By David Owen
August 31 – Gross transfer spending by top-flight football clubs across Europe is down sharply from a year ago, as the global economic crisis takes its toll on the finances of the continent’s biggest sport.
August 30 – A delegation of FIFA inspectors, led by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, arrived in Madrid today on the last leg of their European tour of bidders to host the 2018/2022 World Cup.
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August 30 – Details of the cities and venues the FIFA inspection team will visit when they arrive in the United States next week to evaluate the country’s bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup have been revealed today.
August 30 – UEFA President Michel Platini claims his governing body’s new rules on spending have ended the “total anarchy” that surrounded player transfers.
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August 30 – Qatar National Bank (QNB) has today been named the Official Bank of the Qatar 2022 bid to host the World Cup.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 30 -Sebastian Coe’s successful long-running battle to ensure that whoever takes over the Olympic Stadium after London 2012 retains the athletics track has been hailed by Lamine Diack, the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Just over ten years ago, after a visit to Downing Street of a FIFA delegation not very dissimilar to the one last Monday, Tony Banks, then the Prime Minister’s special envoy to the 2006 World Cup bid, made one of his exuberant comments.
“You know,” he said, “this visit proves that England is the only country that can defeat South Africa for the 2006 World Cup, Germany is out of it. I am now so close to these FIFA members I feel they are joined to the hip to me.”
August 30 – Mohamad Bin Hammam has confirmed he wants to stay on as president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after next year and will not challenge Sepp Blatter for the leadership of FIFA.
August 29 – Only full-time professional referees should be used at the next World Cup, in Brazil in 2014, FIFA President Sepp Blatter claimed today.
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August 28 – James Bond star Daniel Craig has become the two millionth supporter of England’s bid to hold the 2018 World Cup, they announced today.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
August 26 - Andy Anson (pictured), the chief executive of England’s 2018 World Cup bid team says the last three months of lobbying will be even more important than the four-day visit just conducted by FIFA’s technical inspection team.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manchester
August 26 – England’s hopes of staging the 2018 World Cup were given a huge boost today when the head of FIFA’s six-man technical inspection team gave a glowing endorsement of the country’s facilities.
August 25 – All nine nations bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups have confirmed their attendance at Leaders in Football, the world’s most exclusive football business event, taking place for the third time at Chelsea Football Club on October 6 and 7.
By Tom Degun in Singapore
August 25 -A brave Haitian team could not secure what would have been a fairytale finish at the Summer Youth Olympic Games as they were soundly beaten 5-0 by Bolivia in the boy’s football gold medal match at the Jalan Besar Stadium here tonight.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 25 – London-based financial company Intermarket, who lost out on the opportunity to buy West Ham United, have now emerged as one of the Premier League club’s rivals to take over the Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.