‘A World Cup for the entire Middle East’
How many times have we heard Hassan al-Thawadi, the public face of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, utter those words when talking about the Gulf state staging football’s showpiece tournament?
Rangers case opens door to taxman to chase players across UK for unpaid dues
July 7 – This week’s Supreme Court ruling against Rangers football club could have a damaging knock-on effect, say experts, with scores of other clubs and players – Scottish and English – potentially forced to hand over millions of pounds of unpaid tax.
USA, Canada, Mexico form 2026 World Cup bid board
By Paul Nicholson
July 7 – USA, Canada and Mexico have officially formed a United Bid Committee for their joint pitch to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. With the deadline for the submission of the formal bid to FIFA being 16 March 2018, the Bid Committee will begin discussion with potential host cities and stakeholders immediately.
ICSS gets ARMED for the sport security battles to come
July 7 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) is developing predictive software technology for use in securing future major sports events. Combined with the use of smart data systems, the software is targeted to be used as part of big event safety and security planning.
Stadium stampede at Malawi club match leaves eight dead
July 7 – Eight people have died, seven of them children, in a Malawi stampede on independence day ahead of a match between two local teams.
QNET keeps ‘direct selling’ partnership with Man City in new 3-year deal
July 7 – Premier League Manchester City have renewed their global partnership with Asian direct selling company QNET for another three years to 2020.
Ceferin ponders club salary cap but rules out VAR for UEFA comps
By Andrew Warshaw
July 6 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin believes a salary cap, which for many years has been widely debated in forums across European football, might be the only viable solution to stemming the increasing gap between the haves and have-nots.
Transfer trends: Turkey attracts club buyers as South American imports lose their lustre
July 7 – Premier League clubs are least likely to buy from each other in the transfer window and Manchester City have spent £1.14 billion on players over the past 10 years of which only 35% has stayed in England.
TV scheduling row: Game, set and match to FIFA in Wimbledon clash
July 6 – FIFA says it will not back down after scheduling next year’s World Cup final kickoff in Russia on the same afternoon as the Wimbledon men’s tennis final.
Money talk: AFC gathers leagues for forum on financial sustainability
July 6 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) brought its top leagues together earlier this week for a forum that put financial stability at the top of the agenda. The meeting was organised as part of the AFC League Development Programme.
Rangers’ tax case loss prompts Celtic to renew call for review of 5 of their SPL titles
July 6 – Fierce adversaries on and off the pitch, it is little surprise that Scottish champions Celtic have waded into the tax avoidance case surrounding Glasgow rivals Rangers.
Toyota race to start line with last-minute Gold Cup sponsorship deal
July 6 – With 48 hours to go before the kick-off of the Gold Cup at The Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, CONCACAF have announced another last-minute sponsorship sale with Toyota coming on board as the Official Motor Vehicle of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
All ends in tears as disputed penalty proves too much for Chairman Meng
July 6 – The pain and anguish of a disputed penalty awarded deep into injury time were too much for fans and officials of China League One side Baoding Rongda. The match officials were attacked by fans and officials on Saturday, whilst a tearful Chairman told the press in a post-match interview the club would be withdrawn from the league.
Tanzania progress on the pitch success but corruption chaos rages behind the scenes
By Mark Baber
July 5 – Whilst on the pitch Tanzania are playing Zambia this evening in the COSAFA semi-finals, off the pitch the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) has been thrown into chaos by last week’s arrest of its president Jamal Malinzi (pictured), secretary general Mwesiga Celestine and accountant Ms Nsiande Mwanga on corruption allegations.
Rex Sport Academy joins with Cardenal Herrera Uni for new sports law master course
July 5 – Sports law association Rex Sport has joined with the CEU Cardinal Herrera University in Valencia, Spain, to launch an Online Master in International Sports Law.