July 4 – With just three days to go before the final of the 2025 Gold Cup in the NRG Stadium in Houston, Concacaf is reporting that there are less than 4,000 tickets left for the 72,200 capacity stadium that will host Mexico and the USA.
England 0 France 2
July 5 – With two quick-fire first-half goals, France stunned England 2-1 in Group D’s blockbuster in Zurich as the Lionesses became the first defending champions to lose their opening match at the European championship.
One word dominated this year’s Sportel event in Monte Carlo. That word was China. The explanation for this can be encapsulated in one word as well. That word is money.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – Sepp Blatter has admitted that the SFr2 million franc payment made to Michel Platini which led to them both being suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee was “a gentleman’s agreement”.
October 16 – Manchester City has added online gaming company Betsafe as an official betting partner for both the club’s men’s and women’s teams.
By Mark Baber
October 16 – Three current and two former Nepal national team players have been arrested in Kathmandu Valley as part of an investigation into match-fixing involving bookies in Malaysia and Singapore.
October 16 – Concerns over yet another possible FIFA cash-for-votes scandal have been dismissed by the German Football Association (DFB) which says it has found no indication of wrongdoing in the bid process for the 2006 World Cup which it hosted.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
October 16 – Following Serbia’s unsuccessful campagin to qualify for the Euro 2016 finals in France, the country’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has announced that his government will allocate €150 million to the construction of a new national football stadium in Belgrade.
October 16 – Bayern Munich fans are planning a protest at their Champions League clash at Arsenal next week over how much they have been forced to fork out for tickets. The Bayern fans say they will not enter the Emirates stadium for the first five minutes because of the “excessive” £64 ticket price.
October 16 – Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has branded his Football Association fine a “disgrace” – landing himself in danger of a further sanction.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – UEFA’s unconvincing attempt to speak with one voice in favour of Michel Platini’s bid for the FIFA presidency has been blown to bits by the English Football Association announcing it has put its support for the Frenchman on hold because of the unexplained payment that led to him being suspended by FIFA’s ethics committee.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – The FIFA presidential race has taken another decisive twist with Asian football chief Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa staging a u-turn to stand to take over from Sepp Blatter in February. The Bahraini had originally given his backing to Michel Platini but has taken a timely strategic gamble to run himself following Platini’s suspension and the likelihood that Europe will have no other credible candidate who Asia could get behind.
By Paul Nicholson
October 16 – The fantasy sports scandal in the US where an employee of DraftKings won $350,000 on rival site FanDuel using insider information, has sparked a wave of calls for regulation of a business that is based on betting real money on imaginary sporting outcomes.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – Julio Rocha – another of the un-magnificent Zurich Seven – will be extradited to the United States and not to his native Nicaragua as he had hoped, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) has announced.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – European football’s governing has urgently called for the investigation into Michel Platini to be cleared up by mid-November so that he can still run for FIFA president – but left the door open for a backup candidate to stand instead in case the UEFA chief’s 90-day provisional suspension turns into a longer ban.
October 15 – Spartak Moscow, already playing in a new stadium (the Otkritie Arena) that has been built for 2018 Russia World Cup, is to also get a new training base in Tushine at a cost of RUB1 billion ($16 million), according to the club’s owner Leonid Fedun.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – With precision strategic timing, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has formally submitted his candidature to take over from Sepp Blatter as FIFA president – 11 days before the deadline for nominations.