June 14 – Long time Czech league sponsor Grambinus is to pull out of its deals with the Czech football Association (FAČR), including its title sponsorship of the country’s top league, saying that the corruption scandals that have hit the presidency of the federation are now impacting on their brand image.
By Paul Nicholson
June 13 – The rapidly re-growing sport of Subbuteo – the table football game where players use their fingers to move figures on the pitch to score goals – is adding a new regional confederation in Asia to help develop the sport in the region.
June 9 – Scottish Premiership treble winners Celtic have announced that they have “smashed the 50,000 barrier for season tickets sold for the coming 2017/18 season.” The club did not lose a league game under new manager Brendan Rodgers last season.
June 8 – New Balance has added Belgian first division side Royal Standard de Liège to its kit supply roster, taking over Kappa. The US sportswear firm will provide the team with kit, training wear and equipment starting with the 2017/18 season.
June 7 – Cristiano Ronaldo will be the cover athlete for EA Sports FIFA 18 game that will go on worldwide release September 29. Incredibly, it is the first time Ronaldon has been on the cover.
June 6 – Big players do big things. While Ronaldo was scoring two goals to win the Champions League final in Cardiff, Wales, with Real Madrid, Lionel Messi was in Beijing launching a football theme park that will bear his name in Naijing, China.
June 6 – Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek have announced they will boycott the Qatari-owned television network beIN Sports following the damaging diplomatic rift between Qatar and several Arab countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
June 6 – CONCACAF has signed the Allstate Insurance Company as its Official Insurance Sponsor for all championships for the next four years. No figure has been disclosed for the deal that also included four-year renewals of deals with the MLS and the Mexican national team’s US tours.
June 5 – The first football sponsorship fall-out from the cutting of diplomatic ties by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt with Qatar, has been the cancellation of Saudi club Al Ahli’s shirt deal with Qatar Airways.
June 5 – With less than two weeks to go before the tournament starts, FIFA has secured a domestic TV deal in Russia to broadcast the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup with national sports channel Match-TV.
June 6 – Australian football, currently challenged by a slow moving reform process at federation level, has better news for stakeholders on the broadcast front with Ten Network announcing it has acquired the exclusive free-to-air rights to A-league and national team matches.
June 1 – What is more exciting, watching a Champions League match or being a passenger in a Nissan GT-R at 250km/h driving around the iconic Spa racetrack? Champions League sponsor Nissan have compared both via their Excitement Index methodology, though one wonders if in this context it should be renamed the fear index.
June 2 – A survey by Champions League sponsor Mastercard has seen British football fans voted the most passionate in Europe. ‘The 12th Man’ study saw 32% vote for British fans, ahead of 16% for Spanish fans and 12% for Italian fans.
June 2 – Italian league and Cup double winners Juventus who tomorrow face Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Cardiff, have confirmed that their Juventus Stadium will be renamed Allianz Stadium from July 1.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 1 – FIFA’s links with China have been further cemented by the announcement of another Chinese World Cup sponsor, with smartphone company Vivo named as the latest commercial backer for both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.