February 24 – UEFA chief Michel Platini has warned Belgrade its national squad and teams could be banned from international competitions if Serbia does not root out violence among football supporters.
February 23 – British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that hosting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar could help to improve attitudes towards homosexuality in the Middle East during an official visit to the Gulf state.
February 23 – 13 tourist routes specifically for football fans in Kiev will be opened by the start of UEFA Euro 2012, according to the head of Kiev’s Tourism Agency, Mykola Hrytsyk.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – Danny Jordaan, the man who did more than anyone to bring the World Cup to South Africa, today failed in his great ambition to win a seat on to the top table at FIFA.
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By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – Grant Wahl (pictured), an American journalist, is planning to stand as “the people’s candidate” against Fifa president Sepp Blatter in FIFA’s Presidential election later this year.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – The leading Spanish clubs generated more revenue from the sale of merchandising than their English counterparts in 2009-10 despite the Premier League’s global appeal, according to a report published by Sport+Markt and PR Marketing.
By David Owen
February 19 – This season’s European Champions’ League finalists are set to earn around £4 million ($6.5 million) from ticket sales alone.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 17 – World football’s governing body today denied reports that its controversial vice-president Jack Warner had been investigated by its Ehics Committee over the alleged sale of World Cup black market tickets.
Hublot, the Swiss watchmaker, has some singular ideas about sports sponsorship.
You might expect a luxury brand whose products have an average retail price of SFr23,000 to take an interest in, say, polo. Or top-end sailing, or maybe Formula One.
And, indeed, Hublot is involved with some of these.
But football? Well, let’s just say it would not be at the top of my list.
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The problem with English football is not the Premier League. Nor that its chairman, Sir David Richards, uses industrial language.
MPs may have been shocked when Lord Triesman, former chairman of the FA, told the House of Commons Select Committee on football how Richards goes about his business and the language he uses.
But that is not the real issue.
By Mike Rowbottom
February 17 – Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn has announced that the club is taking legal advice over the possibility of a judicial review into the decision to award West Ham United use of the Olympic Stadium, which is less than a mile from Brisbane Road.
By Tom Degun in Geneva
February 16 – Heineken has launched its fifth consecutiveChampions League Trophy Tour here at the UEFA Headquarters in Switzerland, in order to give football fans in Asia the opportunity to experience the magnificent UEFA Champions League Trophy first hand.
February 16 – Legendary former Manchester United and Manchester City striker Denis Law will be opening the Soccerex European Forum in Manchester on March 30-31.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 15 – The architect who wrote the original masterplan for the London Olympics and Paralympics has written to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, urging him not to approve West Ham’s sole use of the Stratford venue after the 2012 Games.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
February 13 – Lionel Messi, the world’s best footballer, will miss London 2012 after the two-time defending Olympic champions Argentina failed to qualify for the tournament.