By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
March 30 – American goalkeeper Brad Friedel today entered the debate over a unified British football team for next year’s London Olympics by saying it would be a “travesty” if players were denied the chance to compete.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
March 30 – European football’s governing body admitted today that recent outbreaks of hooliganism involving Polish fans did not augur well for the 2012 European Championship finals, and that some of the infrastructure in Ukraine may not be ready on time.
By David Gold
March 30 – The proposed strike of La Liga games for this weekend has been averted after a Madrid court upheld a challenge by six of the league’s clubs, Sevilla, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, Espanyol and Real Zaragoza.
By David Gold
March 30 – Tottenham Hotspur have launched a legal challenge to the decision to give the 2012 Olympic stadium to Premier League rivals West Ham after the conclusion of the London Olympics.
By David Gold
March 30 – FIFA and UEFA have warned that they will clamp down on match fixing in friendly games by restricting in-game betting.
By David Gold
March 30 – Iraq and Iran will go head to head in the second round of the qualifiers for the London 2012 Olympic men’s football tournament after the draw was made today.
By David Gold
March 29 – Bayern Munich President Franz Beckenbauer has spoken of his hope that investment can be found to save the club’s city rivals 1860 from insolvency.
By David Gold
March 29 – Bosnia faces the prospect of being suspended from international football as they refuse to comply with FIFA and UEFA requests to cut the number of its Presidents from three to one.
By David Gold
March 29 – Indonesia’s Football Assocation (PSSI) has provoked a row after a FIFA observer was reportedly prevented from attending its Congress as controversy grows over the legitimacy of its chairman.
By David Gold
March 29 – Football Association general secretary Alex Horne has said that English football has a decision to make about the state of the game’s finances, whilst chairman David Bernstein suggested that there may have to be measures designed to control the spiralling finances in the game.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 29 – The war of words between FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his main challenger Mohamed Bin Hammam has started with a vengeance ahead of the election, with the Qatari claiming Blatter is personally responsible for the unpopularity of the world governing body.
If ever there was a lie to the old adage that sport and politics don’t mix, the festering row over a united British football team at next year’s London Olympics must rank as the ultimate example.
Ever since London won the right to stage the Games, the three non-English Home Associations have steadfastly insisted they do not want to know anything about a united team because of a perceived threat to their independence.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 28 – Former three-time South American player of the year Elias Figueroa has confirmed he may challenge Sepp Blatter for the presidency of FIFA.
By David Gold
March 28 – American businessman Thomas DiBenedetto, a partner in the group which owns both the Boston Red Sox and Premiership giants Liverpool, is in Italy leading a group aiming to buy 67 per cent of Serie A outfit Roma.
By Duncan Mackay
March 25 – Jack Warner, who is set to play a key role in shaping who leads FIFA, will be re-elected as CONCACAF President without a challenger in the North and Central American and Caribbean region.