Mexico 1 Honduras 0
July 2 – The question on the lips of pundits and fans at Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, was “would tonight be business as usual or unusual business?” as Mexico and Honduras met for the right to face the United States in the Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Sunday in Houston.
Spain 5 Portugal 0
July 3 – With an imperious display, world champions Spain waltzed past neighbours Portugal at the Wankdorff Stadion in Bern, winning 5-0 to back up their status as tournament favourites.
By Andrew Warshaw in Nyon
January 13 – UEFA President Michel Platini insists goal-line technology will never be introduced – even though football’s lawmakers are giving it further examination.
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O what a tangled web we weave, when we first practise to deceive!
So tangled, in fact, that most attribute the quotation to Shakespeare when actually it was penned by Sir Walter Scott.
I make the point not to boast any great literary leaning but because had sports politics been on the agenda when it was written back in the 19th century then never would it have been more aptly described.
By David Owen
January 13 – Amos Adamu (pictured) is attempting to retain a seat on FIFA’s ruling 24-member Executive Committee for another four years.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 13 – Tottenham Hotspur have admitted they would demolish most of the Olympic Stadium and make it more football friendly if they win the bid to move there after the 2012 London Games.
From Andrew Warshaw in Nyon
January 12 – The controversial decision to host the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has taken yet another unexpected twist with UEFA President Michel Platini suggesting it could be expanded to include other Gulf nations.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
January 12 – Sepp Blatter today received backing for his campaign to continue as President of FIFA from an unexpected quarter – Reynald Temarii, one of the two FIFA Executive Committee members banned after they were linked to corruption allegations in the build-up to last month’s World Cup vote.
By Duncan Mackay in Lausanne
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
January 12 – Frankie Fredericks, the chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Athletes’ Commission, today added his voice to the growing chorus for London 2012 to honour its bid promise and retain the running track at the Olympic Stadium after the Games.
It was entirely predictable that Sepp Blatter’s comments on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being played in January raised a howl of protest.
Not only does it seem extraordinary that after the game is over, the rules of the game are changed, but the near-revolution this would cause to the European game is incalculable.
But what has been missed in all this is that Blatter, the most consummate of sports politicians –
By Andrew Warshaw in Nyon
January 11 – UEFA President Michel Platini (pictured) today issued his strongest warning to date that clubs who recklessly overspend risk being heavily sanctioned until and unless they get their houses in order.
By Mike Rowbottom
January 11 – The League Managers Association has rung the alarm bell over the subject of short-term hiring and firing policies which “scapegoat” managers, increasingly damaging the fabric of the English game.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
January 11 – Simon Greenberg, chief of staff during England’s disastrous bid to host the 2018 World Cup, has taken up a new role as the first director of corporate affairs at Rupert Murdoch’s News International.
January 11 – One of the world’s leading full-service hospitality agencies has been appointed by Coca-Cola to support its hospitality and ticketing programmes at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
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The imminent arrival of Wembley chairman David Bernstein in the same post at the English Football Association (FA) has sent me scurrying to the FA’s accounts.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
January 10 – He is young, he is dedicated and he insists he will not be influenced by politics or petty feuds.
January 9 – Three candidates are standing to replace suspended FIFA vice president Reynald Temarii as leader of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), it has been announced.