Hammers finally nail deal on Olympic Stadium move

Olympic stadium

March 22 – Football’s use of the state-of-the-art London 2012 Olympic stadium has at last been resolved after the government agreed to put in an extra £25m towards the costs of converting the venue, allowing Premier League West Ham United to take over.

Read more …

7UP fizzes in for Gold Cup sponsorship

Gold cup

By Mark Baber
21 March – CONCACAF has agreed a new deal with soft drinks manufacturer Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) for  7UP to be the Official Soft Drink of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The sponsorship will almost certainly add fuel to the debate over soccer’s role in public health.

Read more …

‘Enough is enough…’, racism must stop and punishment get tougher

blatter2

Exclusive: By Osasu Obayiuwana
March 21 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has told InsideWorldFootball that confronting the growing scourge of racism in the sport is one of the last major challenges confronting his presidency. “I am going to tackle this with all my tenacity, my fighting character,” Blatter said, on the eve of the CAF Congress in Morocco earlier this month.

Read more …

In the heat of Doha’s sun, Brits come out for a Winter World Cup

qatar 2022

By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
March 20 – Any time Qatar stages a high-profile sports conference – and there have been a good number in recent months – the increasingly divisive debate over switching the 2022 World Cup to winter invariably springs to prominence. So it was at the Securing Sport 2013 summit in Doha. Except this time, it wasn’t supposed to happen quite like that.

Read more …