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
July 22 – The Bulgarian tax collector, the National Revenue Agency (NAP), has failed to find a buyer for the CSKA Sofia brand (it’s logos and trademarks) and has dropped the asking price by 20%, to BGN2,944,288 (€1,472,144). This is the second time it has lowered the price.
By David Owen
July 22 – FIFA’s ad hoc electoral committee met on Tuesday, just a day after February 26 was fixed as the date of the election that is expected to bring down the curtain on Sepp Blatter’s near 18-year reign as President of world football’s governing body.
By Ben Nicholson
July 21 – David Beckham appears to have found a mutually agreeable site in Miami for his long awaited MLS franchise. The city’s resolve to push Beckham away from its prime real estate has forced him to resort to the less desirable land next to Marlins Park, home to a Major League Baseball team, which is west of downtown in Little Havana.
For those who like to think before they foam at their keyboard, the editorial reprinted here from the Trinidad Daily Express raises some important, generally forgotten, issues. Jack Warner may be a crook, he may be a bad man but this editorial points out where much of the media have been going wrong. It suggests a lot of physicians in and around the world of football need to start with healing themselves, or at least a health check.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 21 – One of the potential contenders for FIFA president and a long time bitter rival of Sepp Blatter has said that leaving him until February 26 to stay in the job shows the organisation “have yet to come to their senses”.
By Mark Baber
July 21 – Sunderland have announced a new partnership with Betfair who become the club’s official UK betting partner for the 2015-16 season.
By Ricardo Setyon
July 21 – The on-going saga of Neymar’s transfer to Barcelona and who actually ‘owns’ Neymar has taken another twist with one of the third party owners, an investment group from Brazil, claiming they have been cheated by Neymar’s father and Barcelona.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 21 – Michel Platini could announce as early as this weekend or the start of next week that he will stand for FIFA president after consulting colleagues attending the 2018 World Cup draw in St. Petersburg.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any crazier at the HQ of football’s world governing body, along came Simon Brodkin. That’s the British prankster who suddenly showered Sepp Blatter with fake dollar bills in his attempt to “secure the 2026 World Cup for North Korea”.
July 21 – For Hannover 96 fans the often used football phrase “they came and parked their bus in front of the goal” took on a more literal meaning when 12 of them actually did it at the club’s HDI Arena.
“The danger is that the indulgence and attachments of the people will keep a man in the chair after he becomes a dotard, that reelection through life shall become habitual and election for life follow that.”
“I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” Thomas Jefferson
Young nation though it still is,
July 21 – As Manchester City prepare for the new season in Australia, including a first time-ever match against sister club Melbourne City FC, owner City Football Group (CFG) is starting to show the benefits of the sponsorship leverage a larger group of clubs can provide.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
July 20 – Sepp Blatter’s often tempestuous and acrimonious reign as FIFA president will finally come to an end on February 26 next year, the date set today for an extraordinary congress to elect his successor after what will be almost 18 years in charge.
July 20 – Premier League Liverpool have added Marathonbet as one of its suite of betting partners that currently includes 188BET and Comeon.
By Mark Baber
July 20 – In yet another apparent leak from inside the US Department of Justice investigation into FIFA corruption, the Trinidad Sunday Express has published details of the evidence against Jack Warner provided by “a US law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation” who says the statement of case against Warner is now complete and the formal “record of case” will arrive in Trinidad by Wednesday.