By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 25 – London-based financial company Intermarket, who lost out on the opportunity to buy West Ham United, have now emerged as one of the Premier League club’s rivals to take over the Olympic Stadium following the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 25 – Manchester United greats of past and present gave FIFA’s 2018 World Cup inspectors an insider’s view of Old Trafford today as Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney, Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson took them on a tour of the famous ground.
By David Owen
August 25 – Four of the seven biggest earners from the two major European cross-continental club football competitions last season were English.
By David Owen
August 24 – FIFA’s personnel expenses soared last year, reflecting an increased headcount at world football’s governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
August 24 - FIFA’s 2018 World Cup inspection team headed north today as Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson became the latest figure to pledge his support to the England bid.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
August 23 – Arsenal’s international Russian striker Andrei Arshavin has hit back at claims by Sports Minister Hugh Robertson that the Eastern European country is lagging behind England for the right to stage the 2018 World Cup.
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Haiti’s footballers, who travelled to Singapore for the inaugural Summer Youth Olympics cloaked in tragedy and sadness, are riding a massive wave of sympathy to stand on the brink of winning the most unlikeliest gold medal of these Games.
The country’s boy’s footballers brought some much needed joy to their earthquake-stricken nation as they remarkably defied the odds to book their spot in the boy’s final with a 2-0 win over Singapore at the Jalan Besar Stadium last night.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
August 23 – British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg laid down the gauntlet to England’s 2018 World Cup rivals today by describing the English bid as “unbeatable” in his welcoming address to the FIFA inspection team.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
August 23 – Sports Minister Hugh Robertson insists England have by far the strongest case for staging the 2018 World Cup and says the absence of Prime Minister David Cameron during the all-important FIFA technical visit will have no negative impact on the country’s chances.
By Duncan Mackay in Singapore
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 23 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has given England’s campaign to host the 2018 World Cup a massive boost by admitting that staging the tournament there presents the least risks.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
August 23 – England;s 2018 World Cup bid enters its most critical phase today when FIFA’s technical team arrives for a four-day inspection of the country’s facilities.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
August 21 – England 2018 bid officials have chosen Manchester, Sunderland, Newcastle and London as candidate cities to host the FIFA inspection team when the eagerly awaited visit gets under way on Monday (August 23).
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By Andrew Warshaw
August 20 – Paul the Octopus, who became internationally famous for correctly predicting results during the World Cup, has become the latest global figure to back England’s bid to host the 2018 tournament – though this time as an ambassador, as reported first on insideworldfootball last month.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 20 – Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States could pick-up a few lessons from cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL), the head of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has claimed.
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This Premier League season may well prove to be a seminal one. Not on who wins it, or who qualifies for that modern Holy Grail the Champions League, but marking the moment when the Premier League, in effect, created Premier League Two.
Creating a second division in the Premier League has always been talked about, particularly by the smaller clubs fearful of relegation, but the idea has never found favour in the rest of the Premiership.