August 5 – New York Cosmos have been warned that they still faced a long struggle to be given a franchise to play in Major League Soccer (MLS) despite the razzmatazz that has accompanied their relaunch.
August 4 – Giancarlo Abete (pictured), the President of Italian Football Federation (FIGC), is pinning his hopes of a series of changes to help restore the country to the top of the sport following a disappointing performance at the World Cup in South Africa.
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August 4 – Leading Belgium politicians have joined their colleagues in the Netherlands and and raised doubts about their country’s joint campaign to host the 2018 World Cup less than a week before a team of FIFA inspectors are due to arrive to evaluate their bid.
August 4 – Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have promised not to stand in the way of a new buyer, it has been claimed.
August 3 – Roberto Baggio (pictured), one of Italy’s finest ever players, is set to return to football, joining Italy’s football federation (FIGC) after the national team’s disastrous exit from the World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 3 – The Netherlands and Spain have been fined by FIFA for their outrageous behaviour in last month’s World Cup final.
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August 2 – Don Garber has signed a four-year contract that could be worth up to $12 million (£7.5 million) as Major League Soccer Commissioner until 2014, it has been announced.
August 1 – A new group led by English businessman Paul Kemsley has acquired the name of the old Cosmos soccer team of the North American Soccer League (NASL) and made Pele its honorary President.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 1 – Trinidad and Tobago’s 2006 World Cup squad, including Shaka Hislop (pictured), have won their long battle to receive the multi-million dollar bonuses they claim they are due for playing in the tournament in Germany.
July 30 – Stewart Regan has quit his post as Yorkshire County Cricket Club chief executive to take up the same role at the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
Okay, we’ve all calmed down a little, we’ve had time to consider and reflect and, if we’re honest, most of us have moved on, putting England’s display in South Africa behind us.
But before we do confine it to the annals of historic footballing let downs, let’s look at the experience from a different perspective; what can we learn from the numerous reasons offered for the failure which could improve our own performance in whatever it is we do for a living?
July 30 – Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam has revealed that he plans to vote for Qatar to host the World Cup in 2022.
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English football presents a contradiction that could well be the subject of a novel, but not even the greatest of novelists could come up with a solution to its problems.
The last week has provided a vivid illustration of that. It saw a representative of football accompany the Prime Minister David Cameron as he went on his “mission with humility” to India hoping to sell goods and services to the country Britain once ruled.
July 30 – Australia has moved a step closer to securing the rights to host the 2015 Asian Cup finals after formally lodging its bid.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
July 30 – England’s World Cup bid is hoping to sign-up a new ambassador to help its campaign to host the 2018 tournament – Paul the Octopus.