Guatemala 0-1 Panama:
June 20 – Friday night at Q2 Stadium bore no resemblance to the venue that hosted football just 24 hours earlier. The transformation was complete, and the catalyst was simple: unbridled passion provided by the hordes of Guatemala supporters who descended on Austin. Stark contrast to the lack of interest shown by US fans on Thursday.
By Paul Nicholson
September 1 – Indonesian telecom operator Indosat has signed official telecom partner deals with three of Europe’s club giants – Arsenal, Barcelona and Inter Milan. The two-year deals will deliver exclusive content, breaking news and video to Indonesian fans.
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 1 – More than 60 Ultras, supporters of Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Plovdiv, laid seige to the police station in Montana this weekend, trying to free one of their fellow fans. The fan had been arrested during the game in the Bulgarian elite league between Montana and Lokomotiv after Plovdiv Ultras tried to invade the pitch.
By Mark Baber
August 31 – The tenuous rapprochement between the two Koreas may see North and South Korea competing in a friendly for the first time in 10 years, according to an article in the English language Korea Joongang Daily, part of one of South Korea’s biggest newspaper groups.
By Paul Nicholson
August 31 – While the talk of reform in football up to this point has been generally been conducted via media statements and in federation meeting rooms, this week sees the first open discussion forum in Geneva that will look at the practical issues and potential solutions.
August 31 – Five spectators, including two minors, were injured as a safety barrier gave way at the recently opened Nouveau Stade in Bordeaux late in the Derby de l’Atlantique.
By Paul Nicholson
August 31 – The Premier League closed off its fourth round of matches going into the first international break of the season having sold a total of more than 1.4 million tickets – a remarkable 95.8% of all tickets available.
West Ham must have hoped that the dust had finally settled on their move next year to the Olympic Stadium. Not a bit of it. There are growing calls for public inquiry by fans of other football clubs into the decision by Boris Johnson to let the Hammers rent the stadium built by taxpayers’ money for the 2012 Olympics, an occasion of great British national celebration.
By David Owen
August 30 – Dalian Wanda Group, the Chinese conglomerate which this year bought 20% of Atlético Madrid, claims to have become the world’s largest sports operating company after acquiring a US-based triathlon business for $650 million.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 28 – Michel Platini’s eagerly awaited first press conference since announcing he is running for FIFA president turned into a giant anti-climax when he refused to answer any questions about his candidacy, much to the disappointment and annoyance of scores of journalists who had travelled to Monaco specifically to hear his blueprint for the future.
By Paul Nicholson
August 28 – Manchester United again top the weekly Insideworldfootball Twitter growth table in a week that saw overall growth across all Premier League club twitter activity, resulting in an overall increase in followers of 0.63% compared to 0.57% the previous week.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 28 – With little fanfare and hardly any publicity, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) recently proudly announced the makeup of its new standing committees for the next four years. One of those re-elected as chairman of its legal committee – was Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, the controversial Pakistani who has been at the centre of a bitter domestic dispute.
By Mark Baber
August 28 – In the latest moves in the FIFA corruption case, an Argentine judge has suspended the US extradition request for Argentine businessmen Hugo and Mariano Jinkis in lieu of more information from US prosecutors, whilst the US has insisted on priority over Nicaragua in extraditing Julio Rocha from Switzerland.
August 28 – If there wasn’t quite a group of death, Manchester City arguably again drew the short straw in the draw for the group stages of the Champions League.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 28 – FC Schalke 04 has inked a new sponsorship deal with Turkish Airlines. The deal, which is estimated to be worth a total of €1.4 million, will see the airlinesupport the Gelsenkirchen-based side for two years.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 28 – Nicolas Leoz, one of the most prominent powerbrokers caught up in the FIFA corruption scandal, has suffered a significant setback in his fight to avoid extradition to the United States.