Dyke tells Blatter he doesn’t like him, in case anyone didn’t know
July 13 – Just when you thought it had all died down, outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter and English FA chairman Greg Dyke have engaged in another unsavoury war of words.
Bulgaria: Friendly turns sour when fans attack players
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 13 – The Ultras of Bulgaria’s Cherno more prematurely ended the club’s last friendly game before the start of the season against Lokomotiv Gorna Oryahovitsa. Fans of Bulgarian Cup holders, invaded the pitch during the first half, an attacked the Lokomotiv players.
Brugge set sights on buying US club to nurture fresh talent
By Samindra Kunti
July 13 – Belgian top-flight outfit Club Brugge has set its sights on acquiring an American club from the lower divisions in the future in a bid to bolster its youth operations.
English FA rejigs its top brass as Dyke pushes it for extra £30m
By David Owen
July 13 – The English Football Association has announced the departure of three members of its senior management team, in a move portrayed as a re-prioritisation of “significant investment” towards grass-roots football and the England squads.
Brazilian stadium success: Mineirão is a hit with Atletico fans
By Samindra Kunti
July 13 – The new Mineirão stadium is proving to be a hit with Atletico Mineiro fans. The club has recorded an average attendance of 49,175 at the ground so far this season, beating average Premier League and Bundesliga attendances.
Street Soccer builds a home in Times Square, NY
July 10 – New York hosts the US Women’s Victory parade today. On Sunday it hosts a very different football event when Manhattan’s Times Square will be the venue for Street Soccer USA’s four-a-side tournament.
Danes block ‘unstoppable’ Barca academy on child protection grounds
By Mark Baber
July 10 – FC Barcelona, currently serving a one-year transfer ban for breaking FIFA’s child protection rules, have been blocked by the Danish Football Federation (DBU) from realising their ambition to set up an academy in Denmark.
Cuban crisis: team late, striker defects and then Mexico hit six
July 10 – Six players plus the head coach failed to show up in time because of visa issues whilst another was reported to have defected as Cuba were trounced 6-0 by Mexico Thursday at the opening of the Gold Cup in Chicago.
Women’s equal pay group plan victory parade demo in NY
July 10 – An anti-discrimination group is planning to protest wage inequality at today’s victory parade by the United States’ World Cup-winning women’s team in New York.
MLS flexes salary rules putting $10m into player marketplace
By Ben Nicholson
July 10 – The rumors that the MLS is to introduce a ‘Core Player’ materialised on July 8 in the form of ‘Targeted Allocation Money’. The new rule amounts to each MLS club receiving $100,000 per year for the next five years for the purpose of investing in their roster outside of their player salary budget.
Monaco lose tax privileges, as French court rules they have to pay
July 10 – The highest court in France has quashed an agreement between Monaco and the French football league (FFF) that has been giving the principality club special tax status.
The real fight is for FIFA’s future, not the presidency, says Blatter
By Andrew Warshaw
July 10 – Sepp Blatter has taken yet another swipe at his critics, once again distancing himself from FIFA’s damaged image caused, he says, by disgraced members of his executive committee for whom he insists he has no responsibility.
Warner case on hold as Trinidad waits for US extradition paperwork
By Andrew Warshaw
July 10 – Shamed former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has won more time in his bid to avoid being extradited from his native Trinidad and Tobago to the United States to face corruption charges as part of the FBI probe into widespread corruption involving senior FIFA and other footballing officials.
Spurs renew ticket resale deal with StubHub
July 10 – English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur has renewed its exclusive ticket resale partnership for a further two seasons with StubHub. With the club in the early stages of building a new 61,000 capacity stadium and a deal announced to stage NFL matches, StubHub will be looking to position itself for Spurs’ new era of larger crowds and more stadium events.
Premier League close to sold out, La Liga and Ligue1 have space to grow
July 10 – New research from KPMG’s Sport practice into attendances in the big five European football markets has found that the top two divisions in each territory attracted more than 77 million spectators at an average of 19,500 spectators per match.