July 4 – With just three days to go before the final of the 2025 Gold Cup in the NRG Stadium in Houston, Concacaf is reporting that there are less than 4,000 tickets left for the 72,200 capacity stadium that will host Mexico and the USA.
England 0 France 2
July 5 – With two quick-fire first-half goals, France stunned England 2-1 in Group D’s blockbuster in Zurich as the Lionesses became the first defending champions to lose their opening match at the European championship.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 4 – UEFA have given more details of their plans to introduce blood tests for players in their two main club competitions, first announced in May. Until now UEFA has only conducted blood tests at international tournaments – Euro 2008 and 2012 – but from this month the detection regime is to be extended to the Champions League and Europa League. Checks will be made during and out of competition and players may be asked at routine doping controls to give urine samples,
By Andrew Warshaw
July 3 – Despite not being needed for any contentious decisions during the Confederations Cup, GoalControl, the German goal-line technology system, looks like being employed at next year’s World Cup as planned.
The camera-based system was the last to throw its name into the hat for both tournaments after the International Football Association Board finally approved GLT last year. It was surprisingly selected ahead of Hawk-Eye and GoalRef,
Whilst amusing – even outrageous – events provide much-needed cannon fodder for writing interesting commentary, my unhappiness with the pervasive absence of astute management across the African game, whose administrators appear to be falling even further behind their global peers, often leaves me in a depressed mood.
And the ever unfolding diary of (mal)administration, in Cameroonian football, rudely reminds me that the continent’s leading nations continue to revel in their nasty old habits.
When back in 1992 Bill Clinton launched his campaign for the US Presidency his campaign team told the workers forget all the other slogans, remember: It is the economy, stupid.
Much the same can be said of the spat between FIFA and UEFA over the World Cup in Brazil. There can be little doubt that concern about protecting FIFA’s money lies at the heart of the attack on UEFA launched by Jerome Valcke,
July 2 – Italian football yesterday paid an emotional tribute to Stefano Borgonovo, who died last Thursday after a battle against ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) aged 49. His funeral in his home town of Guissano was attended by representatives from across the sport including his closest friend from his days at Fiorentina, Roberto Baggio, but also Paolo Maldini, Arrigo Sacchi, Juventus CEO Marotta and many well-known faces who formed part of the cheerful striker’s all-too-short life.
By Mark Baber
July 2 – In a set-back to Ethiopia’s ambitions to qualify for a World Cup final tournament for the first time, FIFA has overturned Ethiopia’s original 2-1 win against Botswana and awarded a 3-0 victory to Botswana. FIFA has confirmed that the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) has been sanctioned for fielding an ineligible player in the preliminary competition match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Botswana and Ethiopia played on 8 June 2013.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter once again declared the Confederations Cup a success at his final news conference of the two-week event – and re-iterated that football was playing a unifying rather than divisive role in the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – FIFA and UEFA should share television revenues from their respective tournaments with footballers who most need financial help, according to international players union FIFPro board member Joaquim Evangelista. Evangelista, head of the Portuguese Professional Footballers Association, said he would urge fellow board members at this week’s FIFPro general assembly in the Netherlands to lobby football’s governing bodies to hand out more of their money to unions in countries where players are struggling.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 2 – Manchester United have announced yet another new sponsor – specifically to co-incide with their pre-season tour of Thailand. United, who won their 20th English league title in May, have struck a three-year deal with Thai telecommunications group True Corporation Plc though no figure has been made public on the agreement.
当那三封道歉信出现时，我小小地惊诧了一下。大致浏览了署名中国足协的那一封，其他两封不看也罢。
新闻客户端的推送功能，让我知道有这三封道歉信的出现，可见网易移动内容的同事，还确实在继续关注着国足消息，道歉信也上升到了”重点新闻”的级别。只是”615耻辱”已经过去了9天，为什么到了6月24日才有了道歉信？为什么道歉信一出现就是三封？
最紧要的是，为什么道歉信的口吻，仍然不能”说人话”？
By Mark Baber
July 1 – The Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) is in chaos and faces potential suspension from FIFA following the annulling by a judicial authority of Iya Mohammed’s overwhelming re-election as President.
By Mark Baber
July 1 – In a major blow to Doncaster Belles and their supporters, the club has lost its appeal to retain its place in the re-structured English Women’s Super League. The FA has re-assigned clubs to leagues according to various license criteria, rather than performance on the sporting field.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
July 1 – FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has accused UEFA of “opportunism and irresponsibility” after Europe’s governing body denounced FIFA for asking World Cup hosts to fork out a fortune on infrastructure to the detriment of more important social needs.
July 1 – Between nine and 15 people have been killed in a bomb blast while watching and playing football in Baghdad, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Iraqis either competing or watching and prompting a plea by Asian football authorities to beef up security in the region.
