Match-fixing arrests now spread to Estonia with 11 charged
December 3 – Match-fixing has again hit Estonia as illegal gambling dens continue to spread their criminal activities.
Hot air or realpolitik? Cameron opens China trip with ‘a tangible example’
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
December 3 – China’s status as the world’s most potent growth market has led to a new accord between the Premier League and the game’s authorities in the vast Asian country – brokered by a delegation led by British Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured).
Ranking puts Manchester clubs way ahead in the naming rights league
By Paul Nicholson
December 2 – Manchester United are missing out on an estimated £16.93 million a year for stadium naming rights, according to analysis by American Appraisal, a specialist valuation firm and consultancy. The English Premier League champions, who have said they will never rebrand Old Trafford, come second in a list of Premier League stadium rights valuations – to near neighbour Manchester City who are valued at £18.23 million.
Tigers for sale? Dispute turns nasty as Allam says he would walk away
By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – The acrimonius dispute over the name of English Premier League club Hull City has turned even uglier with owner Assem Allam telling his critics they “can die as soon as they want” and describing some of them as “hooligans”, in response to the Hull fans chant ‘City till we die’.
FIFA chiefs gather in Brazil for key round of meetings…and a World Cup draw
By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – Brazil’s troubled build-up for next year’s World Cup – stadium delays and accidents, safety concerns, street protests – takes centre stage again this week but there are a number of other pressing global issues facing FIFA’s chiefs as they head to Salvador, Brazil, for a series of meetings ahead of Friday’s eagerly anticipated draw for the 32-team 2014 World Cup finals.
Ekstraklasa chases betting sponsors as it loots to move Super Cup out of Poland
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 2 – Poland’s Ekstraklasa is planning to host the country’s next Super Cup match abroad. The top tier of Poland’s professional football league wants to move its showpiece match to a location in Western Europe, primarily to increase its advertising revenues from the high-profile event.
FIFPro keep pressure on Qatar to end ‘kafala’, but ITUC reports no progress
By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – The international players’ union FIFPro has again urged Qatar’s World Cup organisers to abolish the kafala employment system for footballers in the wake of the Zahir Belounis case that made worldwide headlines following meetings with Qatar 2022 officials at the weekend with players’ contracts and rights at the top of the agenda.
FIFA expands media with launch of its first multi-platform app
December 2 – FIFA has extended its media platform with the launch of its first app in five languages – English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. The world’s governing body predicts the app will download over 70 million copies in the first few months, making it the world’s most downloaded sports application.
David Owen: Ryan Giggs in the pantheon of sporting veterans
“It’s better to burn out than to fade away.” Neil Young
Or is it? I remember a time when all rock stars, Young included, were, well, young. And then the music industry discovered irony, and we realised it was no more ridiculous for Jagger to perform Satisfaction at 55 than 25.
I don’t know if the deft through-ball with which Ryan Giggs, then aged 39 years and 363 days,
Mihir Bose: How British football is learning to use a European idea.
Andre Villa-Boas may or may not get the sack soon. Certainly the media pressure on him is huge and with the Tottenham board keeping the shutters down in the way the old Soviet-style Kremlin would have envied there is no way of knowing what will happen to Spurs’ Portuguese head coach. Observe I use the words head coach to describe his job, not manager.
The reason is that what is really interesting about this saga is the light it throws on the concept of director of football,
Hearts beat out CVA, now they need to buyout Lithuanians
November 29 – Scottish Premier league club Heart of Midlothian looks set to exit administration after creditors today voted in favour of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). Fan group Foundation of Hearts (the preferred bidders of the administrators BDO) offered £2.5 million towards debts of £30 million.
Oceania targets AFC as route to future World Cup finals
By Andrew Warshaw
November 29 – Oceania, by far the weakest confederation in world football and predominantly made up of tiny island nations, wants to give itself a better chance of World Cup qualification by combining its playoff pathway with that of the Asian Football Confederation. The AFC is currently allocated four automatic qualifying slots, with the fifth-placed Asian team going into an intercontinental playoff. Oceania, by contrast, has no direct route to the finals,
Africa’s World Cup qualifiers unchanged as Tunisia and Burkina Faso lose appeals
November 29 – Tunisia are the latest African country to have their attempt to reach the World Cup finals through the back door quashed by FIFA. Invoking the ineligible player argument has become almost de rigueur in Africa, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. Tunisia claimed Cameroon fielded two in their recent World Cup qualifying playoff won by the Indomitable Lions on a 4-1 aggregate.
Austria’s Bundesliga hit by match-fixing as police swoop on suspects
By Andrew Warshaw
November 29 – The match-fixing scandal in Austria is escalating with the news that 20 current or former players are now being treated as suspects amid reports that at least 17 first and second division matches could have been manipulated over the last seven years.
Celtic row raises issues for UEFA as Green Brigade defend freedom of expression
By Paul Nicholson
November 29 – UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Celtic after fans unveiled banners depicting IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands and Scottish warrior William Wallace at their Champions League game against Milan. But the Green Brigade fan group who were responsible for the banners have now escalated the issue raising questions about their rights to the freedom of political expression.