By Paul Nicholson in Moscow
June 10 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has given a passionate explanation of why the $10 million that ended up in the hands of Jack Warner was transferred, at South Africa’s request, via FIFA to Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and CONCACAF accounts.
By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Amid growing discontent with the Brazilian FA, some of Brazil’s leading clubs have revealed a desire to establish a breakaway league. The CBF has responded by proposing an amendement to its statutes, giving greater power to the clubs.
By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Swiss authorities have raided the offices of Switzerland-based sports rights agency Kentaro, investigating the relationship between a 2010 Brazil vs Argentina friendly and the 2018-2022 World Cup bid contests. Kentaro were, until recently, the agency responsible for marketing the Brazilian national team’s friendly fixtures.
June 10 – The hunt for the missing sports marketing executives wanted for questioning by the FBI in the US in relation to alleged bribes to win and retain commercial and broadcast rights to major championships has flushed out one more, Alejandro Burzaco, who has handed himself in to police in Italy.
“There are no bad regiments, only bad colonels,” Napoléon Bonaparte (attribution)
When Naploéon’s Grande Armée embarked with hundreds of thousands of men on the so-called Second Polish War or, more accurately, the invasion of Russia, there was scant prospect of additional numbers to support the campaign. So it is for the regimental colonels of football competitions.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Bulgaria has started the reconstruction of its national stadium, Vasil Levski. The renovation will pass through three stages, said Bulgarian sports minister Krassen Kralev, who spoke yesterday after an inspection of the stadium.
By Mark Baber
June 9- With women’s football reaching new heights of popularity, the timing of Monday’s announcement that the FA Women’s Cup, described by the FA as “the most popular cup competition in female football,” will be sponsored by energy firm SSE was immaculate.
By Mark Baber
June 9 – The annual study by Brand Finance ranking the world’s biggest football clubs by their “brand value” sees Manchester United, whose brand is said to be worth $1.2 bn, displace Bayern Munich from top spot. The list remains dominated by Premier League sides with six English clubs in the top ten.
By Paul Nicholson
June 9 – The CIES Football Observatory has released its top 100 ranking of the highest transfer values for big-5 league footballers. Not surprisingly Lionel Messi heads the table with an estimated value of between €255 and €281 million – more than it would cost to buy half the teams in the English Premier League, Aston Villa is reckoned to be on sale for £100 million.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Embattled Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia, which has so far been refused a license to play next season, was struck another blow when former player Youness Bengelloun was awarded €407,296 (BGN 803 000) in compensation for unpaid salary. The decision was taken by a FIFA tribunal with judges from England, Croatia, Argentina, South Africa and Brazil.
By Mark Baber
June 9 – In a commentary, Xinhua, the official press agency of China, has claimed the indictment of FIFA officials exposes Washington’s arrogance as “world police” and also “set a bad precedent for international relations.”
By Andrew Warshaw
June 9 – Domenico Scala, the Swiss official who has emerged as the key figure spearheading reform at FIFA and orchestrating a smooth transition to the next president, has outlined the chain of events that led to him being plunged into the limelight when Sepp Blatter resigned.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 8 – Termalica Bruk-Bet Nieciecza, one of the two promoted teams to Poland’s top tier Ekstraklasa for the 2015/16 season, has unveiled plans to double the capacity of its stadium from the current 2,262 to at least 4,500 seats.
By Paul Nicholson
June 9 – With FIFA meeting Russia 2018 World Cup organisers in Samara early this week to discuss progress, on Thursday in Moscow clubs, host cities and suppliers and builders of the 2018 infrastructure will be meeting at the World Football Forum conference to share information and discuss the challenges they are facing.
By Matt Scott
June 8 – Insolvent Football League clubs will face an immediate 12-point deduction following new rules introduced at the competition’s annual summer conference in Portugal on Friday.