By Andrew Warshaw
July 10 – FIFA has suspended Nigeria from all international football as the fallout from the country’s World Cup pay dispute intensifies. The Nigerians failed to meet a FIFA deadline to stop government interference in the affairs of country’s national federation (NFF) and now faces the prospect of being excluded from the under-20 women’s World Cup in Canada starting next month.
“The strongest of all warriors are these two – Time and Patience.” War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Threaded within a fabulously entertaining Napoleonic soap opera, Leo Tolstoy’s masterwork properly explores the human condition. In short, the greatest of all the Russians tells us, if you think you have any free will of your own you are very much mistaken.
Tolstoy conveys that we mortals are swept along by predetermined currents towards outcomes preordained.
July 9 – As Brazil and the rest of the world comes to terms with the exit of the hosts, the Dutch and the Argentines face off to see who will meet Germany in the Maracana on Sunday. This match will be close but it might not be pretty. Will Messi’s genius overcome Van Gaal’s preparation.
July 9 – Thousands of fans turned out to greet Costa Rica’s footballers when they arrived home after reaching the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in their history.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 9 – In this most extraordinary and unpredictable of World Cups, nothing even came close to the humiliation of brutal proportions that unfolded in Belo Horizonte. Anyone who has watched Brazil during the tournament knows that the squad, for all the expectations, was full of deficiencies, a far cry from the great Brazilian teams of the past.
By Mark Baber
July 9 – Nike has confirmed that they will not be bidding for the right to sponsor Manchester United kits. The 2014-15 kit, unveiled on Monday, will be the last made by Nike, bringing a 13-year relationship to an end.
July 9 – All doping tests on players competing at the World Cup have proved negative, according to FIFA. Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s chief medical officer, said both blood and urine samples from the first 58 games came back clean as did 777 out-of-competition tests conducted between March 1 and June 11.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 9 – Match Hospitality, part of the Byrom group that is one of FIFA’s key partners, is standing by its British director arrested as part of the investigation by Brazilian authorities into the illegal sale of World Cup tickets.
July 9 – The second African Football Film Festival (AFFF) takes place in Lagos, Nigeria, this weekend. Organised by PLAY!YA, the event mixes films and discussion of the social issues raised in the films, with interviews, games and music.
July 8 – The last few weeks, with the tournament in full swing, have been a lot better. But I don’t think anyone could justifiably argue that Brazil’s first of three years in the global sporting spotlight has gone entirely to plan. Today in Belo Horizonte Brazilians must face up to the distinct possibility of more bad news: can their yellow-shirted warriors, shorn of their two best players, feasibly get the better of a typically well-drilled,
Tempo fermo. L’orologio del calcio italiano non si è mosso da quel triste ultimo 24 giugno, quando l’uruguaiano Godin ha rispedito subito a casa la Nazionale azzurra, togliendola di scena dal Mondiale in Brasile. In realtà sembrava che tutto dovesse cambiare in fretta. Pochi minuti dopo il fischio finale il commissario tecnico Cesare Prandelli rassegnava le sue dimissioni “irrevocabili”, seguito nel giro di una manciata di secondi da quelle del presidente della Federcalcio, Giancarlo Abete.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – Brazilian police have arrested a British director of a FIFA partner company as the ongoing investigation into the illegal sale of World Cup tickets intensifies. Ray Whelan from Match Hospitality, a familiar face at recent World Cups, was detained at a Rio de Janeiro hotel where officials from the world’s football governing body were also staying.
By Paul Nicholson
July 8 – English club ownership continues to attract investors though the anticipated sale of Premier League Aston Villa by its American owner Randy Lerner has faltered. Neighbouring Premier League club West Bromwich Albion has seen ownership control shift further to chairman Jeremy Peace, while mercurial sports entrepreneur Barry Hearn has sold his League 2 club Leyton Orient to Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – The man who devised the revolutionary vanishing spray that been used at the World Cup to keep defensive walls 10 yards (9.15 metres) from the ball at freekicks says he has no immediate interest in making money and just wants his invention to be taken up globally.
July 8 – The first of two Europe vs South America giant clashes. In 20 meetings Brazil have won 12 times and Germany just four times. But Germany may not come across a better time to meet a Brazil team without their inspirational goalscorer Neymar out, and with their dominant captain Thaigo Silva suspended. Bring it on!