June 29 – West Bromwich Albion’s Chinese owner Guochuan Lai (pictured) and landscaping company Palm plan to construct up to six ‘soccer towns’ across China as part of Lai’s expansion of the West Brom brand across China.
By Mark Baber
Junne 29 – Leeds United have confirmed that their parent company has completed the purchase of the Elland Road Stadium, as had been promised by new Chairman Andrea Radrizzani.
June 29 – It may be a month to go before the match but Relevent Sports, organisers of the International Champions Cup, are ramping up the promotion of the El Clásico clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on July 29.
June 29 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has officially recognised the Indian Super League. As a result, India will have two national leagues next season.
By Samindra Kunti in Kazan
June 29 – FIFA’s secretary-general Fatma Samoura has said the governing body wants to eradicate doping in the game. Samoura also welcomed the publication of the Garcia report.
From the vantage-point of today, the Garcia report has something of the air of the Dead Sea Scrolls – an important relic offering vital clues about how life was lived in a bygone era.
By Paul Nicholson and Samindra Kunti
June 28 – The Garcia report into the 2018/2022 World Cup bidding procedures is both as revealing as it is, for the most part, old news. It shows the political depths that the individuals on FIFA’s executive committee would go to solicit favours from bidders; it also shows how far bids will push their people and the rules to win. What it doesn’t do is find the smoking gun that would derail Russia or Qatar hosting 2018 or 2022.
By Mark Baber
June 28 – The outspoken Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has written to UEFA requesting an investigation into the circumstances around his country’s exit from the under-21 European Championship.
By Paul Nicholson
June 28 – FIFA reacted swiftly to the leak to German media of the Garcia Report into the 2018/ 2022 World Cup bidding process by posting the full report online. It was a smart move by FIFA that immediately took the focus of the media reports away from Qatar – who had been lined-up for a series articles from the report – and brought balance to the wider issues of the bidding process and activity of all the bidding nations.
June 28 – Football agent Jorge Mendes has denied that he helped Colombia and Monaco striker Radamel Falcao to evade tax in Spain. Mendes appeared 45 minutes before a judge in a closed doors court hearing in Madrid as part of a probe into whether Falcao could be prosecuted over tax evasion.
June 28 – The German Football Association (DFB) and Australian Football Federation (FFA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Sochi covering joint endeavours in football development.
June 28 – Manchester City invited 50 community leaders to the City Football Academy in Manchester to take part in a week-long summit offering training in community football leadership. The initiative, supported by club sponsor Etihad Airways, completed its activities this week.
By Paul Nicholson
June 27 – The Garcia report into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding, has been leaked to a German newspaper. Until now the report, named after FIFA’s former Ethics chief investigator Michael Garcia, has only been released in summary. A summary that was hotly contested by Garcia.
By Samindra Kunti in St Petersburg
June 27 – Confederations Cup organisers say they are satisfied with the way the group stages have gone, but acknowledge that the video assistant referees need time to fine-tune their decision-making. Dubbed as the ‘half time’ press conference, FIFA and its Russian organisers gave their view on the tournament so far and the issues arising.
June 27 – Manchester City is venturing into the area of eSports promotion and will host its first eSports tournament open to fans in the US – the Man City FIFA 17 Cup – on the Battlefy platform to coincide with the club’s pre-season 2017 tour to the US.