Twitter ranking: Man Utd imperious but Man City show signs of life
September 14 – Manchester United again dominated the Twitter weekly ranking gaining with Arsenal in second place and passing the 8 million total follower mark.
UEFA’s top coaches debate the tactics, stats and trends of Euro 2016
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – While UEFA’s federation chiefs were making their way to Congress and the vote for president in Athens, their team coaches and technical directors were wrapping up their own forum in Paris. At the core of their agenda was an analysis of the EURO 2016 finals and the tactical and technical trends that emerged.
LigaMX goes on the road with ‘Spurs’ hosting San Antonio friendly
September 14 – LigaMX clubs Cruz Azul and Club Atlas will play a friendly in San Antonio, Texas, at the Toyota Field October organised under the MoneyGram SocioMX banner.
Man Utd announce 10 dates for #ILOVEUNITED roadshow
September 14 – Manchester United has announced that its #ILOVEUNITED fan events will be staged in 10 locations over the 2016/17 season with a focus on Asia, but with new locations in the US in Los Angeles and in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
UEFA election: Van Praag hangs on as more federations shift to Ceferin camp
By Andrew Warshaw in Athens
September 14 – Aleksander Ceferin, a virtual unknown outside his native Slovenia until a few months ago, was poised to complete arguably the most meteoric rise in European football history Wednesday by being crowned UEFA president in succession to Michel Platini.
UEFA election: Ceferin support bulks up as Platini sideshow enters Athens
By Paul Nicholson
September 13 – With just a day to go before the election in Athens of UEFA’s new president to succeed Michel Platini, two more federations have come out in favour of Slovenian Aleksander Ceferin in his run-off with Holland’s Michael van Praag.
UEFA rules out Welsh female candidate for FIFA Council for being British
By Andrew Warshaw in Athens
September 13 – It may have gone unnoticed as something of a sideshow but there is a second vote taking place here Wednesday alongside the UEFA presidential election, one that involves a single candidate but also a healthy dose of controversy and questionable tactics on the part of UEFA.
Spend, spend, spend: Man City beat Man Utd rivals all the way to the bank
September 13 – Manchester City have spent over €1 billion on players since 2010, the most of any European club. In 2016, City also top the table spending €213 million. Manchester United are ranked third in spend since 2010, behind Chelsea, and second in the 2016 table, ahead of Juventus and Barcelona.
Nissan gets excited for start of UCL, Brits get excited for Leicester City
September 13 – UEFA Champions League sponsor Nissan have released their second annual Nissan Excitement Index for the start of group matches this week. The research finds that in Britain, Leicester City’s debut tomorrow in Brugges is the most anticipated ahead of this season’s group stage start (58%).
Liverpool celebrate Anfield’s revamp in style, crowds break 49-year record
September 13 – Liverpool marked the opening of their new stand and their first home fixture of the season with a crowd of 53,076, a fraction off 98% of the stadium’s new capacity.
Euro MPs lobby FIFA to ban Israeli teams in occupied West Bank
By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – More than 60 European lawmakers have demanded that five clubs based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank be thrown out of the Israeli domestic league by FIFA or moved inside Israel’s internationally accepted borders.
Editorial: It’s official, China loves football and has appetite for more
When Xi Jinping, the leader of the Chinese government, allowed Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero to take a selfie with him and David Cameron last year, the message was loud and clear: China loves football.
Mixed success on the pitch but Man Utd scored financial turnaround in 2015-16
By David Owen
September 12 – The impact of a new kit deal with Adidas combined with reduced finance costs as a consequence of a refinancing of the club’s sizeable debt have triggered a turnaround in Manchester United’s financial fortunes. The Old Trafford club today kicked off the 2015-16 Premier League full-year financial reporting season by unveiling a pre-tax profit of £48.8 million for the year to June 30. This compared with a prior-year loss of £3.6 million.
What ban? Platini cleared to address UEFA’s elective Congress
By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – In a staggering ruling that will only serve to undermine its credibility and fuel accusations of double standards, FIFA’s ethics committee today gave Michel Platini permission to make a farewell speech at Wednesday’s election to replace him as UEFA president.
Portugal declare for Ceferin as UEFA presidential vote nears
By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – As UEFA’s 55 federations converge on Athens for Wednesday’s presidential election, the Iberian vote looks set to be split after Portugal announced publicly it was backing Aleksander Ceferin to take over from Michel Platini.