By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
June 8 – Sepp Blatter, the President of FIFA, has again publicly praised Jack Warner as pressure mounts on him in Trinidad and Tobago to step down from his roles in football to concentrate on his new position in there Government there.
They were the kind of images FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his right-hand man, South Africa 2010 organising committee chief Danny Jordaan, least wanted to witness.
“World sees our soccer shame,” trumpeted the front page of Johannesburg’s main newspaper above several gruesome images.
One a terrified child, another a blood-stained fan with one eye half-closed; a third a frightening melee of confused supporters trying to find their feet after crashing into a gate.
June 8 – Actress Charlize Theron is supporting Brad Pitt’s bid to see the US host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
By Tom Degun in London
June 8 – A group of experts today told the London Assembly’s Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee that Premier League West Ham United are the obvious candidates to provide the most economically viable future for the London 2012 Olympic Stadium post-Games in the midst of a recession.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
June 8 – Russia has offered to help Trinidad and Tobago “in any way possible” in what seems to be an effort to persuade FIFA vice-president Jack Warner to vote for their World Cup bid ahead of England.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
June 8 – Jack Warner has vowed that he will ignore calls in Trinidad and Tobago to step down from his positions as a vice-president of FIFA and President of CONCACAF and stay in his roles as long as he can use it to help his country.
By Andrew Warshaw in Johannesburg
June 7 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter insists there will be no repeat at the World Cup of Sunday’s stampede at a warmup game between Nigeria and North Korea that left 16 people injured.
By Andrew Warshaw in Johannesburg
June 7 – The race for the 2018 World Cup has intensified after FIFA today re-affirmed the decision to endorse joint bids.
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June 7 – SIS LIVE, Europe’s largest outside broadcast and uplink supplier, is to become an official supporter of the England 2018 World Cup bid, they have announced.
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June 7 – The scale of debt held by the Glazer family, the owners of Manchester United, is even greater than first imagined after it emerged that their business empire owes £1.1 billion ($1.6 billion), which could threaten their ownership of the three-time European champions.
June 6 – France’s troubled build-up to the World Cup has suffered another blow after the country’s Sports Minister Rama Yade criticised the squad for staying at a luxury hotel.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
June 6 – England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup has rallied strongly quickly following the controversial resignation of chairman Lord Triesman, Barry Bright, the vice-chairman of the Football Association claimed today.
Which World Cup do England have the better chance of winning – 2010 or 2018?
For the bookies, the answer is clear.
A leading betting website on Saturday rated Fabio Capello’s men 8/1 fourth-favourites to triumph in South Africa, behind Spain (4/1), Brazil (9/2) and Argentina (13/2).
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
June 5 – Prince William is set to travel to South Africa later this month to help promote England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 5 – The Russian 2018 World Cup bid team are taking Arsenal star Andrei Arshavin to South Africa next week in a bid to woo members of the FIFA Executive Committee.