By David Owen
July 7 – And so, with just four of the 64 matches remaining, Brazil 2014 has come down, as one always suspected it might, to a duel between the two biggest brands and the two confederations whose top teams have monopolised the World Cup trophy for 84 years.
July 8 – Manchester United FC are extending their reach into Taiwan, China by launching their first ever football camp in the Taipei Municipal Stadium. Their Official tyre partner of China and Russia, Federal Tyres is sponsoring 32 children aged 6-14 to take part in one of two 3-day camps.
With two African teams making the knockout rounds in Brazil, the continent has obviously written a new chapter in tournament history.
Ever since Morocco became the first African team, at the 1986 finals in Mexico, to reach the Round of 16, the continent has maintained a solitary presence there.
Considering that I had, in a previous piece, seriously considered the possibility that its five teams were at risk of being knocked out in the first round,
July 7 – Etihad Airways has expanded its Australian football presence, sponsoring Hyundai A-League side Melbourne City FC in a five-year deal that will see the airline branding on the club’s shirts.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 7 – As the investigation continues into last week’s tragic accident in the World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte, when part of a flyover collapsed killing two people and injuring many others, no-one will have been more devastated than the city’s top tournament official.
By Mark Baber
July 7 – The Ukraine Football Federation (UFF) has bowed to the inevitable and cut Crimea-based PFC Sevastopol and FC Tavriya from the 2014-15 season of the Ukrainian Premier League. The move follows the reunification of the Crimea with Russia following a disputed referendum in March.
July 7 – Tim Krul, the Netherlands goalkeeper who entered footballing folklore by coming off the bench to preserve his country’s World Cup hopes in Saturday’s quarterfinal with Costa Rica, has defended his behaviour in the buildup to the dramatic penalty shootout.
July 7 – As well as being without their two best players, the injured Neymar and suspended skipper Thiago Silva, Brazil will also be missing their communications chief Rodrigo Paiva (pictured) at Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final against Germany.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 7 – FIFA have given Nigerian authorities until tomorrow (Tuesday) to re-instate the board of the national association (NFF) or face being kicked out of world football for violating its rules over government intervention.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 7 – The son of one of FIFA’s most powerful administrators has denied claims he illegally sold a World Cup ticket to touts in order to make money. Humberto Grondona, whose father Julio is FIFA’s senior vice-president as well as being head of the Argentine football association, has been asked to explain how a ticket he bought ended up in the wrong hands.
July 7 – The Egyptian Premier League finishes its 2013-14 season tonight with Al Alhy playing for an eighth successive title against Smouha in front of an empty stadium. Zmalek face Petrojet in a third place play-off, also in front of an empty stadium.
It was the most eagerly awaited of FIFA’s daily World Cup media briefings and the questions came thick and fast. Why, asked one highly respected news agency reporter, was FIFA preaching zero tolerance towards racism when zero action on the ground was in fact the reality?
It was a fair point but few, if anybody, expected the two distinguished members of the panel to provide such diametrically opposed responses.
Sometimes, quite fairly,
July 4 – Brazil 2014 World Cup summer fever has bumped heads with the much-talked about June heat in Qatar. But not all fans have been getting hot under the collar as Qatar 2022 organisers have been testing cooling technology in an open air fan zone in Katera, Doha.
By Mark Baber
July 4 – The president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Aminu Maigari, and other board members were arrested by the Department of State Security Service at Nanmdi Azikiwe International Airport as they returned from the World Cup on Friday, July 4, 2014, according to reports from the NFF secretariat in Abuja.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 4 – The man leading FIFA’s fight to cut out discrimination has said that insufficient effort has been made by the authorities at the World Cup and that there has been a “disconnect” between the stated aim and what has actually occurred.