Blazer to quit CONCACAF post
By David Gold
October 6 – Chuck Blazer will resign in December from his post as the General Secretary of CONCACAF, at the end of a tumultuous year for the confederation.
England’s 2018 World Cup bid was “the biggest single failure”, admits Robertson
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 6 – Britain’s Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson today admitted that England’s inability to win the 2018 World Cup bid was “the biggest single failure” of his reign.
Collina shuns goalline technology over Platini’s AAR theory
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 6 – Pierluigi Collina, widely regarded as the world’s most respected referee until his retirement six years ago, insists there is no need for goalline technology in football and that the use of two Additional Assistant Referees (AAR) is more than sufficient to deal with controversial incidents.
Rooney’s father and uncle arrested in SPL betting scam
By Emily Goddard and David Gold
October 6 – Wayne Rooney’s father (pictured) and uncle were among nine men, which included Motherwell midfielder Steve Jennings, held by police this morning following a series of arrests carried out across Liverpool and Glasgow over allegations of suspicious betting activity during a Scottish Premier League (SPL) match, before being bailed.
Arsenal can cope without the Champions League, claims Gazidis
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 6 – Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis insists the ailing North London club will be able to cope financially without qualifying for the Champions League.
Drop pointless judicial review, Robertson urges Spurs
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 6 – Sport and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson today urged Tottenham Hotspur one last time to drop their “pointless” bid for a judicial review into their failed bid to move to the Olympic stadium after next year’s Games, warning that no further deal would be on the table to help redevelop their own ground.
Mihir Bose: Sky may not be the limit with Murphy’s law
Karen Murphy’s victory in the European Court over showing live matches in her pub without paying Sky’s charges should not be overestimated. It will have consequences, particularly in the lower reaches of the game, but it should not be seen as televised football’s equivalent of the Bosman ruling. It is not.
Bosman has proved such a far-reaching, even revolutionary, judgement, that its effects are still being felt more than a decade and a half later.
Corruption allegations have “hurt us” admits Qatar 2022 chief
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 5 – Ten months after winning the bid to stage the 2022 tournament, Qatar’s World Cup chief today admitted that the tiny Gulf state’s historic victory had been wounded by the constant negative publicity that accompanied the greatest upset in bidding history.
“The week of football” to come into play in 2014
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 5 – International qualifiers, both for the European Championship and the World Cup, will be played across six days between Thursdays and Tuesdays from 2014 to maximise television coverage and broadcast income, as well as stopping other sports taking precedence, UEFA announced today.
Goal-line technology delayed due to ongoing testing
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 5 – Goal-line technology could be put back a year because the accuracy of ongoing tests will not be ready on time, English Football Association general secretary Alex Horne revealed today.
Grondona apologises for contemptuous attack on FA
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 5 – Argentina’s senior FIFA vice President Julio Grondona has officially apologised for his scathing attack on the way England are perceived the corridors of world football, English FA chairman David Bernstein revealed today.
Pearce wants to head up Team GB Olympic football squad
By David Gold
October 5 – England’s under-21 boss Stuart Pearce has confirmed that he wants to manage the Great British football team at the London 2012 Olympic Games, calling the opportunity a “great privilege”.
Tevez did not refuse to play against Bayern, claims the Argentine’s advisor
By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 5 – The advisor of Carlos Tevez insisted today that the Argentine and Manchester City striker did not refuse to play against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and that post-match comments by the player were mistranslated by a club interpreter.
Sheikh Mansour remains atop of football’s rich list
By Andrew Warshaw
October 6 – Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour remains top of football’s rich list compiled by the magazine FourFourTwo, which estimated his worth at £20 billion ($31 billion/€23 billion).
FIFA reform is “laughable”, sneers Anson
By David Gold
October 5 – The chief executive of England’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup, Andy Anson, has mocked FIFA’s response to a string of corruption allegations this year and says that he does not have faith in their ability to reform themselves.