August 7- Indications that Volgograd will retain host status for the Russia 2018 World Cup could not have been stronger with the announcement that the Zenit sports complex in the city will receive 56 million rubles ($1.5 million) for reconstruction enabling it to become one of the training centres for the tournament.
August 7 – England’s leading referee Howard Webb, who took charge of the 2010 World Cup final, has ended his 25-year career on the pitch – and will now scrutinise the performances of his colleagues instead.
August 7 – Nigerian football is being made to take more time to regroup following the removal of its president and the threat by FIFA, subsequently lifted, of suspension. A federation Congress scheduled for later this month which would see elections to the board will likely be pushed back a month.
August 7 – Frenchman Patrice Neveu became the third coaching casualty in quick succession in the wake of last weekend’s African Nations Cup qualifiers after Mauritania lost 1-0 at home to Uganda to go out 3-0 on aggregate.
August 6 – With so much competition at home, another British coach plying his trade overseas to make a name for himself is moving up the international ladder.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 6 – In a major triumph for his employers who have long protested his innocence, Ray Whelan, the British director of FIFA’s World Cup marketing affiliate Match who has been at the centre of a ticket tout investigation in Brazil, has been freed from Rio’s notorious Bangu prison on bail.
By Paul Nicholson
August 6 – In the fight against match-fixing CONCACAF has extended its agreements with sports betting monitoring companies Sportradar and FIFA EWS for the 2014-15 competition period.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 6 – Serbian Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport Vanja Udovicic said that the government is working on a strategy to privatise the country’s football clubs. Under the plan, the clubs are to model their operations on those of Greek football sides Olympiakos and Panathinaikos.
August 6 – Bobby Williamson (pictured) has been named as the new Kenya coach to take over from Adel Amrouche who was fired at the weekend along with his entire staff following the country’s elimination from the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers when they went down 1-0 on aggregate to Lesotho.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 6 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in what appeared to be a unilateral stance not sanctioned by US soccer officials, says the MLS is to change its calendar to fall into line with Europe and much of the rest of world football.
August 6 – Former England women’s captain Faye White has added her voice to the campaign against playing next year’s women’s World Cup in Canada on artificial pitches.
By Ben Nicholson
August 6 – The speculation surrounding the future of Chivas USA continued this week as the MLS community was gathered in Portland for the MLS All-Star game activities. Deputy commissioner Mark Abbott stressed that the league wants to keep Chivas USA in Los Angeles, suggesting a possible stadium location in downtown LA.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 5 – The World Cup may be a month old but surprise quarterfinalists Costa Rica, with just 4.3 million inhabitants, are far from resting on their laurels after disproving more than a few myths about being one of the underdogs in Brazil.
August 5 – The new season of European club competition may have only just started but already discrimination by fans has led to UEFA’s disciplinary authorities being called into action.
August 5 – Italian Serie A soccer champions Juventus have renewed their long-running deal with carmaker Fiat. The Turin-based company, who have long been inextricably linked with Juve, has agreed a six-year extension to its shirt sponsorship deal which will now run until the end of the 2020/21 season.