May 22- The International Centre for Sports Security, which earlier this month published the most comprehensive report to date into the scale of illegal betting, is expanding its global operations by opening a European head office and appointing former European Professional Football Leagues chief Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros as the new Chief Executive of ICSS Europe from early June.
May 22- Paris St Germain have been called before Uefa’s disciplinary commission over allegations of racism by their fans at last month’s Champions League clash against Chelsea in Paris.
May 22 – Fans looking to find the authentic Brazilian football experience in Rio or Sao Paulo at the World Cup this summer should download a couple of digital guides written by Brazilian journalist Qiana Martin and writer of the of www. http://eatsoccer.wordpress.com/ blog.
By Mark Baber
May 21 – City Football Group (CFG), owners of Manchester City, Melbourne Heart and New York City Football Club have taken a minority stake (believed to be 20%) and formed a partnership with the Nissan-owned Yokohama F Marinos, one of Japan’s leading sides.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – The lifting of the ban on Muslim women footballers wearing the hijab has been welcomed by organisers of the 2016 under-17 Womens World Cup in Jordan, a tournament viewed as potential breakthrough it terms of breaking down social barriers.
May 21 – IMG Licensing has been appointed by UEFA as the master licensee for Euro 2016 and will have global rights until the end of the following year. The contract, to be run from IMG’s Paris office, also covers the UEFA European U21 Championship, the UEFA European Women’s Championship and the UEFA Futsal Euro.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – The FIFA vice-president leading the campaign to wipe out racism in football says there must be no let-up in the effort to spread the message and punish the offenders. Jeffrey Webb, President of CONCACAF and head of FIFA’s anti-discrimination Task Force, was a guest speaker at Tuesday night’s star-studded 20th anniversary of Britain’s Kick It Out movement and called for collective solidarity and inclusion.
By Paul Nicholson
May 21- Bloomberg have released their ‘BSports Power 50’ ranking of the top European footballers over the 2013/14 season. Liverpool’s Luis Suarez tops the ranking while, not surprisingly, Spain’s Atlético de Madrid were the top represented club with eight players in the top 50.
May 21 – The US has rapidly become the country of choice for Central and South American championships. Earlier this month CONCACAF announced it would be hosting the Copa America Centenario in the US in 2016. Now the Central American Football Union (UNCAF) have confirmed they will play their 25th anniversary Central American Cup in the US.
By Mark Baber
May 20 – Monday’s kick-off of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup final is being hailed as a remarkable achievement for the Maldives (total population 340,000) which has managed to refurbish two stadiums to bring them up to AFC standards.
May 20 – The announcement of Louis van Gaal as Manchester United manager – football’s most open secret – has been widely hailed as the best possible appointment to restore the club to its former glories at home and in Europe after the one-season disaster under the luckless David Moyes.
By Tom Parsons
May 20 – Football clubs and media have increasingly turned to Twitter as their platform of choice for getting their audiences to vote for events and individuals as the end of term football awards season gets into full swing.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
May 20 – Gornik Zabrze has signed a two-year sponsorship deal with betting operator Totolotek who will become the Polish club’s new main sponsor.
By Alexander Krassimirov
May 20 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia has failed in its bid to become a public company listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. The failed IPO sold only 360,000 shares – the minimum requirement for the club to become publicly traded was 1.4 million. 3 million shares had been released for sale at the nominal price of BGN 3 (€1,5).
By Andrew Warshaw
May 20 – Two months after its top clubs voted against goalline technology, the subject has moved back into the spotlight in Germany following a controversial decision in last weekend’s domestic cup final between rivals Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.