By Andrew Warshaw
August 31 – The Scottish and Welsh FAs have confirmed that exploratory talks are under way for a UK bid for the 2030 World Cup – even though South America would probably be regarded as favourites.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 31 – Spanish prosecutors are reported to be re-opening proceedings into the bizarre and still seemingly murky case of the liver transplant undergone six years ago by former French international defender Eric Abidal, now sporting director at Barcelona.
By Samindra Kunti
August 31 – Manchester United will face a reunion with Cristiano Ronaldo after drawing Serie A champions Juventus in the Champions League group stage. Last-season’s runners-up Liverpool were handed a tough group, paired with PSG, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade.
August 31 – Infront has picked up the international media rights for the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) in a multi-season deal that covers all four leagues, the IRN-BRU Cup and the Betfred Cup.
August 31 – Cryptocurrency is increasingly making inroads into the commercial football club market with the latest announcement being a strategic partnership between investment finance dealmakers Blackbridge Cross Borders and blockchain technology business SportyFi, operator of the SportyCo platform.
August 31 – Ghana is the latest country to see its football affairs come under the temporary control of FIFA after world football’s governing body set up one of its trademark normalisation committees in the wake of ongoing crisis.
August 31 – Almost 20 years after the demise of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, absorbed in 1999 by the Europa League, UEFA are considering re-introducing a third European cup competition in 2021, according to Germany’s Bild newspaper.
August 31 – Sports prediction and gamification app SportsHero has become LaLiga’s exclusive Indonesian partner for the 2018/19 season, with an option to extend for a further season.
August 31 – One of Belgium’s leading football TV presenters has been charged with being an accomplice to an armed robbery, according to prosecutors.
August 31 – Accumulators are one of the most exciting ways to bet on football. It is an evolving betting space that is offering new opportunities and flexibility in the football space.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 30 – Six months after being found guilty, Juan Angel Napout (pictured), one of the biggest scalps in the sprawling FifaGate corruption scandal that brought the organisation to its knees, has been jailed for nine years in the latest get-tough sentence handed down by US justice authorities.
If an unindicted co-conspirator in a US federal criminal case tells you “I want to thank Gianni Infantino for being here – he’s the president of FIFA and a highly respected man,” it is a dubious honour at best. If the same unindicted co-conspirator continues to say “Let’s see, in 2026 I won’t be here [as president]. Maybe they’ll extend the term? If they don’t extend it the media is going to be very boring,
By Andrew Warshaw
August 30 – Morocco, it seems, is stopping at nothing and devising every possible scenario in its bid to finally land the World Cup.
August 30 – Two goals from Dejan Damjanovic (pictured) helped South Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings edge closer to a place in the last four of this season’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League following a 3-0 win at domestic rivals Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the first leg of their quarter-final clash on Wednesday.
August 30 – The English Football Association has confirmed its support for clubs to have a choice over whether to bring back standing areas at their stadiums.