Football’s first social media pen opens at Wembley for FA Cup semis
By Tom Parsons
April 11- Wembley plays host to this weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals with football’s first social media pen opening at the historic venue at the same time.
Russian parliament passes anti-hooliganism bill
By Mark Baber and Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – The Russian Duma has passed a new bill banning violent and abusive fans from stadiums with 226 votes for and just one abstention. The bill will now go to the Federation Council, before being signed off by President Vladimir Putin.
Russian revolution promises new, safe, stadia and no visas for 2018 World Cup
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Manchester
April 11 – Russian football may have been blighted by hooliganism, racism and other misdemeanours on and off the field, but the whole image of the country will have changed by the time the World Cup takes place, said Alexander Djordjadze, deputy CEO of Russia’s World Cup organising committee, speaking at the Soccerex conference in Manchester today.
Libya plans to build new stadia for AFCON 2017
By Mark Baber
April 11 – Libya’s minister for Youths and Sports, Abdussalam Guaila has confirmed that Libya is planning to build a 60,000 capacity stadium in Tajoura, Tripoli and a 23,000 seater in Misrata for the 2017 African Cup of Nations.
Osasu Obayiuwana: Good governance requires good information
Two years ago, whilst at the Championship of African Nations (CHAN) tournament in Khartoum, Sudan, I bumped into a FIFA official, often tasked with the duty of firefighting governance problems in various national associations across the world.
When we sat down, for a frank conversation about the challenges of improving football administration in Africa, I made it clear that better methods need to be devised by FIFA, in order to ensure that good governance is prevalent amongst the continent’s national associations.
Lee Wellings: Blue storm building in south east Asia
A violent thunderstorm rages while we talk in Singapore, but Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck is a man used to dealing with turbulence. Including the furore over the club’s ruthless attitude to sacking managers.
” I know we have fired what most people would say are a lot of managers – terminated their relationship is a better way to describe it – but we’ve always thought long and hard when we’ve done it,” said Buck.
Pompey fans win control of club and ground in last minute deal
By Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – After years of pain, heartache and broken dreams, the biggest fan ownership in the history of English football has finally been rubber-stamped after administrators of Portsmouth football club struck a last-minute deal for the sale of the club’s ground hours before the High Court hearing was to rule on its value.
Mihir Bose: The Iron Lady was never a football ‘person’ but had a shaping influence
Mrs Thatcher’s death not only marks the passing of a leader, the like of which we may not see again, but it also marks a watershed in sport.
Thatcher was the last of the British Prime Ministers who did not care about sport. Her husband Denis was passionate about sport, particularly his golf and was a former rugby referee, her son Mark played cricket for Harrow’s first XI but Mrs Thatcher could not understand why people cared about sport.
UEFA unveils 10 game ban plan for racism on pitch, and closed stadiums for fan abuse
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Manchester
April 10 – In arguably the biggest crackdown to date to tackle racism in football, UEFA will ban players and officials for a minimum 10 games if they are found guilty of abuse – and are also hitting fans hard by ordering teams to play behind closed doors.
Noisy reaction from football for a minute’s silence for Maggie
By Mark Baber
April 10 – A proposal by two politically right-wing-leaning football figures for a minute’s silence before this weekend’s Premier League fixtures, in tribute to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, has been met with an almost unanimously hostile reaction from English football fans and writers, who have been remembering her approach to football.
Tickets sales strong as Brazil gets set for Confederations Cup coming out party
By Paul Nicholson
April 10 – Brazil’s hosting of the Confederations Cup this June is receiving positive boosts form all sides with the opening of the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador being hailed as a major success and the news that 546,000 tickets have already been booked by fans.
Absolute, BBC and talkSPORT renew radio rights in 3-season deal
By Mark Baber
April 10 – A new three-year deal for seven exclusive commentary packages, starting with the 2013/14 season, ensures UK radio stations will continue to broadcast the same premier league football matches as under the current arrangement.
High noon in the High Court for Pompey fans buyout bid
By Andrew Warshaw
April 10 – The High Court hearing into the future of ailing English club Portsmouth was finally due to get under way today in what supporters hope will result in the biggest fan ownership scheme in English football.
FIFA hit by sharp rise in tax charge linked to growth in reserves
By David Owen
April 10 – FIFA’s recently-announced positive annual result of $89m for 2012 was achieved despite a striking 350% increase in the world governing body’s annual tax charge.
Poland’s Ekstraklasa revamps its league structure for 2013/14 season
By Krzysztof Baranowski
April 10 – Poland’s top professional league, the T-Mobile Ekstraklasa, has radically reformed its structure for the 2013/14 season that is scheduled to kick off July 13 and play through to May 2014. The changes have been prompted by a requirement to make the league more attractive for media partners and sponsors.