By Andrew Warshaw
September 21 – In an unprecedented and embarrassing U-turn, FIFA tonight backtracked over the appointment of controversial African football powerbroker Issa Hayatou to spearhead the London 2012 football tournament at a time when he is under investigation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for alleged corruption.
By David Gold
September 21 – Yahoo! has agreed a deal with the League Managers Association (LMA) to renew their online media partnership, giving them access to a variety of video and print content from top Premier League managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Kenny Dalglish.
By David Gold
September 21 – Eugenie Buckley will be leaving her post as the chief executive of Australian side Brisbane Roar to pursue other opportunities, it has been announced.
By David Gold
September 21 – Real Madrid has set a new world record after generating €480 million (£419 million/$655 million) in turnover for the year ending June 30, 2011, beating the previous figure set by rivals Barcelona earlier this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 21 – The future of the 2012 Olympic stadium has taken a potentially significant shift following Tottenham Hotspur’s latest breakthrough to develop their own ground.
It’s one thing spearheading FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s election manifesto against a single opponent who later pulls out anyway. It’s quite another taking on a sceptical global media to try to repair the organisation’s battered standing in the game.
That’s the task facing FIFA’s new communications chief Walter De Gregorio, who takes up his new post on October 1.
Given the need-to-know basis on which the FIFA communications policy has operated in the past,
By Andrew Warshaw
September 20 – The entire 53-nation membership of UEFA are meeting in Cyprus today and tomorrow for a rare brainstorming summit called by the organisation’s President Michel Platini to try to find solutions to a range of issues souring the game.
By David Gold
September 20 – Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou has signed a contract with Italian company B4, who are closely associated with French organisations Lagardère Sport and Sportfive, for the sale of centralised television and marketing rights to the African World Cup qualifiers.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 20 – Issa Hayatou, the African football powerbroker who has twice denied corruption allegations in the past year, is to take over the running of FIFA’s much-trumpeted GOAL Bureau that distributes funds to poorer nations and supports development projects.
By David Gold
September 20 – Manchester City have unveiled plans to build a new academy complex which they hope will enable them to meet UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and enable them to move towards a self-sufficient business model.
By Tom Degun at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry
September 19 – London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe claimed today that he is confident tickets for the football tournament at the Olympic Games next year will sell-out.
By Emily Goddard
September 19 – Queens Park Rangers has announced a multi-million pound shirt sponsorship deal with Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia – whose owner, Tony Fernandes, also completed a takeover of the English Premier League newcomers last month, that now sees him working alongside the Mittal family, who have retained their 33 per cent stake.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 19 – The eagerly awaited hearing into 15 Caribbean officials charged for their alleged involvement in football’s most infamous cash-for-votes scandal is expected to take place between October 10 and 14, insideworldfootball has learned.
By David Gold
September 19 – A deal has been agreed between the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and French Ligue 2 side Le Mans as part of the “Future Star” programme, which looks to give Chinese teenagers the chance to hone their skills abroad.
By David Gold
September 18 – World Cup referee Mark Shield has been appointed by the Football Federation Australia (FFA) as its new director of referees, as it looks to overhaul refereeing in the country under its new Referee Development initiative.