“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” Babe Ruth
The fans of football’s middling clubs must go to games right now with heavy hearts. It’s that time of year, the one where those teams who are wrapped in the unambitious security blanket of mid-table are already thinking more about their holidays than points tallies.
April 10 – A new attendance record was set in the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League semi-final between Mexican giants Club America and Costa Rica’s Herediano this week.
By Alexander Krassimirov
April 10 – The financial turmoil and instability at Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia has taken a new turn with major shareholder Alexander Tomov saying that he has filed an application to quit his post as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the club and no longer continue as a shareholder.
By Mark Baber
April 10 – The Chinese Football Association (CFA) have secured LeTV Sports and its LeTV Superphone, a competitor of the Apple iPhone, as the title sponsor of the Chinese Women’s Super League for the next five years.
April 10 – Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says the Ballon d’Or prize awarded annually to the world’s best footballer does nothing to improve the game’s team ethic.
If it was not a true story, the so-called Parma Case could make you laugh (or cry). Take a Serie A club, with a significant history (their roll of honour includes one Cup of Cups, one UEFA Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, three Italian Cups, one Italian Super Cup), located in one of Italy’s richest geographical areas and see if you make it fail, but not at the end of the season – this unfortunately actually happened to important clubs like Florence,
April 10 – Paris St-Germain’s star Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been suspended for four league games as a result of his foul-mouthed outburst that was captured live on TV.
By David Owen
April 10 – North London club Tottenham Hotspur have taken over from Swansea City as Premier League champions – Premier League profitability champions, that is. With the vast majority of financial information for the 2013-14 season now available, Spurs are well clear of Manchester United’s Red Devils in second place, with the Saints of Southampton – as surprising off the pitch as on – finishing third.
April 10 – Albert Ebosse, the Cameroon striker who died following a match in Algeria last August – ostensibly from injuries sustained by an object thrown from the stands – was murdered, according to his father.
April 10 – After a five-day wait, they ended up playing for just 18 seconds! UEFA’s unprecedented decision to order England and Norway to replay the last moments of their women’s under-19 European qualifier duly took place Thursday night with the English grabbing the 2-2 draw they thought they had achieved first time round.
By David Owen
April 10 – Switzerland’s status as the prime global location for International Sports Organisations (ISOs), such as Zurich-based FIFA and Nyon-based UEFA, brings substantial economic benefits, according to a new study.
April 9 – In an extraordinary decision that UEFA admit is unprecedented in their competitions, England and Norway have been ordered to replay the last few seconds of their women’s under-19 European qualifier tonight – starting with a retaken 96th-minute penalty.
By Mark Baber
April 9 – The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has hit back at those using football to spread their message of racial hatred with an order that Croatia’s upcoming game against Italy must be played behind closed doors.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
April 9 – The failure of Hungarian financial services group Quaestor has pushed top division club Gyori ETO FC out of their stadium, into bankruptcy and almost out of the league.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – Gabon have been chosen to host the seemingly perennially troubled Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 as a replacement for war-torn Libya who withdrew last year.