Inside World Football - Page 1725 of 2115 - For the Business of Football

Andrew Warshaw: Breakfast with Platini, Qatar 2022, but don’t mention the FIFA presidency

Breakfast with Michel Platini is an annual media gathering on the fringes of the Champions League draw in Monaco that has become almost de rigueur for anyone trying to get inside the head of the UEFA president.

Informal and charmingly mischievous, you invariably get him in an engaging, outgoing mood – in a variety of languages – away from all those official functions and formalities.

Yet among the nods, winks, innuendos and wise-cracking,

Archive

Blatter says Swiss wage proposals would create problems for football

Sepp Blatter 6

By Mark Baber
September 2 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has warned urgently against the Swiss 1:12 initiative which he says would create a real problem for football in the country and the hinder the possibility of attracting talent from abroad, in an interview with the newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag.

Archive

Finally, Bale deal is done, records broken and all sides ‘moving on’

Gareth Bale

By Andrew Warshaw
September 2 – The worst kept secret in football was officially rubbed-stamped on Sunday as Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale joined nine-time European champions Real Madrid on a six-year deal for a staggering world record transfer fee of €100 million (£85m).

Africa

Khoza stands aside in South Africa, opening way for Jordaan or Mazibuko

Danny Jordaan

By Andrew Warshaw
September 2 – Danny Jordaan, the public face of the 2010 World Cup who has waited patiently to fulfil his ambitions amid a myriad political manoeuvring, is one step closer to snaring the most powerful football position in his native South Africa after his one-time ally turned bitter rival, Irvin Khoza, withdrew his candidacy for the presidential election on September 28.

Archive

Powerbrokers head for Zurich to seek Palestinian solutions

palestinian football

By Andrew Warshaw
September 2 – The landmark first meeting of the newly created FIFA Task Force set up to try and break the bitter divisions between Israel and Palestine over travel restrictions imposed in the West Bank and Gaza will be held tomorrow (September 3) at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

Archive

Platini calls for transfer window shake-up and a healthier system

football money

By Andrew Warshaw in Monaco
August 30 – UEFA boss Michel Platini wants to shorten the summer transfer window to try and end the instability and brinkmanship across Europe that is increasingly infuriating coaches who are unable to plan ahead.

Archive

FFP is working with UEFA reporting club losses cut by €600m

michel platini 5

By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Monaco
August 30 – With the threat of sanctions hanging over them, European clubs have drastically reduced their losses in order to abide by UEFA’s strict financial fair play regulations which include the ultimate punishment of throwing teams out of the Champions League and Europa League. Figures provided by European football’s governing body show that overall losses among the 237 clubs participating in UEFA competitions fell from €1.7 billion in 2011 to €1.1 billion last year –

Archive

Team India land Oil and Natural Gas Corporation as lead sponsor

Team india

August 30 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) President, Praful Patel, has said that the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will be the sponsor of the Indian national team for the next season.

Archive

Trabzonspor’s Sen walks off in tears after verbal abuse from his own fans

Volkan Sen

By Alexander Krassimirov
August 30 – Trabzonspor footballer Volkan Sen walked off the pitch in tears after receiving verbal abuse from his own side’s supporters during the game against Rizespor in the Turkish Super Lig.

Archive

Pailan Arrows shot down as Indian federation disbands development club

By Mark Baber
August 30 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) have disbanded the Pailan Arrows, a Kolkota-based I-League club set up in 2010 to nurture young Indian talent for the 2018 World Cup.

Archive

Australia to launch FFA Cup in 2014

David Gallop

August 30 – Football Federation Australia (FFA) has granted in-principle approval for a new domestic cup competition, based on the model of the English FA Cup and including amateur, semi-professional and top flight teams.

Archive

Euro drama as Besiktas out, Tromsø and Apoel in, and execs dash for Prague

Europa League

By Paul Nicholson in Prague
August 30 – Besiktas have lost their last minute appeal against the decision by UEFA to exclude the Turkish club from the Europa League 2013/14. The draw for the group stages, taking place today in Monaco, will now see Besiktas replaced by Norwegian club Tromsø – who had lost to Beşiktaş in the play-off round.

Archive

2014 ticket price comparison, as Tahiti Beach Soccer finals sell-out

World Cup tickets

August 30 – The first round of public ticketing for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil saw more that more than 400,000 fans request over 2.3 million tickets in the first 24 hours. Brazilians led the way in terms of demand by country.

Osasu Obayiuwana

Osasu Obayiuwana: Breaking down the doors of the old boy’s club

Getting a substantial number of women into the corridors of administrative power remains a major challenge for football, which is still seen – not without justifiable cause, I might add – as being a stuffy old boy’s club.

If there is one thing in which Africa is certainly pointing the right way to Europe and the rest of the world, it is in giving women a chance at the top of the administrative ladder.

Archive

Platini pushes for Jan-Feb dates for Qatar 2022

Michel Platini2

By Andrew Warshaw, in Monaco
August 30 – Michel Platini is again insisting on the Qatar 2022 World Cup being switched to winter – in line with a number of other stakeholders.