By Andrew Warshaw
April 18 – Emirates Airlines is on the verge of capturing its most prestigious shirt sponsorship deal to date by agreeing a partnership with Real Madrid believed to be worth up to €30m a year, according to reports in Spain.
By Gareth Messenger
April 18 -The chaos at Valencia is continuing to cause doubt among players, the coaching staff and supporters, after the club’s Foundation President Francisco Varona resigned.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
April 17 – The frontrunner in the race to become the most powerful man in Asian football has ducked questions about his alleged implication in a vote-buying scandal and about widespread human rights abuses in his native Bahrain.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 17 – The stadium being used for the start of the Confederations Cup, the World Cup warm-up tournament, will only be officially opened a month beforehand. The news is a blow to Brazilian authorities who have pledged that the country will stage a World Cup to remember, but have suffered delays and setbacks in the preparation – this being the latest.
By Mark Baber
April 17 – The establishment of an ASEAN Super League took a step closer as senior figures within the Asean Football Federation (AFF) briefed the media on the project which was discussed at a separate AFF briefing on April 3.
By Mark Baber
April 17 – Peter Siemsen, president of Brazil’s Fluminense Football Club, said the Brazilian champions are looking to buy a team in the US.
April 17 – In order to develop more young talent, Serie A clubs in Italy want their reserve teams to be allowed to play in the country’s lower leagues.
As just one of two men in the 56-year history of the Africa Cup of Nations to win the trophy as a player and a manager – the late Egyptian legend Mahmoud El-Gohary being the other – you would assume Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi has earned some well-deserved job security.
But, as mind-boggling as it may sound, the man who managed the Super Eagles to the trophy in Johannesburg might be forced, by a series of bizarre circumstances,
By Tom Parsons
April 17 – NBC sports group will air all 380 Barclays Premier League games during the 2013/14 season live on its networks. The US broadcaster will present the games across their platforms as well as streaming them live via NBC’s Sport live extra service on desktop, mobile and tablets.
By Krzysztof Baranowski
17 April – LKS Lodz, one of Poland’s oldest league clubs with a proud 105-year tradition, has declared itself bankrupt and unable to pay money owed to former players and coaches.
By Mark Baber
April 16 – As EA Sports prepares to unveil its plans for the launch of FIFA 14, evidence suggests Brazilian 2nd division sides will be included in the new game, speculation has renewed over when women will be included.
By Mark Baber
April 16 – Angela Merkel yesterday urged Qatar to ensure transparency and reliability in the bidding for World Cup 2022 projects.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 16 – Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has described himself as “incorruptible” following explosive new revelations about alleged serious financial foul play.
By Paul Nicholson and Mark Baber
April 16 – The leading candidate for the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, has been implicated in a series of human rights abuses in his home country of Bahrain where he is a member of the ruling Royal family. Insideworldfootball has also been provided with information allegedly linking him to a vote buying scandal orchestrated by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) in 2009 when he ran for AFC election to the FIFA executive committee against Mohamed Bin Hammam.
