By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has renewed his call for the introduction of goal-line technology following Ukraine’s disallowed goal in the 1-0 defeat by England that saw the joint hosts tumbling out of the 2012 European Championship.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – Italy may have progressed to the last eight of the 2012 European Championship but off the field the image of the game has taken another damaging blow after the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced it had upheld newly promoted Pescara’s two-point deduction and banned four players for five years over the country’s match-fixing scandal.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – With three months to go until the Russian cities bidding to host the 2018 World Cup learn their fate, a FIFA inspection delegation has moved on to Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod, two of the lesser-known prospective venues.
By Tom Degun
June 20 – Azerbaijan 2012 has revealed that the Official Draw Ceremony for the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup will take place on July 6 at the International Mugam Centre (pictured) in Baku.
What goes around comes around. Ever since Frank Lampard was denied a clear goal when he crashed a shot against the underside of Germany’s crossbar at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the clamour for goal-line technology has become increasingly louder.
Fast forward two years to the 2012 European Championship in Donetsk last night and that clamour has now become a deafening roar.
This time England were the ones that had all the luck.
By David Owen
June 20 – Puma is setting the early pace in the battle of the big sporting brands at the 2012 European Championship.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 19 – The Croatian Football Federation has been fined €80,000 (£64,500/$101,500) after Italy striker Mario Balotelli was racially abused by a section of its fans at the 2012 European Championships.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 19 – FIFA today extended worldwide a series of sanctions meted out to 13 individuals from South Korea and Croatia related to match-fixing.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 19 – Scottish Premier League (SPL) clubs will vote on Wednesday, July 4 on whether to admit Glasgow giants Rangers into the top flight of domestic football under their new guise.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 19 – UEFA President Michel Platini insists the next European Championship finals in France will not suffer from a drop in quality when the tournament expands to 24 teams – and says Euro 2012 has been one of the best ever, from a footballing standpoint at least.
By Tom Degun
June 19 – Former Scotland striker Kevin Gallacher, who scored nine goals in 53 appearances for his country, said he is hopeful that at least four Scottish players will represent the Team GB men’s team at the London 2012 Olympics.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 18 – UEFA’s strict rules against any suggestion of ambush marketing were made starkly clear today when Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner was banned for one competitive match and fined €100,000 (£80,000/$126,000) for his goal celebration in the 2012 European Championship game against Portugal.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 18 – The English Football Association is to fight its corner over disciplinary proceedings issued by UEFA relating to England fans’ behaviour during the 3-2 win over Sweden at the 2012 European Championship.
The latest Premier League television deal may have given some BT and British Sky Broadcasting shareholders the jitters.
But the alarm-bells will have been ringing much, much louder in non-English citadels of European footballing excellence from Barcelona to Munich.
The new tide of money that the £3 billion ($4.7 billion/€3.7 billion) settlement will send flooding into English Premier League club coffers from the 2013-2014 season should do much to restore the competitive advantage of English clubs in the top European competitions.
By Andrew Warshaw in Warsaw
June 18 – The tournament director of the 2012 European Championship insists he is satisfied with the finals so far despite constant UEFA sanctions, fan violence and logistical snafus.