By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has added his voice to the Qatar 2022 debate saying that he is confident that Qatar will host a “magnificent” World Cup, though a statement issued via the AFC media office stops short of entering the Winter vs Summer discussion, saying he is confident that FIFA will make the best decision for all.
By Mark Baber
August 16 – The host cities and stadiums for the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 have been announced with matches being hosted on both the North and South islands in seven venues.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 16 – Premier League chief Richard Scudamore is back on the offensive over the 2022 World Cup, this time suggesting it should be moved from Qatar rather than be staged in winter. The Premier League are gradually losing the argument of sticking with a June-July tournament even though switching to winter would break with tradition and should have been thought through properly two and half years ago when the vote took place,
By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – On the eve of the opening day of England’s Premier League season, broadcast newcomer BT Sport and Manchester City have announced a three-year content partnership. The deal will include BT Sport broadcasting exclusive weekly interviews from key members of the playing and coaching staff, and access to behind-the-scenes content, on average expected to be three hours per week.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 16 – As expected, Metalist Kharkiv are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against being thrown out of their first ever Champions League campaign by UEFA over a domestic match-fixing case dating back to 2008.
Greg Dyke has never been afraid to take on the big battalions. His fights with Rupert Murdoch first over the rights to televise the newly formed Premier League and then over Sky’s attempt to buy Manchester United are legendary. And, as has been well recorded, he famously took on Tony Blair, and particularly his PR guru Alistair Campbell, over the dossier about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. This ultimately cost him his BBC job but the way he waged that war showed his lust for battle.
By Mark Baber
August 15 – As Brazil suffered a shock defeat to Switzerland on Wednesday, the country has also been hit with off-pitch woes as the Confederacao Brasileira de Futebol (CBF) has reportedly suffered losses in a bank collapse. At the same time the Brazilian Sports Minister has said work on the World Cup stadiums needs to speed up and it is has been revealed hotel costs for World Cup fans will be double those of Johannesburg in 2010.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 15 – Britain’s FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has replaced Spain’s Angel Maria Villar as head of FIFA’s referees committee in a political-style reshuffle that will be viewed in some quarters as weakening Villar’s influence within the corridors of power.
By Mark Baber
August 15 – FTBpro, the fan-generated football media brand, is the new Online Media Partner of the League Managers Association (LMA). FTBpro, which has seen $7.7m invested by its largest shareholders Battery Ventures and Gemini Israel Ventures, will benefit from exclusive interviews with top current Premier League managers as well online training sessions for site users.
August 15 – Fans of Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, sanctioned by UEFA last month for racist behaviour, are in trouble again.
By Alexander Krassimirov
August 15 – Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov (pictured) has taken a stand on the issue with the Russian energy giant Gazprom and the possible sponsorship deal with Levski Sofia. Gazprom is expected to become a major sponsor of the club in near future, a deal that has been leveraged through a government agreement for a pipeline crossing Bulgarian territory. This has led to a burst of indignation from all other clubs in Bulgarian top flight.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 14 – The match-fixing scourge that continues to plague European football has struck right at the heart of the Champions League with UEFA dramatically booting Metalist Kharkiv out of the competition.
August 14 – It was announced at precisely 8.30 on Wednesday morning that global watchmaker Bulova is to be Manchester United’s official timekeeper for the next three years.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 15 – FIFA has now officially asked 2018 World Cup hosts Russia to explain more fully its highly contentious new law banning “homosexual propaganda” that has caused such a fierce backlash from both athletes and the gay community.
By Jake Gable
August 15 – La Liga president Javier Tebas (pictured) has blasted the Spanish FA for what he believes is a failure to take the current revelations of match-fixing seriously enough. In an attack on FA President Angel Maria Villar, Tebas said: “I believe they should be getting more involved in what is being done. It is not enough to let the public investigators act. The Federation, as much as the league,