Hudson quits Bahrain to take over in New Zealand
August 6 – With so much competition at home, another British coach plying his trade overseas to make a name for himself is moving up the international ladder.
Whelan bailed from Brazil’s Bangu jail as defence team demand to see evidence
By Andrew Warshaw
August 6 – In a major triumph for his employers who have long protested his innocence, Ray Whelan, the British director of FIFA’s World Cup marketing affiliate Match who has been at the centre of a ticket tout investigation in Brazil, has been freed from Rio’s notorious Bangu prison on bail.
CONCACAF extends deals with betting watchdogs Sportradar and FIFA EWS
By Paul Nicholson
August 6 – In the fight against match-fixing CONCACAF has extended its agreements with sports betting monitoring companies Sportradar and FIFA EWS for the 2014-15 competition period.
Serbs examine pathway to privatisation of club football
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 6 – Serbian Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport Vanja Udovicic said that the government is working on a strategy to privatise the country’s football clubs. Under the plan, the clubs are to model their operations on those of Greek football sides Olympiakos and Panathinaikos.
Williamson switches from club to country in Kenya
August 6 – Bobby Williamson (pictured) has been named as the new Kenya coach to take over from Adel Amrouche who was fired at the weekend along with his entire staff following the country’s elimination from the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers when they went down 1-0 on aggregate to Lesotho.
MLS calendar confusion as Blatter comments catch league by surprise
By Andrew Warshaw
August 6 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in what appeared to be a unilateral stance not sanctioned by US soccer officials, says the MLS is to change its calendar to fall into line with Europe and much of the rest of world football.
Renewed calls for Canada to switch 2015 World Cup venues to grass pitches
August 6 – Former England women’s captain Faye White has added her voice to the campaign against playing next year’s women’s World Cup in Canada on artificial pitches.
MLS plays cagey on Chivas sale as talks on price and stadium ongoing
By Ben Nicholson
August 6 – The speculation surrounding the future of Chivas USA continued this week as the MLS community was gathered in Portland for the MLS All-Star game activities. Deputy commissioner Mark Abbott stressed that the league wants to keep Chivas USA in Los Angeles, suggesting a possible stadium location in downtown LA.
Costa Rica plan for Rio Olympics with sights set on Russia 2018
By Andrew Warshaw
August 5 – The World Cup may be a month old but surprise quarterfinalists Costa Rica, with just 4.3 million inhabitants, are far from resting on their laurels after disproving more than a few myths about being one of the underdogs in Brazil.
UEFA moves fast to hand out series of early season discrimination sanctions
August 5 – The new season of European club competition may have only just started but already discrimination by fans has led to UEFA’s disciplinary authorities being called into action.
Fiat gears up for another 6 years at Juve at €17m per season
August 5 – Italian Serie A soccer champions Juventus have renewed their long-running deal with carmaker Fiat. The Turin-based company, who have long been inextricably linked with Juve, has agreed a six-year extension to its shirt sponsorship deal which will now run until the end of the 2020/21 season.
Mutko steps in to quell fears on 2018 stadium build budgets
By Paul Nicholson
August 5 – Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko has reacted quickly to comments coming from Russian construction company Stroitransgaz, owned by Gennadiy Timchenko, which said that the company would pull out of the build of the stadiums in Volgograd and in Nizhniy Novgorod if the government did not increase the budget available.
Blatter in Canada for Women’s U20 World Cup encourages bid for the big show
By Andrew Warshaw
August 5 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter is a past master at wooing his audience depending on where his schedule takes him, so it was little surprise that he caught the imagination of the Canadian media on the eve of the under-20 women’s World Cup that is due to start today.
ICSS brings Securing Sport summit to London
August 5 – With existing and emerging threats to sport on the increase, Securing Sport, the international conference organised by Qatar-based integrity watchdog the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) is being staged in London for the first time.
David Owen: Splashing the cash in the glory game
Top football clubs are different to other businesses. Whereas most companies exist to generate wealth for their shareholders, football clubs must balance this against the pursuit of trophies. Of course, the two aims are linked, or can be: mountains of silverware will increase a club’s popularity, tending to make it more valuable and, hence, to enable its owners, should they so choose, to sell it at a profit.