Japan appoints Zaccheroni as 2022 World Cup ambassador
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By Andrew Warshaw
September 3 – The Japan 2022 Bid Committee has appointed Alberto Zaccheroni, the country’s new national coach, as its latest ambassador.
Trinidad and Tobago still will not pay bonuses, predicts Jack
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 3 – Trinidad and Tobago’s football officials, including FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, will refuse to accept a court judgement that they must pay the country’s 2006 World Cup squad multi-million dollar bonuses they were promised, goalkeeper Kelvin Jack has predicted.
David Owen: The mystery of the empty hospitality seats at South Africa 2010
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Since returning from South Africa, I have been wondering whether anyone was going to take a bath as a result of empty hospitality seats at the World Cup.
Actually, I’m still wondering, but at least now I have more information to go on following a conversation with Peter Csanadi, Head of Marketing at Match Hospitality AG.
Spain and Portugal promised positive report by FIFA inspectors
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 2 – Spain and Portugal’s joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup received the expected high marks from the FIFA inspection team, led by Harold Mayne-Nicholls, as they wrapped up their evaluation of the European candidates today.
England renew kit deal with Umbro until 2018 World Cup
September 1 - Sports kit company Umbro has signed a deal with the Football Association that will see it make the England kit for the next two World Cups.
Manchester United claim they are happy despite missing season ticket sales target
September 2 – Manchester United have failed to reach their target of season ticket sales this summer, after last season was disrupted by the recurring Green and Gold protests against the club’s American owners.
Trinidad and Tobago ready for women’s World Cup after late rush
September 2 – Trinidad and Tobago is ready to host the second FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, despite a last minute rush to complete preparations, the Organising Committee’s deputy chief executive Nataki Kerr (pictured left) has promised.
Banner was not racist, claims Russia 2018 bid leader
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 2 – Racism is not endemic in Russian football and should not stop the country being awarded the 2018 World Cup, the bid’s chief executive Alexei Sorokin claimed today – but was contradicted by Peter Odemwingie, the Nigerian player whose treatment has sparked the latest controversy.
Forget Old Trafford and Anfield, Milton Keynes has the best stadium in England’s 2018 World Cup bid
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 2 – Milton Keynes’s stadium has the most potential among the 17 short-listed by England 2018 if their campaign is successful, it has been claimed by the MK Dons manager Karl Robinson.
Andrew Warshaw: When being English doesn’t mean being born in England
Just as the summer transfer window slammed shut across Europe, so a far more significant development took place in the English Premier League which has split experts down the middle.
The new eligibility rule, restricting top-flight squads to 25 players throughout the season – of whom at least eight have to be home-grown – is regarded as a long-overdue revolution by those in favour and a dangerously backward step by those against.
The reality is probably somewhere in between.
FIFA inspectors travel to Portugal to continue tour
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 1 – FIFA’s inspectors, led by Chilean Football Federation President Harold Mayne-Nicholls (pictured), have begun looking at the proposed facilities to be used if Portugal’s joint bid to host the 2018 World Cup is successful.
Rummenigge raises old question of compensation for injured players
By Duncan Mackay in Munich
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 1 – Bayern Munich are set to reopen the debate about whether clubs should receive compensation from FIFA and UEFA if its players, like Arjen Robben (pictured), are injured representing their country.
Spain and Portugal World Cup bid boosted by Mourinho and Ronaldo
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 31 – Being chosen to host the 2018 World Cup would cap a perfect year for Spain, the country’s Sports Minister Jamie Lissavetzky admitted today as its joint bid with Portugal rolled out Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo to help give it a boost.
US World Cup bid signs up AT&T as new sponsor
August 31 – AT&T today signed-up as a sponsor of the United States bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
Manchester City buck trend as transfer spending dramatically down
By David Owen
August 31 – Gross transfer spending by top-flight football clubs across Europe is down sharply from a year ago, as the global economic crisis takes its toll on the finances of the continent’s biggest sport.