Arsenal open gap on Chelsea in Twitter table, West Ham get vocal
September 4 – The last week has seen another boost in Twitter followers to Premier League clubs with a growth of 210,392 across all clubs compared to 196,493 the week before.
CBF look to new markets for Brazilian football brand
By Samindra Kunti
September 4 – The Brazilian Football Confederation CBF want to open up new markets and have targeted Russia, Iran, Nigeria and Morocco, notwithstanding an institutional crisis at home.
Organised crime has moved into club ownership. Surgical solutions needed
By Paul Nicholson at the FITS Forum in Geneva
September 4 – There is an urgent need for regulation to make football clubs identify who their owners are, including beneficial owners – the real owners hiding behind shell companies or nominees, said Nicola Bonucci, director legal of the OECD.
Sport autonomy: we’ll respect your special status but you will respect our laws
By Paul Nicholson in Geneva
September 4 – Has sport, and football in particular, lost its self-proclaimed special status right of self-governance, free from government influence and prevailing national laws? Three political grandees speaking at the FITS Forum in Geneva were of the consensus that autonomy for sport was a principal that needs to respected. But within their accepted perameters.
Bayern hold out helping hands to welcome migrants to Germany
By Tom Parsons
September 3 – Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are to set up a camp for refugees coming into Germany and will donate €1 million towards refugee projects in the country.
Matt Scott: How the De Gea mess shows who football’s winners really are
“The money coming into the game [football] is incredible. But it is just the prune-juice effect — it comes in and goes out straight away. Agents run the game.” Lord Sugar
Lord Sugar (then just plain Alan) became chairman of Tottenham Hotspur in 1991 and stayed at the helm there for 10 years. He was even manufacturer of the set-top decoder boxes that took content from dominant UK pay-TV channel,
Paks city boosts government funds in £4.5m expansion of club’s stadium
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 3 – The municipal authorities of Paks, a city in Hungary’s south-west, have added HUF 600 million (€1.9 million) to the HUF 800 million (€2.6 million) earmarked by the Hungarian government to finance the upgrade and expansion the Paksi FC stadium.
Sabbath row could see football close down in Israel
By Mark Baber
September 3 – Football in Israel, already suffering from problems relating to the state’s relationship with Palestinine and racism at top clubs is facing a major crisis as the Israeli Football Association says it will cancel all league matches if a recent ban on playing on the Sabbath is not lifted.
Time for sleepwalking is over, say Hanzab and Medeiros, calling for global action
By Paul Nicholson in Geneva
September 3 – Mohammed Hanzab, president of the ICSS, and Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, CEO of ICSS Europe & Latin America, issued a powerful call to action at the opening of the FITS Forum in Geneva, saying that now is not the time to be standing on the sidelines and that a global alliance is required to fight corruption and create a blueprint for sports’ commercial and political governance.
Little-known African joins the Fifa presidential party
By Andrew Warshaw
September 3 – Another prospective candidate has entered the race to become the first African president of Fifa as Nigeria’s Segun Odegbami – a former national team captain – said he wanted to join the party.
Man Utd partner with HCL to drive new digital frontier to club’s fans
By David Owen
September 2 – As television and the globalised market for players fuel the increasing internationalisation of the fan bases of leading football clubs, digital technology is of growing importance for clubs seeking to communicate with, and generate revenue from, these supporters.
Mutko steps in to rescue RFU promising clear leadership and end to debt
September 3 – Russian sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has regained the leadership of his county’s national federation warning of virtual bankruptcy, hardly the most positive message as the country builds towards the 2018 World Cup.
After a 50 year wait, Welsh on verge of rewriting history
September 3 – The next few days are being touted as the defining moment in Welsh football history and it’s easy to see why.
Not since the 1958 World Cup have Wales reached a major tournament finals but qualifying victories away to Cyprus tonight followed by a home win over Israel on Sunday and Chris Coleman’s team will be in the hat for next summer’s Euro finals in France.
Chung evidences ‘electoral fraud’ and slams Salman and AFC’s support of Platini
By Andrew Warshaw
September 3 – In a dramatic early twist in the race to succeed Sepp Blatter, South Korean FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-joon has lambasted his own confederation by accusing them of breaking electoral and ethical rules and calling for an official inquiry.
Chelsea unveil plans to turn Stamford Bridge into £500m cathedral
September 3 – Premier League club Chelsea have unveiled plans to redevelop their Stamford Bridge stadium to increase capacity from 41,798 to 61,000. The drawings are on display to fans this week at the stadium.