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.
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So David Beckham is wanted by Paris Saint-Germain, according to a BBC headline.
It is an arresting story, but would it make sense?
Well, yes, actually, I think it would – though the reasons have little to do with the former England captain’s capacity for delivering pinpoint crosses from the right touchline.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 17 – The court injunction won by FC Sion against UEFA should invalidate Atletico Madrid’s 2-0 win over Celtic, as well Udinese’s 2-1 victory over Rennes, in Thursday night’s opening Europa League group games, according to the Swiss club.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – FIFA Executive Committee member Worawi Makudi has threatened legal action over reports that money from development grants were spent building football facilities on land that he personally owned in and around Bangkok.
By David Gold
September 18 – Tesoro Tours has been appointed as the exclusive sales agent of hospitality programmes in Colombia for the 2014 World Cup, taking place in Brazil.