No more cuts, Russia seals deals on stadium build
February 6 – Russia’s sports minister says no more changes can be made to stadium concepts for the 2018 World Cup in terms of reducing both the number of venues and their capacities.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Spurs bid to unlock the Chinese puzzle
February 6 – Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur has launched a Chinese language website on Chinese internet giant Netease’s web platform. The site went live in the build up to this weekend’s North London derby.
Violence shatters African Cup as home fans run riot in Equatorial Guinea
By Andrew Warshaw
February 6 – Fans of host nation Equatorial Guinea brought shame and disgrace on the Africa Cup of Nations as they forced Thursday’s semifinal to be suspended for more than 30 minutes amid scenes described as a “war zone”.
Matt Scott: MLS digital media deal is a new road for rights holders and sponsors to travel
“Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly agein’. Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand. For the times they are a-changin’.” Bob Dylan
For the past 20 years football has had a very healthy and profitable relationship with pay-tv. This will be underlined once more over the next 24 hours or so when the Premier League makes its announcement over the result of the auction it has being holding for its UK rights.
New £5.6m funding for English grass-roots facilities
By David Owen
February 4 – A further 80 English grass-roots football facilities are to get much-needed investment from a recently-established fund that draws on money from the Premier League, the UK Government and the Football Association (FA).
Premier League closes Jan window with £130m spend and 114 deals done
By Mark Baber
February 4 – Premier League clubs have spent an estimated £130 million in this year’s transfer window, probably equivalent to last year’s spending (based on figures for individual transfers leaked to the media) with about half the total spending accounted for by Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Andrew Warshaw: Football questions for football’s questioner?
“Are there any questions about football?” asked a tired-looking Prince Ali, perhaps more in hope than expectation, after answering yet another about his FIFA presidential credentials as he blinked into a phalanx of whirring cameras.
Belarus government to build Dinamo Minsk a new stadium by 2019
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
February 4 – The Belarusian government has said it has earmarked funds to provide Dinamo Minsk with a new stadium by the end of 2019. The new arena will have a capacity of 25,000.
Liverpool return Down Under for pre-season tour
February 4 – English Premier League club Liverpool will head for Australia for the second time in three years for their pre-season tour in July, playing games in Adelaide and Brisbane for the first time.
Japan fire coach Aguirre over match-fixing allegations
February 4 – Despite repeated protestations of his innocence and a plea to be allowed to get on with his job, Japan’s Mexican coach Javier Aguirre has been sacked over much-publicised match-fixing allegations covering the period he worked in Spain.
Will Beckham be left high and dry on the Miami waterfront?
By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – A year after announcing his plans to form a new MLS club in Miami, David Beckham is still searching for a permanent venue amid growing concerns that his dream franchise might be some way off.
Money talks: clubs and leagues slam players’ union over wages complaints
By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – The war of words between Europe’s clubs and the players’ union FIFPro over reforming the transfer system has been stepped up with another hard-hitting exchange of views.
SPORT1 joins the Europa League with multi-platform rights deal
January 4 – Fast growing German media channel SPORT1 has acquired a three-year package of Europa League rights starting next season.
MLS tools up in the war against match fixing with Sportradar extension
February 4 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has extended its deal with Sportradar Security Services to monitor the global betting market in relation to MLS matches for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
Prince Ali lashes out talking of intimidation, change, and manifesto to come
By Andrew Warshaw in London
February 3 – Citing a “culture of intimidation” within FIFA, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan officially launched his campaign today to take over from Sepp Blatter – and named the United States among the federations who had endorsed his candidacy.