By Andrew Warshaw
August 18 – The head of Russia’s 2018 World Cup organising committee has broken his silence over calls in some quarters for the country to be stripped of host status as a result of the widely condemned military and political intervention in Ukraine.
August 18 – European leagues have joined forces with the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International to promote an awareness campaign on how to avoid match-fixing amid concerns that the internet has given the fraudsters more ammunition than ever.
August 18 – Infront Sports & Media has signed a four-year deal for the international media distribution rights to World Champions Germany for home friendly matches, as well as the rights to the DFB Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 18 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has renewed his call for managers to each be allowed two tennis-style challenges against contentious officiating decisions during matches. Blatter first made his surprise suggestion during FIFA’s annual congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in June, raising eyebrows among delegates since he had hitherto been opposed to any video aids other than goal-line technology.
August 18 – Rwanda have been thrown out of the Africa Cup of Nations over a bizarre case of player eligibility. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) took the decision following a protest by Congo who have been re-instated in the qualifying competition for next year’s finals in Morocco.
By Alexander Krassimirov
August 18 – CSKA Sofia’s board has given a breakdown of what has been a turbulent past financial year. The President Alexander Tomov (pictured) and CEO Alexander Todorov took charge of CSKA a year ago, when the club was facing bankruptcy.
August 18 – A survey by the Russian Foundation of Public Opinion found that the overwhelming majority of Russians believe that holding the 2018 World Cup in Russia will promote interest in sport and a healthy lifestyle.
Rummaging through my mother’s garage, I found a mildewed relic: a copy of Shoot! “incorporating Goal”‘s summer special from 1974.
It was not a happy time for English football. The Alf Ramsey era had just fizzled to a close with a goalless draw in Portugal. With the World Cup that England had failed to qualify for about to take place in West Germany, the first article was an assessment of Ramsey’s long reign.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 15 – The new English Premier League season gets under way this weekend amid renewed concerns over the cost of ticket prices. Yesterday the Football Supporters’ Federation organised a march towards the London headquarters of the Premier League wielding banners declaring “Football without fans is nothing” and “Demand cuts in ticket prices”.
By Mark Baber
August 15 – The crisis in Nigerian football descended into farce on Thursday as it became clear the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) president Aminu Maigari (pictured), had officially resigned from his post whilst a letter from FIFA arrived demanding the NFF reinstate him and the Executive Committee which had been in place before the World Cup.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 15 – In a bid to boost attendance of football matches in Poland, the parliament’s Physical Culture and Sports commission has unveiled a legislative proposal to scrap supporters’ cards which are currently a prerequisite for attending Polish league matches. Under the plan, the cards will be cancelled in the 2015/2016 season.
August 15 – FIFA has to deal with scores of complaints on an almost daily basis but few are surely more bizarre than the revelation that a Colombian lawyer is suing world football’s governing body for €1 billion over “moral damages” caused by refereeing at the World Cup.
August 15 – World players union FIFPro has questioned whether newly-elected Italian football federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio is suitable for the job following his racist comments about African players.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 15 – Legia Warsaw are to take their Champions League expulsion to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as their usually mild-mannered coach Henning Berg accused UEFA of imposing a jail sentence-like penalty for a minor offense and ignoring their own policy over fair play.
August 15 – MLS side FC Dallas has decided to delay creating their own USL team until 2016, and are instead seeking an affiliate for 2015. The USL is the second tier of professional soccer in the US.