By Samindra Kunti
June 12 – The 2015 Copa America began with a spectacular opening ceremony and a victory for the hosts Chile, but the tournament is taking place under a cloud amid corruption allegations against football administrators and politicians.
By Mark Baber
June 12 – Often regarded as the greatest player of his generation, Lionel Messi now faces trial on charges that, between 2007 and 2009 he benefitted from a complex network of companies set up by his father to keep €4.1m in taxes from the Spanish authorities.
By Tom Parsons
June 12 – Digicel have announced a new multi-year partnership with Manchester City and New York City FC to create an array of multi-media content for audiences of both football clubs as well as community coaching in many areas across the globe.
By Mark Baber
June 11- The latest study by market research company Repucom has again ranked Cristiano Ronaldo top of the list of European as well as the world’s most marketable football players.
June 11 – CONCACAF has postponed its U15 Boys Championship originally scheduled to be played in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica this August until further notice.
By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Amid growing discontent with the Brazilian FA, some of Brazil’s leading clubs have revealed a desire to establish a breakaway league. The CBF has responded by proposing an amendement to its statutes, giving greater power to the clubs.
By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Swiss authorities have raided the offices of Switzerland-based sports rights agency Kentaro, investigating the relationship between a 2010 Brazil vs Argentina friendly and the 2018-2022 World Cup bid contests. Kentaro were, until recently, the agency responsible for marketing the Brazilian national team’s friendly fixtures.
June 10 – The hunt for the missing sports marketing executives wanted for questioning by the FBI in the US in relation to alleged bribes to win and retain commercial and broadcast rights to major championships has flushed out one more, Alejandro Burzaco, who has handed himself in to police in Italy.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Bulgaria has started the reconstruction of its national stadium, Vasil Levski. The renovation will pass through three stages, said Bulgarian sports minister Krassen Kralev, who spoke yesterday after an inspection of the stadium.
By Mark Baber
June 9 – The annual study by Brand Finance ranking the world’s biggest football clubs by their “brand value” sees Manchester United, whose brand is said to be worth $1.2 bn, displace Bayern Munich from top spot. The list remains dominated by Premier League sides with six English clubs in the top ten.
By Paul Nicholson
June 9 – The CIES Football Observatory has released its top 100 ranking of the highest transfer values for big-5 league footballers. Not surprisingly Lionel Messi heads the table with an estimated value of between €255 and €281 million – more than it would cost to buy half the teams in the English Premier League, Aston Villa is reckoned to be on sale for £100 million.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Embattled Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia, which has so far been refused a license to play next season, was struck another blow when former player Youness Bengelloun was awarded €407,296 (BGN 803 000) in compensation for unpaid salary. The decision was taken by a FIFA tribunal with judges from England, Croatia, Argentina, South Africa and Brazil.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 8 – Termalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza, one of the two promoted teams to Poland’s top tier Ekstraklasa for the 2015/16 season, has unveiled plans to double the capacity of its stadium from the current 2,262 to at least 4,500 seats.
By Matt Scott
June 8 – Insolvent Football League clubs will face an immediate 12-point deduction following new rules introduced at the competition’s annual summer conference in Portugal on Friday.
June 8 – With the international spotlight focused on corruption and money-laundering at FIFA and doping claims in athletics, the Qatar-based International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) is laying on a specialist session in Geneva in September to explore how sport, governments and the wider stakeholder community can tackle the issues and come up with ideas for robust reform.