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.
World Cup
Liverpool score record breaking £26million kit deal
By Mark Baber
February 5 – Liverpool FC announced on Wednesday that sports apparel manufacturer, New Balance would be the club’s official kit supplier from the 2015/16 football season onwards in a deal described as record-breaking.
Virgin bid to scupper Premier League TV sales pitch fails
February 5 – The English Premier League’s sale of television rights for 2016-19 will go ahead as planned after UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom rejected complaints from cable operator Virgin Media.
Hammers duck FA Cup axe but hit with FIFA fine
February 5 – English Premier League club West Ham have been fined 100,000 Swiss francs and reprimanded by FIFA but have avoided being thrown out of the domestic FA Cup after fielding Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho just 18 days after he withdrew from his country’s Africa Cup of Nations squad.
Russian cash crisis deepens as calls for new RFU chief grow
February 3 – Russian football’s anti-crisis committee meets for the first time this week as the federation battles against a budget deficit and a growing and crippling wage debt to its national team coach Fabio Capello.
Qatar reiterates it can host summer or winter as it builds its sport credentials
By Samindra Kunti
January 28 – Nasser Al-Khater, the executive director of communications and marketing at the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee repeated his confidence that Qatar will host a good World Cup in 2022, whether it is in the winter or summer. He also rebuffed all criticism aimed at the Emirate, saying it is time to move on.
World Cup legacy failure as Cuiaba stadium is shut for repair
January 25 – Just seven months after hosting four World Cup matches, Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal stadium, is being closed for “emergency repairs”.
Study finds Russian stadium costs comparable but beware falling Ruble
By Paul Nicholson
January 22 – A comparison of stadium build costs for five of the Russian stadia for 2018, against the cost of football stadiums across Europe, has found that the Russian stadia are coming in at a comparatively equal cost and half the price of London’s Wembley Stadium on a cost per seat basis.
Brazil regulator clears MATCH of World Cup price fixing, Whelan up next
January 20 – MATCH Services, FIFA’s accommodation partner for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, has had all charges that it was leveraging “abusive” prices in the hotel market with tickets for matches dismissed by CADE, Brazil’s anti-competition authority.
Qatari minister calls human rights concerns “a heightened agenda”
January 19 – A senior Qatari government minister has hit back at protests over the mistreatment of migrant workers in his country, saying global pressure on the Gulf state to improve conditions is simply “a dirty game” to discredit the 2022 World Cup hosts.
Russians focus on spiralling costs of 2018 build
By Paul Nicholson
January 14 – Russian 2018 World Cup focus is increasingly turning to budgets and costs as the national economy falters under the pressure of declining energy prices and Western sanctions. But the government’s commitment to deliver seems undiminished despite the financial hardships.
Mutko hammers RFU saying it must fix its own financial issues
January 12 – Russia’s sports minister Vitaliy Mutko has slammed his national football federation over their financial difficulties, their failure to pay coach Fabio Capello for six months and their attitude of waiting for the government to come and bail them out and fix their problems.
Bayern top club table of 2014 World Cup appearance payments
By David Owen
January 9 – Details of recipients of a $70 million pot earmarked by FIFA for clubs whose players took part in last year’s World Cup in Brazil have been disclosed, with Germany’s Bayern Munich emerging as comfortably the biggest beneficiary.
World Cup dates set as Russia releases budgets and cash for new stadia
December 23 – FIFA has set the dates for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia and the 2018 World Cup. The governing body has agreed that some World cup qualification matches can begin as early as next March.
2022 Task Force meeting shifted to Qatar
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – The prospect of the first ever winter World Cup being staged in 2022 has been taken a significant step forward by FIFA – much to the annoyance of Europe’s clubs and leagues.