By Andrew Warshaw
September 1 – He described his original $2 million pay offer as “insulting” yet now he is getting even less. Or is he? After six months in charge, and having failed to sign a contract that had been on the table since March, Gianni Infantino has now apparently agreed an annual salary of 1.5 million Swiss francs.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 1 – Of all the countries taking part in the forthcoming World Cup qualifying programme, none is surely anticipating the occasion with more relish than Kosovo who make their competitive international debut on Monday. Yet the Balkan state, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, still needs confirmation from FIFA whether a raft of players can switch nationality to join them.
September 1 – Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer has expanded its sponsorship portfolio into Asia agreeing a four-year deal with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will become the Official Timekeeper & Official Watch of the AFC’s national competitions including the 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Final Round (that starts tonight), the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the AFC Asian Cup in 2019.
September 1 – Manchester City has expanded its regional sponsorship agreeing an ‘Official Beer Partner’ deal with Nigeria’s Star brand, owned by Nigerian Breweries.
September 1 – Aleksander Ceferin, the Slovenian hoping to succeed Michel Platini as the president of the UEFA in two weeks’ time, said he plans to clamp down on corruption, doping and match-fixing if he is elected.
August 31 – Manchester United’s rate of Twitter growth slowed last week against the previous week, from 85,000 new followers to 70,500. In contrast Manchester City grew their weekly new followers to 22,100 and can be expected to grow again on the back of exciting Premier League performances.
August 31 – The Brazilian FA, the CBF, and Japanese video games maker Konami have struck a two-year partnership deal for the Pro Evolution Soccer video game.
August 31 – Premier League clubs look set to take their summer spending through the £1 billion barrier for the first time in what is expected to be the usual frenzied final day of business today before the window slams shut for six months.
August 31 – Seven candidates, including two confederation vice presidents, are standing for election to be Africa’s two new representatives on the ruling FIFA Council next month.
August 31 – Hull City, who surprised everyone with a storming start to their return to the Premier League winning their first two games, expect to be under new ownership within the next two weeks according to vice-chairman Ehab Allam.
August 31 – Real Madrid say they will now continue with their appeal to European Court of Justice over the order to reimburse the Madrid City Council €18.4 million, despite losing their first appeal to the European Commission (EC).
By Andrew Warshaw
August 30 – The thorny issue of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s salary has burst into fresh controversy amid speculation that he is about to receive an improved pay deal after refusing to sign his original contract drawn up six months ago.
August 30 – The Hungarian Football Federation (HFF) is the latest UEFA member association to declare support for Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin in the presidential elections September 14 in Athens.
August 30 – Los Angeles’s new MLS franchise LAFC will kick off with a $100 million naming rights sponsor for its $350 million new stadium. The 15-year deal with Banc of California is a record naming rights deal for soccer in the US.
By Samindra Kunti
August 30 – The former owner of Major League Baseball club the LA Dodgers, Frank McCourt (pictured), is set to become the new owner of French club Olympique de Marseille for a reported $44.68 million. The American has vowed to restore the club to their former glories.