June 12 – You might not believe it but in the hype and excitement around tonight’s World Cup opening match there is in fact another team on the ptich with Brazil. They are called Croatia, they come from Europe and they might be the rollover that the script has writen for them. For each match of the World Cup, in partnership wth the Association of Football Statisticians and its 11.11.com website, we will give you an at-a-glance guide to stats,
By Mark Baber
June 12 – The South African Football Association (SAFA) agreed Wednesday to provide six-monthly progress reports on its financial affairs to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee after worries over worries over debts amounting to a reported R100 million ($9.4 million).
By Andrew Warshaw in St Paulo
June 12 – Michael Garcia, the American lawyer who has become the central figure in the entire debate into corruption allegations swirling around FIFA, says he has left no stone unturned in his two-year probe to weed out any wrongdoing in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process.
By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 12 – World Cup, what World Cup? Usually on the eve of the biggest sporting spectacle on the planet, colourful bunting is everywhere to be seen, flags fly proudly, there are welcoming smiles and horns blast away patriotically.
By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 12 – Twenty-four hours after being bluntly taken to task by UEFA for changing his mind over staying on as FIFA president and told he was largely responsible for the organisation’s tarnished image, Sepp Blatter, not for the first time, was the one to show his teeth.
By Ben Nicholson
June 12 – The prospect of a Miami Beckham United gracing the MLS stumbled again after their plan B soccer stadium proposal has been shot down.
“Trade has all the fascination of gambling without its moral guilt.” Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy
When five of FIFA’s six commercial partners spoke out against the most recent corruption allegations surrounding FIFA, people across the world held their breath. Could the sponsors withdraw their financial support for FIFA? Could this effect revolutionary change at football’s world governing body?
Well, what does history tell us? Three years ago almost to the day,
By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 12 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s attempts to forge a lasting agreement between Palestine and Israel, one of his most pressing priorities, had to be put on the backburner today when there was insufficient goodwill to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that would have sent out a strong message that progress had been made.
By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 11 – Sepp Blatter opened the formal part of the FIFA Congress today by tellingly pledging the organisation would continue to “lead by example” despite persistent allegations of corruption that came to head 24 hours earlier when he was asked to step down by European members.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 11 – Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon is poised to file a legal claim against Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia for the amount of €31 million. The dispute centres around the Portuguese claim that Levski have illegally signed Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov.
June 11 – Allegations have been made by supporters of Chivas USA that they were subjected to racist abuse by LA Galaxy fans during their MLS game last week.
By Mark Baber
June 11 – Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court, this morning, ruled in favour of RS Plc, a pay tv broadcast rights holder for the tournament, in a legal dispute with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
June 11 – The European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) website has launched a live transfer-window countdown for all of its member leagues. Each league has its own countdown bar, detailing the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the window ceremoniously slams shut.
By Andrew Warshaw in Sao Paulo
June 11 – CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb pledged to never to return to the confederation’s corruption-tainted past. In a dignified yet passionate address to the region’s 41 member nations at the CONCACAF congress here, Webb told delegates there would be no letup in maintaining the transparency showed in his two years in charge.
When Sepp Blatter took to the stage during the gala opening of FIFA’s Congress in Sao Paolo and strutted his stuff with one of Brazil’s most glamourous models, it rounded off an eventful day for the 78-year-old FIFA president.
But not one that went entirely his way.
After a tub-thumping round of self-promotional speeches to his loyal followers among five of FIFA’s six regional confederations, and hearing gushing messages of support come flying back,