Canada 5 Honduras 0
June 17 – Canada over the past six years have forced their way into Concacaf’s elite but have so often flattered to deceive. They are the team everyone quite likes but have never delivered the championship title their talent screams for. Re-adjust everyone.
October 4 – Spain’s players say they are focused solely on Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Albania and that they are getting tired of being asked about teammate Gerard Pique’s outspoken stance on the independence referendum in Catalonia.
October 4 – English Premier League club chiefs are gathering in London today for what is being touted in some quarters as one of the most important meetings since the league’s creation in 1992.
October 4 – In a significant intervention over organisation of the World Cup, Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed concern over delays to preparations but says they are not yet “critical”.
October 4 – A section of Lazio’s stadium will be closed for two Serie A games following another outbreak of racist chanting by the Italian club’s fans during the 6-1 home win against Sassuolo last Sunday.
October 4 – Despite talk of luxury taxes, salary caps and squad limits, the financial reality is that top clubs can afford the ever-inflating costs of players and staff, according to latest research from the KPMG Football Benchmark team.
October 4 – The Premier League had another sold out weekend for Round 7 of the season with four clubs reporting over 99% of their stadium capacity full, eight clubs over 95% and all ten home teams over 90%.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 3 – The Catalan independence movement continues to have a major impact on the region’s biggest club with Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu revealing they would consider playing outside the country if the campaign to split with Spain is successful.
October 3 – FIFA has fined the German football association (DFB) 32,000 Swiss francs for the disgraceful pro-Nazi chanting by a hard core section of fans during last month’s World Cup qualifier against the Czech Republic.
October 3 – Premier League West Ham United have a new 10% shareholder after the residual holding held by Iceland’s CB Holding, who gained the shares after the collapse of Iceland’s Stramur Investment Bank in 2009, sold to US investor Tripp Smith for an undisclosed sum.
October 3 – FIFA have slapped a CHF30,000 ($30,800) fine on Nigeria following a pitch invasion after the Super Eagles’ 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Cameroon last month and have warned the Nigerians against any repetition.
October 3 – Television viewers were somewhat alarmed to see a description of Newcastle United as “black and white scum” during a BBC highlights programme on Sunday night.
October 3 – Seven matches into the Premier League season sponsors are still mopping up the newly created sleeve sponsorship positions on club shirts with Burnley being the latest to announce the ‘Golf Clash’ mobile game as their new partner.
October 3 – Manchester City has unveiled details for the final of its skills challenge app, SkillCity, targeted at 5-14 year olds.
October 2 – In what other business could your value to an employer go up by over €50 million in just three months, doing exactly the same job you were doing three months earlier? And if you are to be valued at that level, and you are an asset rather than an employee, wouldn’t the smart business person cash in on that value?
By Andrew Warshaw
October 2 – Football’s lawmakers could reconsider implementing video technology at next year’s World Cup following a string of contentious officiating decisions at international and club level that have called into question the system’s effectiveness.