Women's Euro 2025

Sweden wary of Pajor threat for Poland

July 8 – Sweden face Poland in Lucerne this evening with a place in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 quarter-finals within reach. A win for Peter Gerhardsson’s side, combined with Germany avoiding defeat against Denmark, would confirm their passage from Group C with a game to spare.

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DateGroup    VenueKick off (local)
July 2Grp ASwitzerland12NorwayBasel, St-Jakon Park9pm
July 2Grp AIceland01FinlandThun, Arena Thun6pm
July 3Grp BSpain50PortugalBern, Stadium Wankdorf9pm
July 3Grp BBelgium01
ItalySion, Stade de Tourbillon6pm
July 4Grp CGermany20PolandSt Gallen, Arena St Gallen9pm
July 4Grp CDenmark01SwedenStade de Genève6pm
July 5Grp DFrance21EnglandStadion Letzigrund, Zurich9pm
July 5Grp DWales03NetherlandsAllmend Stadion, Lucern6pm
July 6Grp ASwitzerland20IcelandStadion Wankdorf, Bern9pm
July 6Grp ANorway21FinlandStade de Touillon, Sion6pm
July 7Grp BPortugal11ItalyStade de Genève, Geneva9pm
July 7Grp BSpain62BelgiumArena Thun6pm
July 8Grp CGermany--DenmarkSt Jakob Park, Basel6pm
July 8Grp CPoland--SwedenAllmend Stadion, Lucerne9pm
July 9Grp DEngland--NetherlandsStadion Letzigrund, Zurich6pm
July 9Grp DFrance--WalesArena St Gallen9pm
July 10Grp AFinland--SwitzerlandStade de Genève, Geneva9pm
July 10Grp ANorway--IcelandArena Thun9pm
July 11Grp BItaly--SpainStadium Wankdorf, Bern9pm
July 11Grp BPortugal--BelgiumStade de Touillon, Sion9pm
July 12Grp CSweden --GermanyStadion Letzigrund, Zurich9pm
July 12Grp CPoland--DenmarkAllmend Stadion, Lucerne9pm
July 13Grp DNetherlands--FranceSt Jakob Park, Basel9pm
July 13Grp DEngland--WalesArena St Gallen9pm
July 16QF1Winner Grp A--R-Up Grp BStade de Genève, Geneva9pm
July 17QF2Winner Grp C--R-Uo Grp DStadion Letzigrund, Zurich9pm
July 18QF3Winner Grp B--R-Up Grp AStadion Wankdorff, Bern9pm
July 19QF4Winner Grp D--R-Up Grp CSt Jakob Park, Basel9pm
July 2Semi-finalWinner QF1--Winner QF42Stade de Genève, Geneva9pm
July 2Semi-finalWinner QF3--Winner QF4Stadion Letzigrund, Zurich9pm
July 7 FinalTBA--TBASt Jakob Park, Basel6.00pm

Al Ain signs maiden sponsorship deal with Abu Dhabi Airports

Abu Dhabi airports

By Mark Baber
September 18 – Current UAE Champions, Al Ain Football Club has unveiled Abu Dhabi Airports as a premium partner of the club. The three-year agreement, which is reported to be the first major foray into sponsorship by the club, will see the logo of the Abu Dhabi Airports on the back of player jerseys, including star players Asamoah Gyan and Omar Abdul Rahman.

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Solidarity of the real kind

AbidalAlves

September 17 – Football is not always highlighted for humanitarian gestures between professionals, hence the interest generated by the relevation from Monaco captain Eric Abidal that his former Barcelona teammate Dani Alves offered to donate part of his liver when the French international needed a transplant last year.

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Inside Insight: Down under. Seriously?

fox news oz copy

The FFA – Australia’s Fabulous Football Association – have started to shout. Sometimes, one gets the feeling that people think the louder they scream, the more their argument rings true. Not so. Content still rules over tactics and style. And Australia’s most recent style is unique, to say the least.

There goes a sore loser. Nearly three years after having secured just a single vote (where two were promised “for sure”, and another 10 at least confirmed with hugs between old men,

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Bookie backs rainbow laces campaign tackling homophobia in sport

Paddy Power ad2

By Mark Baber
September 17 – An imaginative new campaign to tackle homophobia in football, devised by bookmaker PaddyPower in association with gay rights charity Stonewall, kicked off on Monday . The campaign includes the distribution of rainbow football laces to every professional player in the UK, who have been asked to wear them for the upcoming weekend fixtures (September 21 and 22).

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Matt Scott: Player trades boost third party balance sheets

“We are financial products. A football club is like a factory, and we are its outputs. You have to be realistic.”

It is not often you hear a human being reduce himself to the status of a balance-sheet item. But with these words that is exactly what Eliaquim Mangala, a France-international defender at the Portuguese champions, FC Porto, has done. Mangala’s words were in response to being confronted with the fact he is not merely an intangible fixed asset belonging to his club but also to two offshore funds whose investors’

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Lowy calls for compensation, but FIFA says there are no grounds

fox news oz

By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
September 17 – The head of Australia’s failed 2022 World Cup bid says FIFA should pay compensation to his federation – and to the other losing candidates – if the tournament in Qatar is switched to the northern hemisphere winter. Football Federation Australia (FFA) chairman Frank Lowy says FIFA risks making a bad situation worse if it decides too hastily to move the tournament.

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Osasu Obayiuwana: Admin bunglers keep bungling the basics. How hard can this be?

How difficult can it really be for the officials of a football association to keep accurate statistics, as well as master the eligibility rules, of players entitled to feature for their countries in crucial international matches?

One would assume it does not take the genius of Albert Einstein to carry out basic record-keeping duties.

But the recurring drama of administrative ineptitude, leading to the cancellation of several World Cup qualifying results across Africa,

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