By Mark Baber
June 3 – Leading English women’s team Doncaster Belles are appealing the decision to place them in FA Women’s Super League 2 (FA WSL 2) from next season, amidst a growing storm of protest over the allocation of licences in the FA Women’s Super League.
By Paul Nicholson
June 3 – England football icon David Beckham’s love affair with the US continues. He was back in America this weekend visiting Miami and discussing the opportunity for an MLS expansion team in South Florida.
By Gareth Messenger
June 3 – Atletico Madrid director Clemente Villaverde and CEO of Numancia, Victor Manuel Martin, have been elected as the first and second vice presidents, respectively, of Spain’s Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LFP) for two year terms.
By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 31 – FIFA’s top corruption buster has hinted for the first time that 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar have no corruption case to answer and says a statement of intent of some kind should be made by his department by September or October. Ever since Qatar were awarded the tournament with a landslide victory despite FIFA’s official inspection team flagging up several negative aspects of their bid,
By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 31 – Lydia Nsekera of Burundi became the first ever elected female member of FIFA’s executive committee today but her victory was shrouded in alleged politics despite football’s world governing body striving for new transparency and openness.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 31 – FIFA’s much-trumpeted reform measures, designed to improve the battered image of world football’s governing body and herald in a new era of transparency, were approved by a landslide majority of members today – but not before Mark Pieth, the governance advisor charged with drawing up the original proposals, caused a huge stir by challenging Sepp Blatter and his colleagues to reveal their salaries.
四千万人民币一个赛季的胸前赞助，赞助商还是顶尖的国际品牌，广州恒大仍然拒绝，这个俱乐部对自身商业价值的估算，显然和其他中超俱乐部大不相同。
关于广州恒大拒绝三星成为胸前主赞助商的消息，足够让所有中超俱乐部流口水。四千万人民币的赞助价格，是以往中超联赛罕见的，但这仍然达不到恒大的要求。不过从许家印衡量恒大投资足球的回报收益看，这个房地产商有一套区别于市场主流的观念：最初两三年，投资恒大足球接近7亿人民币时，许家印就表示恒大投资足球已经”赚钱了”，因为他将所有媒体在进行中超赛事报道时，只要出现”恒大”二字，都理解为对恒大品牌的宣传推广。姑且不论平面和网络媒体，就以电视机构转播恒大的比赛，一个赛季30场90分钟的国内联赛，如果将这2700分钟都算作电视广告的话，自然是价值不菲的传播回报。
By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 31 – The issue of workers’ rights in Qatar, which has plagued the Gulf state and FIFA ever since the award of the 2022 World Cup, flared up in Mauritius today when a group of activists were arrested while staging a peaceful protest close to where the FIFA Congress was taking place.
By Mark Baber
May 31 – Mallorca finally admitted defeat in their battle to keep hold of Giovani Dos Santos for their crucial final game of the season, after Mexico had written to FIFA demanding his release in advance of their World Cup qualifier this coming Tuesday.
By Gareth Messenger
May 31 – Portugal’s Sporting CP will be the beneficiary of more than €3.5million from the sale of Joao Moutinho from Porto to French side Monaco for €25 million.
By Paul Nicholson
May 31 – Sir Martin Broughton, chairman of British Airways and investment company Sports Investment Partners, reckons that leaving all the match decisions to the chance of human error is not satisfactory, or necessary. Especially so when the prize for the winning team could be £120 million – as was the case last weekend in England’s premier League play-off.
By Mark Baber
May 31 – With news the Brazil-England game might be cancelled, due to problems with the Maracana stadium, Bayern fans hadn’t abandoned all hope, even as Dante (pictured) departed for Brazil. However, the news soon came that the Brazil-England friendly was back on and they would certainly be without their central defender for Saturday’s DFB Pokal final. The incident has reignited the club vs country debate.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 31 – In one of the most direct speeches of his 15-year FIFA presidency, Sepp Blatter today launched a tough-talking and passionate defence of his organisation’s efforts to eliminate corruption whilst attacking the scourge of racism in football in similar fashion.
May 31 – Paris St-Germain’s Brazilian sporting director Leonardo has been given a nine-month suspension for pushing a referee, the worst possible timing for the club who are trying to hold on to their manager Carlo Ancelotti as they push towards becoming an established member of Europe’s elite.
