June 23 – Mexico will headline the first Gold Cup quarter-final double header against tournament guests Saudi Arabia at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday night (June 28).
By Mark Baber
July 30 – Kick It Out, a campaign is supported and funded by the Professional Footballers Association (PFA), the Premier League and The Football Association to encourage equality and inclusion has today launched a new free mobile app which allows players and fans to directly report racist or homophobic abuse to Kick It Out which will then follow up with football authorities and if necessary the police.
July 30 – Crisis Scottish club Hearts are teetering on the brink just days before the start of the domestic season while a fans group are attempting to save another Scottish club Dunfermline Athletic.
By Matt Scott
July 30 – The Premier League club Cardiff City yesterday appointed as chairman a man who until recently led a company under investigation by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office [SFO] amid allegations of corruption and bribery.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 30 – Scores of tributes, including one from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, continue to pour in following the shock death of Ecuador international striker Christian Benitez from heart failure at the age of just 27. Benitez was rushed to hospital complaining of abdominal pains following his debut for Qatar’s El-Jaish as a late substitute on Sunday. He died the following day after what the Ecuadorean federation has now confirmed was a cardiac arrest.
July 29 – Europol is spreading its football wings and has announced today it is to conduct an investigation into alleged football match fixing by the Russian mafia. The investigation will also look at organised crime groups in the Balkans. Rob Wainwright, the head of the EU police intelligence agency, told the Sunday Times said that in addition to the 380 matches that have been investigated since February, a further 300 were now considered suspicious.
July 27 – Attracted by sponsorship deals, shirt sales and TV rights deals, Premier League clubs, and Barcelona, have been looking to Asia’s billion football fans. Following in the footsteps of Manchester United, clubs are focusing on Asia, spending time there in pre-season and opening up local offices.
By Mark Baber
July 29 – With BT shortly launching it new sports channels showing Premier League football, Sky, which has managed to see off previous major rivals, has been talking up the benefits of competition and has released new figures showing increased revenues and profits.
July 29 – Celtic are to be investigated by UEFA after supporters set off fireworks during last week’s Champions League qualifier against Northern Irish club Cliftonville.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 29 – Three weeks before the start of the next English Premier League season, a new club-versus-country spat has broken out with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore staunchly defending his organisation and insisting it is not to blame for successive failures of the England national team.
By Paul Nicholson
July 29 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb hailed the Gold Cup, which closed last night with 1-0 win for the USA over Panama, “a huge success, this has been a great Gold Cup”.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 29 – The domestic election crisis that is understood to have prevented acting Thai football federation (FAT) president and FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi from attending the recent Asian Football Confederation executive meeting has taken yet another twist.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 29 – Torino’s Belgian international goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet (pictured) has failed with his appeal against a 43-month match-fixing ban imposed by the Italian football federation (FIGC).
By Andrew Warshaw
July 27 – United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been banned from Sunday’s Gold Cup final against Panama, CONCACAF’s showpiece fixture, after being sent off in the semifinal for dissent. The former German international striker, who managed his country at the 2006 World Cup, was dismissed in the 87th-minute of Wednesday’s 3-1 semifinal win over Honduras and incurred a one-match ban.
By Mark Baber
July 26 – In November last year, the Chief Executive Officer of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Norbert Teufelberger (pictured), was arrested by Belgian authorities at the airport after he attended a business conference. On Thursday, his company become the online gaming and betting partner of Belgium’s most successful club and current Pro League champions RSC Anderlecht.
July 26 – Football may not be considered to have a drugs problem but in the same week as track and field was embroiled in a fresh doping scandal, it has been revealed that a Jamaican player failed a test following a World Cup qualifier against Honduras on June 11.