July 4 – On June 14 the city of Los Angeles in California was being swarmed by ICE agents, communities were being torn apart and families broken apart, daily protests had seen areas of the city closed, and US president Donald Trump had called in the National Guard and even US Marines from Camp Pendleton to strike fear into the heart of a state that he says is out of control.
July 4 – With no injury concerns, Germany will look to back up their credentials as title contenders at Euro 2025 with a convincing showing against Poland in their opening match in Group C.
Stuart Pearce’s Great Britain squad begin their Olympic preparations in Spain with a behind closed doors friendly against Mexico. For the only previous British Olympic team to play on Spanish soil, a place at the 1968 Olympics IN Mexico was at stake.
The Great Britain manager at the time was Football Association staff coach Charles Hughes, much later vilified for his long ball theories.
“The training was really professionally run. It was stuff that we hadn’t been used to,”
By Andrew Warshaw
July 16 – The pressure on FIFA President Sepp Blatter over the ISL bribery affair shows no sign of relenting after German football officials said they were “appalled” and one of them suggested he step down.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 15 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter wants his predecessor, Joao Havelange, stripped of his honorary Presidency because of his role in the ISL bribery scandal.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 14 – UEFA President Michel Platini’s disdain for the advent of goal-line technology has been made abundantly clear with the announcement that his preferred “human” system of two additional assistants will continue in the Champions League and Europa League next season.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 14 – Colombian-born Enrique Sanz has been appointed the new general secretary of CONCACAF, effective July 25, as the Confederation of North and Central America and the Caribbean continues its attempt to restore its credibility.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 13 – Former England captain John Terry was cleared of racial abuse today as one of the highest profile court cases involving a globally recognised sportsman reached its conclusion after five days of evidence.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 13 – Scottish giants Rangers were sensationally ordered to start life in their new guise in the lowest tier of Scottish football today, the ultimate humiliation for one of most iconic names in European football.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 13 – Barclays may be embroiled in an unprecedented rate-fixing scandal that has plunged its global reputation into disarray but that has done little to affect its involvement in football with the announcement that the banking giant has extended its sponsorship of the English Premier League until 2016 in a three-year deal worth £40 million ($62 million/€51 million) a season from 2013.
Another corruption scandal exposed, more top names disgraced – and once again Sepp Blatter has seemingly slipped through the net of culpability.
No-one in sports administration has become more of an expert in the “not me, Guv” stakes over the years than the FIFA President who has once again distanced himself from any wrongdoing, this time in the explosive ISL bribery case.
By acknowledging that he was the person referred to as P1 in Swiss court documents which FIFA published and which lifted the lid on an affair that has marred his 14-year Presidency,
By David Gold
July 13 – Ronaldinho’s troubled 2012 took a further turn for the worse this week as Coca-Cola dropped him after he drank a can of Pepsi during a press conference.
By David Gold
July 13 – Brazilian star Neymar insists they have what it takes to bring back Olympic gold for the first time in history this summer.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 12 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter today mounted a staunch defence of his alleged role in the ISL bribery affair as his position as leader of world football’s governing body came under fresh scrutiny.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 12 – FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan has urged the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to be more unified and pull eastern and western factions together.
By David Gold
July 12 – The United States women’s team goalkeeper Hope Solo has been given a warning after testing positive for a banned substance.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 11 – The ISL corruption scandal that has tainted both world football’s governing body, FIFA, and its President, Sepp Blatter, for over a decade took a giant step forwards today when João Havelange, Blatter’s predecessor, and his former son-in-law, Ricardo Teixeira, were confirmed as having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from FIFA’s former marketing partner.