June 30 – EA Sports has launched an investigation following reports of a “chemistry inconsistency” in FIFA’s 2016 Ultimate Team (FUT) game that has prompted scores of complaints from players demanding a boycott of the game over fears they’re being cheated.
June 30 – With rumours raging that Manchester United are about to announce the signing of Swedish striker Zoltan Ibrahimovic, the club have confirmed that they have added an extra overseas game to the pre-season tour…in Sweden.
June 30 – Sports media service company Deltatre, which provides data and broadcast solutions for clients including UEFA, FIFA, and the English Premier League, has been acquired by fast growing US sports investor Bruin Sports Capital. No figure has been disclosed for the deal but Deltatre’s two founders, Giampiero Rinaudo and Luca Marini, will “keep significant minority shares”.
June 30 – The Euro 2016 quarter finals start tonight with Poland and Portugal battling for the right to face either Wales or Belgium in the semi-final. Portugal can consider themselves highly fortunate to have got this far having failed to impress, but they are still in the competition and this could be the time when they produce the big performance everyone has been waiting for.
June 30 – Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland fans are to receive a special award from the mayor of Paris for their “exemplary sportsmanship” during Euro 2016.
June 30 – As English football searches for a new manager after the humiliation of Euro 2016, the chairman of the country’s national federation, Greg Dyke (pictured), has questioned whether anyone at the top of the sport would actually want the job.
June 30 – Manchester City have kept up the pace with their football leading social media output with the launch of a Facebook Messenger account, the first football club to open one.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
June 29 – After some respite with media attention focussed on events on the field at Euro 2016 in France and the Copa America Centenario in the US, the pressure is back on FIFA president Gianni Infantino following yet more speculation that he is to be investigated by FIFA’s ethics committee over possible conflict of interest.
By Samindra Kunti
June 29 – Euro 2016 organisers and UEFA have disclosed there has not been a formal terror threat to the tournament as the quarter-finals stage gets underway on Thursday.
By Paul Nicholson
June 29 – Asian federations are making preparations to tune up their national teams for the final rounds of World Cup 2018 qualifiers which will see the remaining 12 teams split into two groups of six competing for four automatic slots at the Russia tournament, and one play off opportunity.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 29 – Lionel Messi has been urged to reconsider his surprise decision to quit international football by Diego Maradona, Argentina’s president Mauricio Macri and, it seems, virtually the whole of his country.
June 29 – Iceland’s fairytale progress to the quarterfinals of the European Championship proves it was a good idea to expand the tournament to 24 teams and has provided just the boost required, according to UEFA’s interim secretary general Theodore Theodoridis.
June 29 – Tickets for the Euro 2016 quarter finals between Germany vs Italy and France vs Iceland sold out within two hours of being placed on sale yesterday. But UEFA warned fans of buying forged tickets from unknown sources.
June 29 – CONCACAF has set the dates for the group stages of the Scotiabank Champions League, its blue riband event for clubs.
By Paul Nicholson
June 28 – A ruling last week in the Supreme Court in the US could well send shivers down the spines of football marketing executives and rights holders who haven’t been caught up in the US football corruption investigations, yet.