By Ricardo Setyon
August 7 – They were best of friends but they have become the worst of enemies. Known in Brazil as ‘O Gordo e o Magro’, (the fat and the slim), former FIFA vice president and CBF chief Ricardo Teixeira (pictured left), and Traffic principal José Hawilla (right) have fallen out, and spectacularly so.
The EAFF East Asian Cup could not be more finely balanced with three of the four teams going into the final round on Sunday August 9 capable of winning the championship. You can watch the matches live on Insideworldfootball at http://www.insideworldfootball.com/watch-live-football
August 7 – Manchester City FC have signed Nexen Tire, the leading South Korean tyre and tubing brand, as the Club’s Official Tyre Partner. The club is the latest to announce a tyre manufacturer as a major sponsor – Yokohama recently took over as Chelsea’s shirt sponsor in an estimated £200 million five year deal.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 7 – The early race to replace Sepp Blatter as FIFA president has taken a potentially significant twist with the African Football Confederation (AFC) refusing to endorse the candidacy of Liberia’s Musa Bility (pictured) who says he wants to stand along with UEFA boss Michel Platini.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 6 – The Europa League may be the poorer sister of the Champions League but before it is has even got into its stride this season, UEFA’s number two club competition is splitting opinion about whether it worth prioritising – and not just among fans.
By Mark Baber
August 6 – The Football Supporters Federation (FSF) has welcomed an announcement by Virgin Trains that they will be a launching a pilot scheme to provide train services tailored for Sunderland and Newcastle fans.
By Alexander Krassimirov
August 6 – While one of Bulgaria’s leading clubs from Sofia, CSKA, is busy apologising for the behaviour of its fans at the weekend, the other, Levski Sofia, is busy signing a new major club sponsor for the coming season.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 6 – With the new Premier League season getting under way this weekend and attention again focussed partly on the number of foreign stars involved, the tournament’s chief executive Richard Scudamore has again re-iterated his opposition to introducing quotas.
August 6 – The growing importance and wealth of the Chinese market has been underlined by a deal to broadcast Spanish matches in some 300 cities from this season.
By David Owen
August 6 – 2022 FIFA World Cup host Qatar has acquired another of the trappings of a top sporting nation, with news that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has this week approved the accreditation of the Doha laboratory for anti-doping analysis.
“Money, it’s a gas/ Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash/ New car, caviar, four star daydream/ Think I’ll buy me a football team…” Pink Floyd, Money
When in 1975 Roger Waters wrote the lyrics to Money, Manchester United belonged to a local meat wholesaler, Louis Edwards. It was still about 15 years before his son Martin accepted a £20 million (€28.7m, $31.2m) bid for the club from a consortium led by Michael Knighton,
August 6 – The TV bidding war between Sky Sports and BT Sport has been ratcheted up a notch with the former announcing it has renewed live coverage of Spain’s La Liga for the next three seasons.
By Paul Nicholson
August 6 – Barcelona published their 2014/15 financial statement showing revenue of €608 million, the largest ever by any sporting club. But this is peanuts as by 2021 the club says it will grow revenue to more than €1 billion annually. Football Benchmark, the data and analysis arm of KPMG’s sports practice, says this isn’t just idle talk.
By Paul Nicholson
August 6 – Yet another betting company club sponsorship deal has been announced in the English Premier League. This time it is the turn of Manchester United who have unveiled a multi-year deal with Marathonbet who will become the Club’s Official Global Betting Partner, excluding China and the US.
August 5 – A Brazilian council official is proposing creating a ‘Goal to Germany’ day every July to make the national team remember their humiliating 7-1 World Cup defeat last year.