June 25 – The Gold Cup quarter-final line-up was completed yesterday with Panama vs Honduras being scheduled for the State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Saturday June 28.
By Paul Nicholson
November 26 – International players union FIFPro is sending a delegation to Qatar on a four-day visit (November 28-31) to hold urgent talks with the country’s football authorities and organisers of the Qatar 2022 World Cup regarding the rights of players and in particular the plight of French footballer Zahar Belounis who has been trapped in the country by the kafala work visa system.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – Ronald De Boer, the Dutch legend who finished his illustrious career in Qatar, has re-iterated his view that a summer World Cup in 2022 is still possible – but only if it is staged in May.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – Despite the ongoing scourge of match-fixing across the globe, FIFA Director of Security Ralf Mutschke says he has drawn “positive conclusions” from the efforts to reduce manipulation.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – In an extreme case of fanaticism, a CSKA Sofia fan in Bulgaria has gone on hunger strike demanding a life ban for a referee who has already been suspended for his poor officiating in a domestic game.
By David Owen
November 26 – Swansea’s footballing stature has been on the rise in recent times, courtesy of the stylish play that has carried Michael Laudrup’s men to the Premier League and a trophy – last season’s Capital One Cup. Now the Welsh city has added another unique feather to its footballing cap: it is the home of Wolfestone, the company entrusted with the job of translating the Pope’s copy of The FIFA Weekly into Latin.
By Paul Nicholson
November 26 – The UK broadcast market continues to be fertile TV sales ground for the UEFA with TEAM marketing having concluded the final parts of licensing broadcast rights for the Champions League and Europa League in the UK for the 2016-18 cycle.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – Zahir Belounis, the journeyman footballer trapped in Qatar claiming 18 months of unpaid wages, may be on the verge of winning his battle to get out of the country. The plight of the French-Algerian, who says he is a ‘destroyed’ man after being forced to sell all his possessions, has caused outrage among human rights organisations and has added to global concern over Qatar’s notorious kafala employment system that ties migrant workers to so-called ‘sponsors’.
By Paul Nicholson
November 25 – A new insurance product launched today is providing Europe’s top clubs with the opportunity to insure their players against illness or injury that could affect the club’s performance on the field and hence its financial performance off it. A club could protect up to £100 million of revenue with the cover.
“Never was anything great achieved without danger.” Niccolò Machiavelli
Perhaps Machiavelli’s death in Florence in 1527 came too soon for him to have enjoyed the popular 16th Century Florentine game of Calcio but you sense he might have been drawn to its brutal tactics and narrative. His modern kindred spirits certainly seem to enjoy the football we love today. Heck, Henry Kissinger was even a board member on the USA 2022 bid committee.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – Football re-unification between Greek and Turkish Cypriots has moved a further step closer with the official Cyprus Football Association (CFA) approving the historic arrangement signed by the two sides at FIFA headquarters earlier this month.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 25 – The city of Wroclaw has acquired full control over local football club Slask Wroclaw. Slask currently plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Poland’s professional football league and are currently the league champions.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – One of Russian football’s leading officials has opposed the re-establishment of an old-style Soviet league featuring teams from Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet states. The idea of a breakaway plan for a multi-national league of up to 16 teams was first floated a year ago but Nikolai Tolstykh (pictured), head of the Russian Football Union, says the money would be better spent domestically, not least on youth football instead.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 25 – A 25 -year-old Bulgarian millionaire, Daniel Dimov, is in talks to buy third division French club FC Rouen. Dimov would take ownership of a club that has twice been champion of France – in 1940 and 1945.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – Burkina Faso, whose dream of a first ever appearance in the World Cup finals was dashed by an away goals playoff defeat by Algeria, say their opponents fielded an ineligible player in last week’s decisive second leg and have taken their complaint to FIFA.
There was one stand which attracted my attention all the time. By the southeast corner of the Xi’an Stadium, a stand full of people dressed in red, had been chanting, singing, and waving their red scarves throughout the 90-minute match.
It was a cold and windy night in Xi’an, the capital city of Shanxi province. It is also the greatest capital city in China’s history – it was the capital of the old empires of a lot of dynasties.