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 Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 24 – Following an investigation launched by the Serbian Football Association (FSS), as a response to reports indicating that a match between local rivals Red Star Belgrade and OFK Belgrade was rigged, the Serbian Ministry of Interior has formed special police teams tasked with investigating managers, footballers and clubs’ supporters.
August 24 – The official heading FIFA’s new reform body says Sepp Blatter has been unfairly criticised amid the corruption storm that has enveloped his organisation.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – FIFA presidential candidate Chung Mong-Joon has issued yet another fierce rebuke against Sepp Blatter, blaming the outgoing Swiss veteran for undermining his credentials for succeeding him and meddling with the election process as well as accusing FIFA of acting like the Mafia.
By Mark Baber
August 24 – Iranian football fans will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to see some of the greats of world football playing this Friday, August 28 as a team of World Stars take on a team of Iranian Stars in a charity match.
August 24 – Twelve years after the tragic death of Marc-Vivien Foe at the 2003 Confederations Cup, another Cameroon footballer has lost his life after collapsing.
August 24 – Former FIFA executive committee Worawi Makudi’s last-ditch attempt to regain some kind of foothold within global or Asian football has failed after he withdrew from the election for the presidency of the 12-member Asean Football Federation (AFF) on the eve of the vote.
By Alexander Krassimirov
August 24 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia may have been relegated to the country’s amateur leagues for failing to pass the financial criteria to receive their club license, but their fans still manage to capture national headlines.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – The Swiss probe into possible money-laundering linked to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process has now uncovered more than 100 incidents of “suspicious financial activity” according to the Swiss attorney general’s office.
By Paul Nicholson
August 21 – Expanding the digital experience to connect with more fans in more locations and in different ways, has become a holy grail for clubs worldwide. It is all about building big numbers of connected people to your brand. But what if that digital experience could be turned into a physical experience. Rather than just hearing and seeing action as it happens you could physically feel it as well.
I was interested to read Laila Mintas’s recent column on voting reform at FIFA. But while I can see much logic in the position she stakes out, and can certainly appreciate the democratic anomaly of China (population 1.3 billion) having the same voting power as American Samoa and Andorra (populations each less than 100,000), it seems to me there are more important matters to focus on before the introduction of Mintas’s Point-Voting-System can have any bearing on the calibre of governance in world football.
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” Winston Churchill
It was at Harvard University in September 1943 that Winston Churchill spoke those words. Britain’s prime minister presumed to tell the flower of American youth that they should prepare themselves for death on a distant battlefield because, well, that’s your lot in life, lads.
By Paul Nicholson
August 21 – Manchester United have continued their seemingly unstoppable march to the top of the overall premier league club Twitter table, again clawing back more than 15,000 followers on the lead of table toppers Arsenal and Chelsea.
August 21 – The Financial Integrity and Transparency in Sport (FITS) Forum being held in Geneva on 3-4 September has announced more speakers to its already heavyweight line-up.
What’s good for the goose, as the old saying goes, is good for the gander. When former FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon entered the presidential race earlier this week by casting aspertions on both on his rival Michel Platini and the outgoing Sepp Blatter, he must have realised reaction to his comments would be swift.
By Mark Baber
August 21 – Two men were sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison for selling BSkyB viewing cards for Premier League football matches, intended for domestic use, to pubs and other businesses.