By Andrew Warshaw
June 24 – For the first time in FIFA competitions, vanishing spray to prevent players encroaching at free kicks is being used at the under-20 World Cup in Turkey, the latest move to aid referees following the introduction of goalline technology at the Confederations Cup.
June 24 – Worldwide television audiences for the Confederations Cup continue to grow despite the adverse publicity generated by the widespread protests in Brazil. In the second round of matches, markets including Japan, Spain, Germany and the UK – the last two of which don’t have a team in the competition – all witnessed increases in viewing figures.
By David Owen
June 24 – English Premier League clubs have racked up net profits on player sales of well over £1 billion during the last five seasons for which full figures are available. The figure suggests that club balance-sheets massively undervalue these assets – who also happen, in many cases, to be global stars.
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
June 21 – FIFA and Confederations Cup organisers have said the tournament will still continue as protests across Brazil intensified yesterday. World football’s governing body has said in a statement that neither “FIFA nor the LOC (local organizing committee) have ever discussed any such possibility” of cancelling the tournament.
By Paul Nicholson
June 21 – Sports broadcaster, beIN SPORT, which has been rapidly growing its global footprint, has announced the launch of three high-definition sports channels in Indonesia in partnership with TV sports rights specialists MP & Silva from Italy. The channels will launch July 1.
By Mark Baber
June 21 – On Wednesday, Mohammed Iya, was re-elected as president of the Cameroon Football Federation by a landslide, on the same day he was transferred to the notorious Kondengui central prison in Yaounde, after appearing before a Special Criminal Court on charges of misappropriation of public funds.
By Mark Baber
June 21 – Adidas expects to hit record sales of €2 billion from its football product in 2014 as it benefits from it position as official sponsor, supplier and licensee of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The forecast was made at a football media day in Herzogenaurach, Germany, by Herbert Hainer (pictured), CEO of the adidas Group.
June 21 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, who has done much to stabilise the region since taking over a year ago, will be more delighted than anyone at the organisation’s decision to stage next year’s CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 tournament in his native Cayman Islands.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 21 – Arsenal’s problematic pre-season tour of Vietnam, the first to the country by an English Premier League side, will go ahead despite another dispute – this time over a promotional video.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – Lionel Messi, the world’s finest footballer and one of the richest and most iconic sportsmen on the planet, has been sensationally summoned to appear in court on September 17 over tax fraud allegations.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – As a wave of social unrest continues to sweep through Brazil, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has urged the public to stop using football as a means of expressing their anger and says they can only benefit from the tournament returning to the country next year for the first time in over half a century. The protests, timed to co-incide with the ongoing Confederations Cup, has cast a shadow over the World Cup dry run event that has produced several exhilarating games in full stadia.
By Mark Baber
June 20 – Following a complaint from BT, Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, is launching an investigation into BSkyB over the supply of its sports channels to rival broadcasters.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – In the same month that Scottish football agreed on a ground-breaking strategy to preserve the future of lower-league clubs, one of its most iconic, Heart of Midlothian, has ironically been forced to go into administration and has been docked 15 points for the start of the season.
By Mark Baber
June 20 – Beşiktaş has signed a preliminary agreement with Vodafone Türkiye for shirt sponsorship and naming rights to the team’s new stadium. The final agreement, which is expected to be signed shortly, is expected to be worth €20 million annually.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – A relieved Michel Platini has heaped praise on Israel following the European Under-21 championships that ended with Spain beating Italy 4-2 to retain the title.