Mexico 1 Honduras 0
July 2 – The question on the lips of pundits and fans at Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, was “would tonight be business as usual or unusual business?” as Mexico and Honduras met for the right to face the United States in the Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Sunday in Houston.
Spain 5 Portugal 0
July 3 – With an imperious display, world champions Spain waltzed past neighbours Portugal at the Wankdorff Stadion in Bern, winning 5-0 to back up their status as tournament favourites.
By Paul Nicholson
October 15 – Insideworldfootball has received copy of correspondence from FIFA’s chairman of its investigatory chamber Michael Garcia proving he promised confidentiality to an interviewee in the investigation into the bidding cities and their conduct in the race to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
October 15 – A joint delegation of 40 experts will tomorrow begin a seven-day inspection tour of the Russia 2018 World Cup stadiums. Made up of FIFA, Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee (LOC) and Arena-2018 representatives, the party will visit five stadiums and take a virtual tour of the remaining eight.
By Ben Nicholson
October 15 – Harold Forsyth, who is Peru’s ambassador to the United States, has apologized for his racial comments toward Panamanian striker Luis Tejada (pictured) made over the weekend.
By David Owen
October 15 – UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) initiative has received an important boost to its credibility, with the European Commission formally accepting that the programme contributes to the “healthy growth” of sport in the continent.
It is impossible to feel any sympathy for Qatar. An oil-rich Gulf state which somehow manages to get the World Cup and then lavishes money to try and convince the world it can not only stage the event but contribute to a better understanding of the world of sport hardly qualifies for sympathy. The immediate response would be there are far worthier subjects to feel sorry for. Yet as Qatar continues to get a bad press we must ask ourselves what is Qatar doing wrong and can they ever get out of this terrible spiral of distrust and dislike?
October 15 – The Freestyle Football Federation (F3) is launching a series of animated characters from Northern Creative Studio to promote the sport in digital media ahead of the World Freestyle Football Championships taking place in London on October 22.
By Mark Baber
October 14 – The Indian Super League held an extravagant Bollywood/footballing extravaganza on Sunday to open the long-awaited start of the new competition which aims to awaken the “sleeping giant” of Indian football. Amidst all the hype, voices of caution advised of the difficulties involved in building fan bases from scratch, in a cricket obsessed country and warned of the historical precedent of similar ventures in the USA.
By Paul Nicholson
October 14 – Italy’s Lega Pro are the latest to renew their match-fixing monitoring and prevention partnership with Sportradar. The league has also taken their commitment to fight match-fixing a step further with a logo emphasising ‘Lega Pro-Integrity’ being carried on the league’s official match ball.
“When his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.” Daniel 5:20, the King James Bible
“Working hard all your life is a talent.” Ryan Giggs
Greg Dyke last week issued the second instalment of his Football Association Chairman’s Commission report and there were a number of welcome developments contained within.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 14 – Michael Garcia, whose report into possible corruption surrounding the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bids is dominating the football politics landscape, is back on the offensive, declaring that FIFA’s way of conducting its business is not open enough and needs a culture change.
October 14 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has condemned the latest attack against referees in Cyprus, one of the less publicised by most worrying trends in European football.
October 14 – UEFA’s improving relationship with Europe’s major clubs has taken another turn for the better after “constructive” talks over financial fair play.
By Ben Nicholson
October 14 – Just a fortnight after Sacramento Republic FC won the USL Pro Championship, the second tier of US professional football, the club has added an impressive list of local investors to its shareholder roster. The capital of California is chasing the final MLS expansion spot and the new stakeholders boost the club’s financial credentials in terms of local support for their venture.
October 14 – This weekend the Homeless World Cup kicks off in Santiago, Chile, in a week-long tournament with 43 nations competing in the men’s competition and 13 in the women’s. The Chile event will be the 12th edition of the competition.
October 14 – Portuguese national coach Fernando Santos has had his eight match ban suspended while his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is considered.