By Gareth Messenger
May 22 – European football’s governing body, UEFA, has confirmed that Malaga have had the second year of their European ban lifted but remain prohibited from playing in next season’s Europa League.
By Mark Baber
May 22 – The Bangladeshi women’ side lost 9-0 against Thailand and Iran lost 6-0 to the Philippines yesterday in the AFC Women’s Asia Cup Qualifiers in Dhaka yesterday. The qualifiers, played in the Bangabandhu National Stadium, are being sponsored by Pizza Hut’s local franchisee, Transcom, a multi-sector company who run a number of Pizza Hut franchises in the country.
By Mark Baber
May 22 – A 20th MLS franchise has been announced for New York – New York City Football Club (NYCFC) – owned by Manchester City and the New York Yankees. The team is expected to make its league debut in 2015.
By Tom Parsons
May 22 – Excitement has been building in London this week with a series of UEFA-backed events in advance of Saturday’s all-German Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich.
By Gareth Messenger
May 22 – Gibraltar’s bid to join European football’s governing body as a full member is gathering pace in London ahead of the UEFA Congress this Friday. If elected, Gibraltar’s national team would be allowed to take part in European competitions.
By Mark Baber
May 21 – William Hill has extended its sponsorship of the Scottish Cup until 2016, after agreeing a new two-year seven-figure deal, believed to be £3 million, a year before the existing contract was due to end.
By Paul Nicholson
May 21 – With 25 days to go to the opening match of the Confederations Cup in Brasilia between Brazil and Japan there is a sense that the people are ready, even if the infrastructure might not be, yet.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – As Scottish football prepares to discuss ground-breaking plans to preserve its very future, crisis-torn Edinburgh club Hearts have avoided immediate relegation after the Scottish Premier League decided the club’s financial problems had not breached its rules before the end of the season.
By Mark Baber
May 21 – UEFA has signed an agreement with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) which becomes the seventh official sponsor of UEFA’s national team competitions, including the UEFA European Football Championships.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff staged a bullish defence of her country’s preparations for the forthcoming Confederations Cup when she officially inaugurated the last of six stadiums being used for the World Cup warm-up event.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Despite renewed efforts from football’s authorities to try and eradicate racism, Italy’s season ended with yet more examples of discrimination – just a week after FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s personal intervention over the issue.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – George Becali, outspoken owner of leading Romanian club Steaua Bucharest, has been jailed for abuse of power in his role a member of parliament, according to local reports.
Today, in Switzerland, corruption is only a crime when it involves state employees or – in the private sector – when it occurs in a competitive environment. This will change soon.
Last week, the Swiss government published a proposal to tighten their corruption law. Even though, officially, it does not target FIFA, it is clear that the new law is nothing else than a Lex FIFA.
Since 2006,
May 20 – With FIFA having concluded all its 2014 World Cup sponsorships last week with the announcement of Brazilian sports retailer Centauro as the sixth and final national sponsor, it has followed up swiftly this week with the unveiling of INTERSPORT as the Official Event Shop of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
