about the recently passed law banning “propaganda” to minors on “non-traditional relations.”
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,