France 1 Wales 1
July 9 – A rampant France booked their ticket to the quarter-finals with a commanding 4-1 win over Wales in St. Gallen on Wednesday night. Despite heavy rotation, the French side pulled no punches against the Euro debutants, delivering a dominant performance that sends a clear message to whoever awaits them next week.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – The World Cup qualifying programme in Europe reached a nail-biting conclusion Tuesday night as Bosnia-Herzegovina celebrated reaching their first finals as an independent nation, beating Lithuania 1-0 to finish top of their group.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – Inter Milan, winners of 18 Italian league titles, have become the latest iconic European club to be taken over by foreign investors. A trio of Indonesian businessmen led by media tycoon Erick Thohir have bought a 70% stake in the Serie A giants.
By Andrew Warshaw
Ocotber 16 – Zambian football has been plunged into a bizarre footballing dispute after three international players refused to travel with the national squad ahead of a 2-0 friendly defeat by Brazil in neutral China.
By Mark Baber
October 16 – The DFL (German League Association) and Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox have agreed a new broadcast deal which will take the Bundesliga to more than 80 TV markets including Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, all of North and Latin America and much of Asia from the start of the 2015/16 season.
By David Owen
October 16 – A 141-year-old English football club may have been saved from closure thanks in part to the generosity of fans from as far afield as Iceland and Vietnam.
By Paul Nicholson
October 15 – The second day of the IFA conference in Zurich, October 29, has picked a topic that goes to the very heart of questioning the existence of major world championship sporting events in their current form. Titled ‘Is there a future for Mega sports events?’ a panel will discuss the demands major events put on host nations and whether the model is broken or not.
By Tom Parsons
October 15 – One week ago Andros Townsend was on the receiving end of 3-0 home defeat to West Ham. A week later, Townsend is being hailed as a national hero after his heroic performance for England against Montenegro last Friday.
By Mark Baber
October 15 – Plans by Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development to slash the costs of the construction budget for the 2018 World Cup have been criticised by the influential State Duma Chairman of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Katrenko, as short-sighted.
By Mark Baber
October 15 – Shortly before the first leg of their World Cup play-off against Ethiopia the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) banned former secretary general, Taiwo Ogunjobi, and the immediate past chairman of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL), Victor Rumson Baribote, for 10 and 15 years respectively from any football related activity.
By Mark Baber
October 15 – After a clash with paparazzi in Naples, Mario Balotelli has been defended by the Italian FA after journalists used the incident to spark a storm of criticism against the Milan striker.
By Alexander Krassimirov
October 15- The players of Bulgarian first division club Neftohimic Burgas have agreed to play without wages in an attempt to save the club from bankruptcy.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – As the World Cup qualifying programme reaches a nail-biting climax, a row has broken out over the seeding system being used for next week’s playoff draw.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – In the most damaging case of match-fixing ever to strike at the heart of central American football, FIFA has extended worldwide the lifetime bans imposed last month by the El Salvador federation on 14 of its current and past senior internationals.
“Everything was interconnected… This created a blanket that allowed him to dive without fear into the unknown and conquer the challenges that lay before him.” From Together We’re Heavy, The Polyphonic Spree
Against Georgia tonight Spain will likely confirm their qualification to the 2014 World Cup as Group I winners. It will extend the world champions’ playing record over 30 international matches to W22 D7 L1.
As football lovers recognise,
By Gareth Messenger
October 14 – Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has praised his own financial management of the club after an annual general meeting predicted record revenues.