Inside World Football - Page 1886 of 2248 - For the Business of Football

Andrew Warshaw: Cup traditions, old and new, play the dating game

Tradition has increasingly taken a back seat in the modern age of football. Sometimes, it has to be said, for the right reasons but not when it comes to the English FA Cup, the game’s oldest domestic knockout competition.

For the last few years, the cup final, watched by billions of armchair fans worldwide despite many of them getting out of bed at some ungodly hour, has been shunted into unfamiliar territory, given whatever end-of-season slot can be found for it –

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adidas forecasts record €2 billion in football sales in 2014

Herbert Hainer

By Mark Baber
June 21 – Adidas expects to hit record sales of €2 billion from its football product in 2014 as it benefits from it position as official sponsor, supplier and licensee of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The forecast was made at a football media day in Herzogenaurach, Germany, by Herbert Hainer (pictured), CEO of the adidas Group.

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Inside Insight: Brazil unplugged

Brazil is rocked by (justified) demonstrations. While numbers vary, it is safe to assume that hundreds of thousands have and are taking to the streets to voice anger, frustration and dissatisfaction. With what, exactly, that remains a question to some. But it is a question that seems to get a wide spectrum of answers, depending on where the writer stands and from where the “independent” observer hails.

It is clear that Brazil’s economy,

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Cayman Islands pick up CONCACAF U-20 women’s event

Concacaf women u-20s

June 21 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, who has done much to stabilise the region since taking over a year ago, will be more delighted than anyone at the organisation’s decision to stage next year’s CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 tournament in his native Cayman Islands.

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Arsenal video gaffe offends Vietnam hosts

By Andrew Warshaw
June 21 – Arsenal’s problematic pre-season tour of Vietnam, the first to the country by an English Premier League side, will go ahead despite another dispute – this time over a promotional video.

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Court date set for Messi over €4.16m tax fraud case

Lionel Messi 2

By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – Lionel Messi, the world’s finest footballer and one of the richest and most iconic sportsmen on the planet, has been sensationally summoned to appear in court on September 17 over tax fraud allegations.

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Blatter calls on Brazilians to stop using football to make their demands

Brazilian protest

By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – As a wave of social unrest continues to sweep through Brazil, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has urged the public to stop using football as a means of expressing their anger and says they can only benefit from the tournament returning to the country next year for the first time in over half a century. The protests, timed to co-incide with the ongoing Confederations Cup, has cast a shadow over the World Cup dry run event that has produced several exhilarating games in full stadia.

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BSkyB faces investigation after BT lodges ‘abuse’ complaint

TV cameraman

By Mark Baber
June 20 – Following a complaint from BT, Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, is launching an investigation into BSkyB over the supply of its sports channels to rival broadcasters.

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Hearts broken as administrators hunt for funding

Hearts

By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – In the same month that Scottish football agreed on a ground-breaking strategy to preserve the future of lower-league clubs, one of its most iconic, Heart of Midlothian, has ironically been forced to go into administration and has been docked 15 points for the start of the season.

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Beşiktaş line up Vodafone as new stadium and shirt sponsor

Besiktas

By Mark Baber
June 20 – Beşiktaş has signed a preliminary agreement with Vodafone Türkiye for shirt sponsorship and naming rights to the team’s new stadium. The final agreement, which is expected to be signed shortly, is expected to be worth €20 million annually.

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Platini praises Israel and stands firm on their right to host

U21 Euros poster

By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – A relieved Michel Platini has heaped praise on Israel following the European Under-21 championships that ended with Spain beating Italy 4-2 to retain the title.

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Mexicans get their party started in Rio in preparation for 2014

Una Probadita de Mexico 2

By Paul Nicholson in Rio de Janeiro
June 20 – Look around Rio de Janeiro you could be forgiven for wondering where the Confederations Cup party is taking place unless you were outside the Maracana or an official ticket collection point.

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New Premier League rights-holder to lose chief executive

BT Sport

By David Owen
June 19 – BT Group has surprised investors by announcing that Ian Livingston is to quit as chief executive, as the traditional telephone company is gearing up to take on BSkyB in the market for live coverage of Barclays Premier League matches.

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Spanish club crisis: La Liga attendances down, RIP Salamanca

By Monica Villar
June 20 – The depth of the Spanish club football crisis become clearer this week with the LFP confirming a drop in attendances across the La Liga last season. Lower down the league Salamanca was liquidated and finally went out of business.

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Premier League fans march on London HQ to protest ticket prices

ticket price protest

By Andrew Warshaw
June 20 – The Premier League may be the most popular football product in the world, watched by billions of armchair fans globally, but English supporters are losing patience over inflated ticket costs which price the majority of fans out of the market.