By David Gold
November 17 – Thomson Sport will be the Euro 2012 Licensed Tour Operator, giving them the rights to the tour operating programme across the 14 countries that successfully went through the qualification process for the tournament.
Britain and Europe have never been easy bedfellows and the turmoil of the eurozone may lead to a further, even permanent, alienation. Yet, ironically, in sport Britain is not on the periphery of Europe, but leading the way.
Nothing illustrates this better than the vote on Tuesday (November 15) in the European Parliament about match fixing. This, as UEFA President Michel Platini keeps repeating, is, “the biggest threat facing the future of sport in Europe”.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 17 – British Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson led a string of scathing responses today to Sepp Blatter’s widely publicised racism comments, while the head of England’s players union called on the FIFA President to resign.
By David Gold
November 17 – FIFPro has attacked the Russian Football Union (RFU) for their decision to ban FC Krasnodar striker Spartak Gogniyev (pictured) after he was sent-off during a game against Terek Grozny earlier this month, before being assaulted as he left the pitch.
By David Gold
November 17 – On his return from a trip to Brazil to see how preparations are going for the 2014 World Cup, the FIFA general secretary, Jerome Valcke, has said that he is “finally confident” that Brazil will pass a World Cup law that has been the subject of political wrangling.
By Duncan Mackay
November 16 – Tottenham Hotspur today officially gave up their controversial pursuit of moving into the Olympic Stadium even though the tender process has been reopened, leaving the way clear for rivals West Ham United to negotiate a new deal to take it over after London 2012.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 16 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has waded into the racism row involving England captain John Terry by saying that any individual instances of abuse are in the heat of the moment and should be resolved by a handshake between those involved.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 16 – Sepp Blatter, already under fire over his comments about racism in football, has also taken Brazil to task over personality clashes between the Government and 2014 World Cup organisers.
By David Gold
November 16 – Following their exit from the Brazil World Cup 2014 qualifiers last week, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister for Sport, Anil Roberts, has said that football in the country needs to be completely reconstructed.
By David Gold
November 16 – A group of West Ham United fans organised under the name WHU’s VIEW? have written to the club for a second time to request an independent ballot of members and season ticket holders before going forward with any attempt to move to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
By David Gold
November 16 – “Due process” will be followed if the former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner is found guilty of breaching the country’s customs laws, Trinidad and Tobago’s Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has said as his office continues to investigate a tape that emerged seemingly showing Warner encouraging FIFA delegates to take bribes.
By David Gold
November 16 – Australia’s women’s soccer team have appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) over North Korea’s controversial qualification for the London 2012 Olympics, and want to take their place at the Games.
By David Gold
November 15 – Real Madrid and Barcelona should share more money from television rights with their La Liga counterparts, according to Miriam Blasco, who could be Spain’s Sports Minister on Sunday (November 20) if her People’s Party win the country’s General Election.
By David Gold
November 15 – The Fiji Times is being sued by the country’s military regime for publishing a story which claimed that FIFA was investigating a sports official in the country.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
November 15 – Barcelona President Sandro Rosell (pictured) wants all Europe’s main leagues slashed to 16 clubs in order to facilitate playing Champions League matches at weekends.