By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
November 9 – London 2012’s director of commercial negotiations, Charlie Wijeratna, praised for helping raise nearly £700 million ($1.1 billion) towards the cost of staging the Olympics and Paralympics, is leaving to join Tottenham Hotspur, it was announced today.
By Tom Degun in London
November 9 – Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has admitted he is interested in taking charge of the Great Britain football team at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
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Liverpool fans should not delude themselves into believing that now the Gillett-Hicks regime is finally over, and peace reigns at Anfield, that it will bring success on the field of play.
Yes, Roy Hodgson’s team is rediscovering the art of winning again, but the simple equation – a happy set up equals playing success – is a myth.
For a start, despite all the players’ talk of how their heads are “turned in”
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – Former President Bill Clinton will be the United States’ chief figurehead at next month’s World Cup vote in Zurich.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 8 – While all manner of allegation and counter-allegation are going on around him, Japan’s 2022 World Cup bid executive director Yuichiro Nakajima is trying to stay cool and keep things clean.
England hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell of getting the 2018 World Cup finals when the vote is revealed in Zurich next month.
I make this assessment for two reasons.
Firstly, the negative press that has surrounded the English bid, which has been staggering and continues to be staggering.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 5 – The Chilean official expected to have a major say in the destination of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups has been ousted as head of his national federation.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 5 – Danny Jordaan, the public face of last summer’s World Cup in South Africa, is campaigning for a seat on FIFA’s top table as a member of its Executive Committee.
November 3 – A welcome tour of the 15 countries participating in next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup will kick off in December.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 2 – The head of Asian football has condemned the Sunday Times’ undercover investigation into alleged World Cup corruption as unethical.
Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, and many of his fellow executive members, may console themselves by saying that the crisis that has engulfed the organisation – both familiar and depressing – is all the fault of the dastardly British press and its nefarious ways.
They could not be more mistaken. They should look within themselves and ask why, having made the world’s most popular game into such a cash cow, they fail to run it like a proper corporate organisation where decisions are not only reached in good time,
November 2 – An independent poll has confirmed that two thirds of Bristol residents back plans for Bristol City Football Club to build a new £92m stadium at Ashton Vale.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
November 1 – One of the main organisers of the 2012 European Championships says joint hosts Poland and Ukraine will not be deterred by unfounded allegations that they bought the votes of key UEFA officials.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – The two World Cup bid candidates under investigation for alleged vote collusion are almost certain to avoid serious punishment.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
October 30 – Russian officials have angrily hit back at new accusations by the Sunday Times that they had offered inducements to secure Amos Adamu’s vote before the FIFA Executive Committee member was suspended.