Andrew Warshaw: The one that got away?
The politics of football have long been rife with allegations of corruption, hypotheses, behind-the-scenes manoeuvring and a fair share of proven malpractise.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Caribbean federations have a hot day in the FIFA political sun
By Paul Nicholson in the Bahamas
April 16 – For anyone taking the global annual football confederation congress tour, the Caribbean is the current stop on the schedule which will end in Zurich in May with the main event of the election of the FIFA president. And as in previous elections, the Caribbean is having its day in the FIFA political sun.
FC Twente under pressure as XXImo pulls out of main sponsorship
April 16 – FC Twente and its main sponsor XXImo have reached an agreement to terminate their contract. The Dutch club is going through troubled times after losing the Dutch Cup final against PEC Zwolle.
CFU Club Championship kicks off with Champions League as the prize
April 16 – While their federation presidents were in the Bahamas at the CONCACAF Congress, 15 clubs from nine Caribbean Football Union (CFU) member associations were starting their quest for qualification to the CONCACAF Champions League for the 2015/16 next season.
Man Utd, Liverpool, Real, Inter and Roma return to US for pre-season match-ups
April 16 – Manchester United are to return to the US for their pre-season tour this summer and will defend their ‘International Champions Cup’ title which they won last last year.
Osasu Obayiuwana: African rule changes ensure there will be no change
A sad, very disturbing, fact remains constant, over the decades I’ve covered the African game, which is fuelling my deepening pessimism about its future – the ruthless cultivation of a reactionary climate that is extremely hostile to the desperately needed transformation of CAF, the continent’s governing body, into an organisation that will finally command the genuine respect of the global fraternity and use its political capital in the interests of those it ought to primarily serve.
Social media backlash after Man City’s Duggan pictured with van Gaal
April 15 – A striker with Manchester City’s women’s team has been forced to apologise after causing a social media storm by posting a photograph of herself sharing a laugh with Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal just hours after City’s derby defeat on Sunday.
Croatian FA officials in motorway stand-off with Hajduk Split fans
April 15 – Croatian football, marred by constant problems involving hooligan fans, is back in the spotlight again for all the wrong reasons after national team coach Niko Kovac was assailed by a group of supporters wearing Hajduk Split colours.
Bulgaria hit with further match-fixing allegations
April 15 – Bulgarian football is facing yet another potential match-fixing scandal following allegations of games being manipulated in the country’s second division.
Russian racism escalates with Spartak under fire after Arsenal game
April 15 – Anything Torpedo Moscow can do when it comes to discrimination, Spartak Moscow can seemingly match. Within days of Torpedo being found guilty of racism and ordered to play two more home games behind closed doors after their fourth offense of the season, so Spartak Moscow have been punished after fans displayed racist images during the April 9 fixture at Arsenal Tula.
Man City fuelled for new deal with Vivo Energy in Botswana
By Mark Baber
April 15 – Manchester City have agreed that Vivo Energy, the company that distributes and markets Shell branded fuels and lubricants across Africa, will be the Club’s Official Fuels and Lubricants partner in Botswana, extending an existing association with the company, unveiled at the end of 2014, which covered the Ivory Coast.
UK Labour Party commits to giving fans right to appoint directors and buy shares
By Mark Baber
April 15 – Football has made it on to the election agenda in the UK with the Labour Party making a manifesto commitment to introduce legislation to allow football supporters to appoint club directors and also to give fans the right to purchase shares in their club when there is a change of ownership.
Arena Amazonia: a football tragedy waiting to happen
By Ricardo Setyon
April 15 – The writing was on wall from the moment the decision was taken to build. The Arena Amazonia – a beautiful and giant stadium, in the heart of Manaus, the capital city of the most important forest on Earth, and constructed for the greatest show on Earth, the FIFA World Cup – has become a monument to Brazilian football’s financial folly. A legacy nightmare.
Matt Scott: The hard times are over – Villa is no longer a bleak house
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.” David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Sixpence a year of overspending was all it took to bring misery to the burghers of 19th Century London, as Wilkins Micawber famously observed. Although life in the Premier League today could not be more different to that of Dickensian England, Micawber’s lesson is well heeded,
Cola wars: Coke fizzes to US finish line to oust Pepsi deal
April 14 – US soccer is changing its Cola brand. PepsiCo, which has been a core sponsor of the MLS since 1996, is making way for Coca-Cola who take over as the official non-alcoholic beverage of the MLS and the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).