France 1 Germany 1 (5-6 pens)
July 19 – Germany recovered from a 13th-minute red card to knockout France on penalties following a 1-1 draw and set up a blockbuster semi-final against Spain.
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 14 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia has paid more than BGN 3 million (€1.5 million) in debt settlement to former and current players, and coaches. Ivo Tonev (pictured), one of the majority owners of the club made the announcement after a meeting of the Governing Council.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
September 14 – As the world’s media descended on Zurich for the eagerly awaited latest developments in the US and Swiss investigations into alleged widespread malpractise surrounding FIFA, the organisation’s former anti-corruption advisor said Sepp Blatter himself should be questioned over the sale of television rights to disgraced former CONCACAF boss Jack Warner.
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – The Somali Football Federation’s campaign to win back their national stadium in Mogadishu, which is currently being occupied by African Union troops, took a step nearer realisation last Friday when the country’s president announced the stadium would be vacated.
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – While the South Americans seem convinced that the 2016 Centennial edition of the CopaAmerica will be played for the first time outside of the region in the US, in partnership with CONCACAF, the idea this is now a done deal does not seem certain.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 14 – As US and Swiss prosecutors prepared to hold an eagerly awaited press conference to update the world’s media on their separate investigations into corruption surrounding FIFA, outgoing president Sepp Blatter found himself unwittingly drawn into the whole murky saga.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 14 – He was only elected to FIFA’s inner circle at the end of April but Malaysia’s Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah (pictured) has announced he is stepping down as president of his country’s federation.
September 14 – The head of FIFA’s medical committee has commissioned a new sub-group to draw up a special code of ethics for coaches and team doctors.
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – Just one month after the candidates have to confirm their nominations for the FIFA Presidential race, and three months before the election itself, the International Football Arena (IFA) Conference will take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, November 19.
By David Owen
September 12 – Manchester City have enlisted the help of Sun Jihai, their former player, in their efforts to better exploit the vast 1.3 billion-strong Chinese market. The defender, who turns 38 this month, made 130 league appearances for the club during a six-year stint between 2002 and 2008.
This has been a week when the names of Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton have been juxtaposed a million times, making comparisons between these authors of a combined 99 England goals inevitable.
By Paul Nicholson
August 11 – Manchester United have continued their chasing down of the leadership positions in Insideworldfootball’s Twitter rankings, closing to within 60,000 followers of Chelsea in a slower week of Twitter gains but which saw the reds increase their following by 32,000 against Chelsea’s 16,000.
By Mark Baber
September 11 – FA Chief Executive Martin Glenn has said that the FA would be “absolutely supportive” of Chelsea and Tottenham using Wembley whilst they redevelop their stadiums, even if it means they have to ground-share the England’s National Stadium for a period.
September 11 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has upped its support and commitment to battling against match-fixing and is hosting the first technical meeting on the manipulation of sports competitions as a follow-up on the recommendations and commitments of the Declaration of Berlin with UNESCO in Doha, September 16-17.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 11 – Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber has vigorously defended the unique structure and calendar of his 20-team league, says David Beckham’s Miami franchise is close and insists MLS is not simply a retirement home for ageing foreign stars looking for a career-ending financial windfall.
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 11 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia will have to declare themselves bankrupt if the club want to return to professional football. The statement was made by the chief executive director of the club Alexander Todorov (pictured).