By Tom Degun
July 2 – England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup remains the strongest candidate despite the national team’s disastrous performance in South Africa, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has claimed.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
July 2 – FIFA Executive Committee Vitaly Mutko is again under pressure to resign as Russia’s Sports Minister after a damning Government report into the country’s poor performance at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver earlier this year revealed that his hotel suite during the Games cost $1,500 (£986) a night.
July 2 – Irish Football Association President Raymond Kennedy (pictured centered) and his deputy David Martin are on the verge of being forced to resign from their posts as the top two leaders in Northern Ireland football only two weeks after being re-elected unopposed.
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“On the other side of that roundabout, there will be goats by the side of the road.”
Few places better illustrate the vast wealth disparities that still exist in South Africa today than Alexandria.
July 2 – FIFA have given the Nigerian Government until Monday (July 5) to rescind its withdrawal of the country’s national teams from competition or face suspension.
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July 1 – BT today launched a package allowing its customer to view Sky Sports from as little as £6.99 ($10.62) a month on top of the basic monthly subscription.
July 1 – Jack Warner (pictured), the FIFA vice-president, is set to miss the World Cup final at Soccer City in Johannesburg later this month because he will be running Trinidad and Tobago.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
June 30 – Ben Buckley, chief executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA), has claimed bidding for the World Cup is not for the naive as FIFA announced they were launching an investigation into claims they had broken ethics rules.
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Defeats are not easy to take, but they can be a springboard for success provided we are prepared to learn from them. The depressing thought is that England’s annihilation by Germany - and despite the disallowed goal, that is what it was – will not lead to the sort of revolution the national team needs.
So the debate in England has been whether Fabio Capello should stay or go. That is the wrong question.
June 30 – The French Government have denied accusations by FIFA that they were involved in the resignation of Jean-Pierre Escalettes as the President of the French Football Federation (FFF) following the national team’s disastrous performance at the World Cup in South Africa.
Sepp Blatter’s decision to re-open the file on goalline technology marks a stunning U-turn even by the standards of his undisputed mastery of football politics.
But before fans across the world get too carried away by the FIFA President bowing to global outrage following Frank Lampard’s “goal-that-wasn’t” for England, a little caution would be advisable.
June 30 – Former chief executive of the Football Association, Ian Watmore (pictured right), who controversially resigned in March, has a key new role trying to help cut Government waste, it was announced today.
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June 30 – Fox Soccer Channel has become an official partner of the United States bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, it has been announced.
By David Owen in Johannesburg
June 30 – The 2010 FIFA World Cup pauses for breath for the first time these next two days.
June 30 – Nigeria have been suspended from international football for the next two years – by the country’s President.