By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – The new head of English football has targeted winning the 2022 World Cup as a genuine goal but has painted a bleak picture of the current state of the national team which is still without a major trophy for almost half a century.
That the 10 teams for the final knockout round, of the African qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup finals, will be known by the end of the first week in September, following the conclusion of the group stages, is no breaking news.
But the CAF-inspired decision not to allow the continent’s final five World Cup qualifiers emerge, directly, from the league format, as was the case for the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups,
By David Owen
September 4 – The Rio de Janeiro doping control laboratory whose accreditation was revoked last month by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in a hugely embarrassing blow for Brazilian authorities, failed a “blind” quality assessment test, Insideworldfootball understands.
By David Owen in Buenos Aires
September 5 – The power of football is much in evidence as the high-stakes battle for the 2020 Olympics enters its eleventh hour in this elegant South American city beside the river Plate. In recent days, a string of leading football figures have played walk-on parts as the contest builds to its dramatic denouement on September 7, when 100 or so International Olympic Committee (IOC) members will choose between Istanbul,
Gareth Bale may be the first British galectico that Real Madrid have signed since David Beckham in 2003, but the differences between the two transfers shows how the world of football has moved on in the last decade. In a sense there has been a revolution in the way transfers are done and mega million transfers of high profile players have truly come of age.
It shows how much more skilful agents are,
By Paul Nicholson
September 4 – World Cup 2014 ticket prices have again been the subject of debate as FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil has robustly responded, in writing, to a Swiss press report that FIFA’s World Cup final is the domain of an exclusive few.
September 4 – A Mass will be held to remember Stefano Borgonovo tomorrow, September 5 at 18:30 in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 4 – FIFA’s leading medical expert admits he is concerned the decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to revoke the accreditation of the Rio de Janeiro doping control laboratory so close to next year’s Brazil World Cup.
By Mark Baber
September 4 – Just days before the start of the new season, one of the I-League’s two new inductees, the Mumbai Tigers, has informed the Indian Football Federation (AIFF) that it is withdrawing from this season’s competition.
By Mark Baber
September 4 – The Czech FA (FAČR) has approved a plan to bid to be one of the 13 tournament hosts of the 2020 European Championships and will be submitting an application to UEFA prior to the September 12 deadline.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 4 – A Saudi prince is taking a 50% stake in ailing English third-tier club Sheffield United, the latest incursion into English football by Middle East investors but the first by a Saudi benefactor.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 4 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter says FIFA can do nothing to stop spiralling transfer fees following the world record €100 million sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid. Meanwhile FIFA TMS (Transfer Matching System), which monitors the movement of players, is reporting $3.4 billion of player sales globally this year (to September 3), a 29% uplift on 2012.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 4 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has hailed initial talks aimed at easing travel restrictions for Palestinian footballers and breaking that country’s deep divisions with Israel as “historic” and hopes to find a permanent solution by the end of the year.
Gareth Bale did not have to stand on an 8m-high temporary platform for his unveiling as a €100 million signing to recognise he had swapped Tottenham Hotspur for a truly global stage at Real Madrid. The 24-year-old was already well aware of his commercial appeal.
In March he registered a stylised rendering of his ‘trademark’ goal celebration, which creates a heart shape from the contact of his index fingers and thumbs, as exactly that: a trademark with the UK government’s Intellectual Property Office.
By Paul Nicholson
September 3 – Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has reacted swiftly to accusations from Brazil that he has benefitted illegally from friendly matches involving the Brazilian national team. He has also confirmed that he “consulted” his friend Ricardo Teixeira on his move to Andorra, where Rosell has an agency.