July 17 – England’s players and their manager Sarina Wiegman have warned not to underestimate quarter-final opponents Sweden, who have enjoyed a perfect EURO 2025 so far.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 10 – A new FIFA president could be in place by Christmas according to the time scale being put in place to replace Sepp Blatter. As developments move on apace in the wake of Blatter’s dramatic decision to step down, reports suggest that mid-December could be the date when football’s world governing body enters a new era at an extraordinary Congress.
By Paul Nicholson
June 10 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has said that the vote to award the host country for the World Cup 2026 needs to be postponed in light of the current events circling FIFA.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
June 10 – Spanish sports apparel brand Joma has signed a new kit deal with Toulouse FC in a move which marks the manufacturer’s first technical sponsorship contract inked with a French Ligue 1 club.
By Mark Baber
June 10 – UEFA has signed three new major sponsorship deals covering its European club competitions with PepsiCo, Enterprise Rent-a-car and Unicredit.
By Paul Nicholson in Moscow
June 10 – Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko (pictured) has reiterated that Russia’s bid for 2018 was a clean bid and that there was no corruption. Mutko spoke after a series of meetings between the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee and a FIFA delegation in the Oblast Government House in Samara.
By Paul Nicholson in Moscow
June 10 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has given a passionate explanation of why the $10 million that ended up in the hands of Jack Warner was transferred, at South Africa’s request, via FIFA to Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and CONCACAF accounts.
By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Amid growing discontent with the Brazilian FA, some of Brazil’s leading clubs have revealed a desire to establish a breakaway league. The CBF has responded by proposing an amendement to its statutes, giving greater power to the clubs.
By Samindra Kunti
June 10 – Swiss authorities have raided the offices of Switzerland-based sports rights agency Kentaro, investigating the relationship between a 2010 Brazil vs Argentina friendly and the 2018-2022 World Cup bid contests. Kentaro were, until recently, the agency responsible for marketing the Brazilian national team’s friendly fixtures.
June 10 – The hunt for the missing sports marketing executives wanted for questioning by the FBI in the US in relation to alleged bribes to win and retain commercial and broadcast rights to major championships has flushed out one more, Alejandro Burzaco, who has handed himself in to police in Italy.
“There are no bad regiments, only bad colonels,” Napoléon Bonaparte (attribution)
When Naploéon’s Grande Armée embarked with hundreds of thousands of men on the so-called Second Polish War or, more accurately, the invasion of Russia, there was scant prospect of additional numbers to support the campaign. So it is for the regimental colonels of football competitions.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Bulgaria has started the reconstruction of its national stadium, Vasil Levski. The renovation will pass through three stages, said Bulgarian sports minister Krassen Kralev, who spoke yesterday after an inspection of the stadium.
By Mark Baber
June 9- With women’s football reaching new heights of popularity, the timing of Monday’s announcement that the FA Women’s Cup, described by the FA as “the most popular cup competition in female football,” will be sponsored by energy firm SSE was immaculate.
By Mark Baber
June 9 – The annual study by Brand Finance ranking the world’s biggest football clubs by their “brand value” sees Manchester United, whose brand is said to be worth $1.2 bn, displace Bayern Munich from top spot. The list remains dominated by Premier League sides with six English clubs in the top ten.
By Paul Nicholson
June 9 – The CIES Football Observatory has released its top 100 ranking of the highest transfer values for big-5 league footballers. Not surprisingly Lionel Messi heads the table with an estimated value of between €255 and €281 million – more than it would cost to buy half the teams in the English Premier League, Aston Villa is reckoned to be on sale for £100 million.
By Alexander Krassimirov
June 9 – Embattled Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia, which has so far been refused a license to play next season, was struck another blow when former player Youness Bengelloun was awarded €407,296 (BGN 803 000) in compensation for unpaid salary. The decision was taken by a FIFA tribunal with judges from England, Croatia, Argentina, South Africa and Brazil.