Bolivian chaos as players threaten strike as World Cup qualifiers loom
September 15 – Bolivian football, already rocked by their federation chief being arrested, has been further hit by a players’ strike.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Romania’s Craiova launches €50m new stadium project
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 15 – Romanian government authorities have launched the construction of a new stadium for CS Universitatea Craiova. The build will cost about €50 million, and will see the Romanian side move to a new stadium with a seating capacity of 30,854.
Suzuki gears up for title sponsorship of SAFF Championship
By Mark Baber
September 15 – Suzuki Motor Corporation has been unveiled as the title sponsor of the next edition of the South Asian Football Federation Championship which will be known as the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2015.
Andrew Warshaw: Football’s Lynch mob scent more blood
It was the word “entities” that got tongues wagging. What was the US attorney general referring to when she opened up a fresh can of worms by warning football to expect a another surge of corruption-related arrests, this time involving entities as well as individuals? Companies? Confederations?
Arsenal, Man Utd, Norwich and West Ham fans fill over 99% of capacities
By Paul Nicholson
September 15 – The international break has not dampened the enthusiasm for fans attending Premier League matches with clubs reporting an average 95.24% capacity at the 10 home games in round 5.
Sony launches free Champions League prediction game app for PlayStation4
By Paul Nicholson
September 15 – PlayStation4 (PS4) videogamers have three new app-based prediction games to play based on the UEFA Champions League. Available for free, the official PlayStation F.C. UEFA Champions League app can be downloaded from the PlayStation®Store.
FIFA-gate: Lynch promises more arrests as US widens investigation
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
September 14 – Declaring that “no individual is above the law”, the US prosecutor whose revelations brought FIFA to its knees and led in part to Sepp Blatter’s decision to step down as president, says more criminal charges are expected to be brought and more arrests made.
Levski find €1.5m to settle outstanding debt
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 14 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia has paid more than BGN 3 million (€1.5 million) in debt settlement to former and current players, and coaches. Ivo Tonev (pictured), one of the majority owners of the club made the announcement after a meeting of the Governing Council.
Pieth says Blatter should be interviewed over TV rights sale to Warner
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
September 14 – As the world’s media descended on Zurich for the eagerly awaited latest developments in the US and Swiss investigations into alleged widespread malpractise surrounding FIFA, the organisation’s former anti-corruption advisor said Sepp Blatter himself should be questioned over the sale of television rights to disgraced former CONCACAF boss Jack Warner.
African Union troops to vacate Somalia’s Mogadishu stadium
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – The Somali Football Federation’s campaign to win back their national stadium in Mogadishu, which is currently being occupied by African Union troops, took a step nearer realisation last Friday when the country’s president announced the stadium would be vacated.
On or off? CopaCentenario 2016 turns into world football’s hottest potato
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – While the South Americans seem convinced that the 2016 Centennial edition of the CopaAmerica will be played for the first time outside of the region in the US, in partnership with CONCACAF, the idea this is now a done deal does not seem certain.
Caribbean World Cup TV rights for 2010 and 2014 raise more Warner questions
By Andrew Warshaw
September 14 – As US and Swiss prosecutors prepared to hold an eagerly awaited press conference to update the world’s media on their separate investigations into corruption surrounding FIFA, outgoing president Sepp Blatter found himself unwittingly drawn into the whole murky saga.
‘Exasperated’ FIFA exco member quits as head of Malaysian FA
By Andrew Warshaw
September 14 – He was only elected to FIFA’s inner circle at the end of April but Malaysia’s Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah (pictured) has announced he is stepping down as president of his country’s federation.
Mourinho’s medical madness prompts FIFA’s intervention
September 14 – The head of FIFA’s medical committee has commissioned a new sub-group to draw up a special code of ethics for coaches and team doctors.
IFA unveils November conference and Blatter ‘special’ at FIFA House
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – Just one month after the candidates have to confirm their nominations for the FIFA Presidential race, and three months before the election itself, the International Football Arena (IFA) Conference will take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, November 19.