Discord over United. MLS says name changes needed
By Ben Nicholson
February 24 – Minnesota United FC are rumoured to be facing the possibility of changing their name because the MLS is concerned about the presence of three ‘Uniteds’ in the league.
By Ben Nicholson
February 24 – Minnesota United FC are rumoured to be facing the possibility of changing their name because the MLS is concerned about the presence of three ‘Uniteds’ in the league.
February 24 – FC Bayern Munich’s 2-2 draw at Juventus FC in the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final left the latter more spirited as they came back from a 2-0 deficit. Off the pitch, though, is another story. KPMG’s Football Benchmark team has found that Bayern significantly outperformed Juventus for the 2014/2015 season.
February 23 – Under 21 players are far more likely to be given playing time in France’s Ligue 1 than in any of the other Big 5 European leagues in England, Germany, Italy or Spain. In fact, they are almost three times as likely to get playing time than in England’s Premier League.
By Samindra Kunti
February 23 – Mumbai City FC of the Indian Super League and Mumbai FC of the I-League encapsulate the growing schism in Indian football. Halfway the regular season the I-League is again suffering from a lack of exposure.
By Paul Nicholson
February 22 – While Jordan’s Prince Ali enters the final week of his second quest to conquer the top table of world football and become FIFA president, one of his billionaire subjects has shown a much more humble ambition by buying a 92% stake in fourth tier English club Bristol Rovers.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has scrapped its regional summit scheduled for the eve of next week’s FIFA presidential election in Zurich, fuelling the ever intriguing rumour mill and conspiracy theories over whether some kind of last-minute unexpected move is in the offing.
February 19 – A Russian footballer who removed his shirt to provocatively reveal a picture of Vladimir Putin at a Europa League fixture in Turkey is to be punished by his club which in turn is to be sanctioned by UEFA.
By Paul Nicholson
February 19 – Football corruption at federation level may be grabbing the headlines and attention of the media but a recent audit of one of the world’s leading match-fixing fraud monitoring systems is a brutal reminder that betting related match manipulation by organised crime syndicates is a far bigger threat to the integrity of the game.
February 19 – FIFPro have unveiled their first ever Women’s World XI. While women have award parity with the men in terms of the Ballon d’Or World Player of the Year awards, until now (and unlike the men) a World XI selected by female players worldwide had never been attempted.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – Whilst much of the focus in Asia is on next week’s FIFA presidential election, internal regional spats within the giant and diverse confederation continue to rumble on.
By Mark Baber
February 18 – Australia national team forward Tim Cahill was released by Chinese Super League’s Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC on Wednesday as “surplus to requirements,” with Obafemi Martins confirmed he was joining the Shanghai club whilst Paris St-Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi has joined Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune.
By Mark Baber
February 17 – Milan’s Internationale and Pirelli are on the verge of signing a new three-year deal to extend their 20 year partnership, according to Italian reports.
February 17 – Brazilian authorities have frozen assets worth almost $50 million belonging to their Barcelona star Neymar over alleged tax evasion according to local media.
By Paul Nicholson
February 17 – A fourth candidate has announced that he will run for the vacant presidency of the regional governing body for the north and central Americas and Caribbean, CONCACAF. Gordon Derrick, president of the Caribbean Football Union since 2012, has thrown his hat into the ring.
February 16 – Paris St-Germain’s preparations for tonight’s Champions League clash with Chelsea have been rocked by an internal spat between coach Laurent Blanc and one of his own players.