Konami host PES 2019 World Finals at Emirates as gamemaker extends Arsenal deal
July 1 – Arsenal have extended their global partnership with Konami for a further three years, taking them through to June 2022.
Nosey neighbours: US check out England’s hotel digs for final
July 1 – The eagerly awaited Women’s World Cup semi-final between favourites and defending champions United States and England, has been given extra spice by a new ‘spygate’ row that is reportedly infuriating English officials but has been played down as storm in a teacup by those across the pond.
Aussie-Indo bid for 2034 World Cup in the works
June 28 – The 2034 World Cup might still be in the distant future with the bidding process for the 2030 iteration yet to be properly administered, but Australia and Indonesia are mulling over a joint bid for the tournament.
AC Milan strike FFP deal with UEFA and drop out of Europa League
June 28 – Italian giants AC Milan will not play in Europe next season. The club and UEFA have struck a deal that will see the Milanese serve a one-year ban from European football for breaching financial fair play rules, CAS confirmed.
Macau out of World Cup as FIFA rules 3-0 loss for failure to travel to Sri Lanka
June 28 – FIFA have sanctioned the Macau Football Association for refusing to travel to Sri Lanka to play the second leg of their 2022 World Cup preliminary competition first-round match.
MLS opens up team shirts to betting and spirits sponsorship
June 28 – The MLS has relaxed its commercial rules to allow betting companies to brand team shirts opening up jersey fronts and sleeve patches from the 2020 season.
Road to FIFA eWorld Cup 2019 marked by 61 million broadcast views to date
June 28 – With the FIFA eWorld Cup now in full flow Electronic Arts and FIFA have released figures showing a huge mark-up in viewership for the early rounds.
Liverpool switch on to own digital channels for pre-season matches
June 28 – Liverpool are to show their six pre-season matches live on their own digital broadcast channels LFCTV and LFCTV GO.
Conmebol fines Brazil for homophobic fan chant
June 28 – Conmebol has slapped the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) with a fine of $15,000 over homophobic chants at the Copa America’s curtain raiser between hosts Brazil and Bolivia.
Infantino’s hollow words on Palestine forget his own cynical football oppression of the country
June 27 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s participation in the ‘Peace to Prosperity’ workshop in Bahrain have raised plenty of eyebrows in the Middle East with his own personal history being that of aggressor rather than peacemaker.
James Dostoyevsky: From the Infantino playbook: A Game of African Thrones
In one picture, a cut-away from an Al Jazeera broadcast on Twitter, you see him sitting next to a UK war criminal has-been in Manama, where a laughably androgynous Kushner delivers a ludicrous proposal for Mid-East Peace. [THIS “Pax Americana” risks to be a still-birth similar to Infantino’s neo-colonial football proposal to “Save Africa” (from itself, I take it?). What Kushner and other far-right bozos are planning to do to the Palestinians (if the rest of the world lets them),
FIFA referee guru Collina defends VAR decisions at France 2019
June 26 – Refereeing at the Women’s World Cup has been under severe scrutiny with VAR and other interventions wrecking the natural rhythm of the game, but FIFA’s head of referees Pierluigi Collina has shrugged off the storm of criticism, saying that the tournament is not “an experiment” for new rules using the VAR.
Women’s soccer fan Trump tweets to Rapinoe to ‘Finish the job’
June 26 – US president Donald Trump hit back at US women’s team co-captain Megan Rapinoe, telling her in a tweet to “respect the flag” after Rapinoe said she would not visit the White House if they won the World Cup.
Marathonbet keeps skin in the Spanish game with Sevilla shirt deal
June 27 – LaLiga’s Sevilla have replaced social gaming firm Playtika with online bookmaker Marathonbet as their new shirt sponsor in a two-years deal.
LaLiga clubs deliver €29m of value for shirt sponsors from TV
June 27 – A study of shirt sponsorship within LaLiga by sponsorship consultancy Strock found Spain’s top clubs delivered a return on investment of €29 million last season via TV exposure.