Bar one, I have covered every Olympic Games since Tokyo in 1964. The one I missed was Atlanta 1996, when I was sports editing The Observer. Colleagues who were there tell me I was a good judge.
In all those Games, I have also covered every Olympic sport. Bar one.
Football.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – In an era of belt-tightening and battening down the hatches, the Premier League general secretary, Nic Coward, makes no apologies for promoting the brand of the most popular product in world football.
By David Gold
October 31 – Russia and Singapore will be creating a joint business venture to develop airports being used for the World Cup in 2018.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 31 – The lawyer who helped change the face of world football has been drafted in by Swiss club FC Sion to try to win their case against UEFA and FIFA.
By David Gold
October 31 – FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Al Hussein wants rules brought in to allow Islamic headscarves to be worn during football matches.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 30 – The cash-for-votes scandal involving almost the entire membership of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has taken another twist with the news that Oliver Camps has quit as President of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation (TTFF) after 19 years in charge.
By David Gold
October 29 – Marcos Motta, a partner at law firm RBMF Advogados, which counts Neymar (pictured) and the Brazil Football Confederation among its clients, has spoken to insideworldfootball about the rapid growth of Brazilian football in recent years.
By David Gold
October 29 – There is confusion in Turkey after a ‘ban’ on away fans attending matches between Istanbul giants Galatasaray, Fenerbahçe and Besiktas, as well as those of Trabzonspor, was announced this week.
By David Gold
October 29 – One of the favourites for the 2012 African Nations Cup, Côte d’Ivoire, will be confident of making progress from the group stage of the tournament after being drawn in Group B with Sudan, Burkina Faso and 2010 hosts Angola.
By David Gold
October 29 – PUMA has signed a deal to become the official kit provider to Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund from 2012, it has been announced.
How long can Ricardo Teixeira possibly last as the increasingly tarnished head of the 2014 World Cup organising committee? Unpopular in his own country and embroiled in all manner of scandal, Teixeira is the great survivor.
While those around him – the latest being Brazilian Sports Minister Orlando Silva – have either resigned or been kicked out, Teixeira, like a cat with nine lives, seems to wriggle out of every crisis that envelops him and his country.
By David Gold
October 28 – Barcelona President Sandro Rosell will be one of the star attractions at the International Football Arena’s (IFA) thirteenth conference next month in Zurich, where he will be discussing European football as part of a distinguished panel.
By David Gold
October 28 – The iconic Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, which will host the final of the 2014 World Cup, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games, has had the final piece of its famous roof removed.
By David Gold
October 28 – The Major League Soccer (MLS) play offs have thrown up the marketing man’s dream – a game between David Beckham’s LA Galaxy and Thierry Henry’s New York Red Bulls.
By David Gold
October 28 – FIFA and France Football have revealed the shortlists for the Women’s World Player of the Year and World Coach of the Year Awards, with Brazilian legend Marta bidding to win the player’s award for the sixth year running.