By Paul Nicholson
May 30 – Following hard on the heels of the appointment of Stadium Operations Consultants for the infrastructure build towards the 2022 World Cup, the Qataris have now appointed KEO as project managers and AECOM as the design consultant for the ambitious Al Wakrah Stadium.
By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 30 – Zhang Jilong (pictured), the Chinese official who ran Asian football as interim president for two years yet opted not to apply for the job full-time, is back at the top table of FIFA. Zhang has been unexpectedly parachuted back on to the FIFA executive committee in place of Sri Lankan’s Fernando Manilal.
By Mark Baber
May 30 – The European Sports Security Association (ESSA), the betting industry’s ‘integrity’ body, published its annual integrity report Tuesday, claiming the evidence shows the battle against match-fixers from defrauding Europe’s licenced bookmakers is being won, The organisation argues the greatest threats to sporting integrity lie in poor governance and unregulated bookmakers outside Europe.
Have Napoli just landed themselves the best manager in world football?
It would be a quite a coup for a club that isn’t amongst Europe’s elite – I think it’s time to consider the evidence in favour of Rafa Benitez being, well, the true special one.
The only thing he has in common with the great Napoli hero Diego Maradona has been a comedy beard, but he might be the best chance the club has had of real success since the Argentinian legend inspired them to glory in Serie A and the UEFA Cup in the late 1980s.
By Gareth Messenger
May 30 – It’s official, Emirates Airline has confirmed a four-year sponsorship deal with Spanish club Real Madrid believed to be in the region of around €120 million.
By Tom Parsons
May 29 – Everton fans caused a twitter storm over the club’s proposed new club badege with 20,000 people signing a petition against the change. The club moved quickly to apologise and reverse the decision.
By Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 30 – The head of the Palestinian football federation says the harsh treatment of his country’s players and officials by Israel is showing no sign of receding despite the best efforts of FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
May 29 – The roof failure during heavy rain on Monday at the Fonte Nova Arena was down to “human error” according to a statement by engineering director José Luis Goes, of the Fonte Nova Participacoes (FNP) group, which manages the stadium.
By Mark Baber
May 29 – A row has broken out between the football authorities of the UAE and Iran after the announcement that the UAE Pro League will be renamed the Arabian Gulf League from next season.
May 29 – The Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee has appointed Amsterdam Arena and IMG as the Stadium Operations Consultants for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.
Exclusive: by Andrew Warshaw in Mauritius
May 29 – The full extent of the split between Europe and the rest of FIFA – and potentially between Sepp Blatter and his possible successor Michel Platini – over the much-touted reform process has been underlined with the revelation that UEFA were officially outvoted over the decision to postpone age and term limits for senior officials for another 12 months.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Mauritius
May 29 – The official charged with enforcing proper financial controls at FIFA after a spate of corruption scandals has launched an astonishing attack on Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, the disgraced duo who led CONCACAF for the best part of a generation.
May 29 – FIFA’s executive committee may have been split on the reform package they are to put to Friday’s Congress vote, but they did find concensus on other matters, including the awarding of tournament hosts, shortlisting of tournament bids and an update on next year’s World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw, in Mauritius
May 29 – The man leading the global fight to wipe racism out of football has confirmed that players and officials face five-match bans and that clubs and national teams face points deductions, stadium closures, relegation and being thrown out of competitions if found guilty of abuse.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correpondent, in Mauritius
May 29 – Sepp Blatter’s personal crusade to clean up FIFA after years of scandal and corruption has taken a massive hit with the news that age restrictions and term of office limits for FIFA officials – viewed as a key part of the two-year road map to reform – have been dropped from the agenda at Friday’s annual congress.