“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Leningrad,” said the air stewardess as we approached St Petersburg airport. I kid you not.
Whether a deliberate piece of mischief, an innocent mistake or an embarrassing gaffe, she had conveniently overlooked the course of recent history. And a pretty significant period at that.
September 26 – David Beckham’s quest to help England stage the 2018 World Cup reached another important landmark at the FIFA under-17 women’s World Cup in Trinidad where South Korea beat Japan in Saturday’s final.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 25 – Ilhan Mansiz, a member of the Turkish side that finished third at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, has claimed that he wants to compete in figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
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Manchester United’s match with Rangers in the Champions League was more than a mere group match where the Scottish manager of the English team, Sir Alex Ferguson, was playing the side that had scorned him in his youth in Glasgow.
It was all our footballing pasts rolled together and it illustrated why Scottish football is at such a low ebb and may go even lower before it recovers, if it ever does.
It is also a salutary lesson on how the balance of power between Scottish and English clubs has changed.
By Andrew Warshaw in Sochi
September 23 – Russian officials are hoping that the choice of Sochi to host the 2014 Winter Olympics will boost their chances of landing the 2018 World Cup as well.
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By Andrew Warshaw in Moscow
September 22 – Russian 2018 World Cup bid officials have flown to Cairo in an attempt to woo Africa’s FIFA Executive Committee members as the build-up to the all-important December 2 vote intensifies.
By Andrew Warshaw in Moscow
September 21 – The most important official in Russian sport has launched another passionate defence of his country’s record on racism and urged FIFA not to be influenced by “stereotypes and misconceptions” when it votes on where to stage the 2018 World Cup.
September 21 – British pop star Sting rocked a crowd of nearly 30,000 people in Poznan, central Poland, in a concert that opened the country’s first stadium to be ready for Euro 2012.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 20 – Football legends David Beckham and Ruud Gullit, who were briefly together at Los Angeles Galaxy, are spearheading high-profile attempts this week to ensure that FIFA vice-president Jack Warner votes for their country’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018.
By Andrew Warshaw in St Petersburg
September 20- Russia’s second city is leaving no piece of granite unturned in its efforts to play a major part in the World Cup if the country wins the vote to stage the 2018 tournament.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 20 – The countries awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be announced at Messe Zurich, a giant conference centre in the Swiss city, on December 2, FIFA revealed today.
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By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 20 – Australia needs to make sure it increases its international support before the final vote to decide which country will host the 2022 World Cup, bid leader Frank Lowy warned today.
September 19 – Qatar World Cup officials are due to travel to Syria on Tuesday (September 22) for the official opening of a FIFA-standard artificial football pitch in Yarmouk Camp on the outskirts of Damascus, home to the largest Palestinian population in Syria.
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By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – As FIFA’s World Cup inspection team retires to compile its technical report into the nine candidates for 2018 and 2022 and the lobbying and politicking move up a gear, the four Asian contenders could be in for a massive disappointment - through no fault of their own.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – Peace appears to have broken following an unsavoury row over match-fixing allegations between UEFA and German giants Bayern Munich.