Anger mounts as Newcastle’s Cisse refuses to wear Wonga logo
By Mark Baber
June 9 – Senegalese striker Papiss Cisse’s representatives have informed Newcastle officials that his religious beliefs forbid him from representing or advertising a loans company, posing a dilemma for the club which has accepted sponsorship from pay-day loans company Wonga.
‘Ideological wars’ are ‘the new bitterness’
So, FIFA have had their congress which by some – mainly FIFA – was called “historic”, and by others a “whitewash”, “irrelevant” or worse.
Under the rainy skies of the African island nation of Mauritius, 209 FIFA Members met and the individual delegates cast their electronic vote. Actually, they also cast their more traditional manual vote in a secret ballot that determined which one of three women candidates would be FIFA’s first elected Executive Committee (Board) member.
English Football League closes loophole on overseas loan players
June 9 – The English Football League has voted to restrict the number of overseas loans that can be used after Championship club Watford exploited the system – and came within one match of gaining promotion to the lucrative Premier League.
Aussies offer official apology over detention of Jordan’s Hamad
By Andrew Warshaw
June 9 – The Australian government has apologised to Jordan for its Iraqi national team coach, Adnan Hamad, being detained for more than four hours when the squad flew into Melbourne last week ahead of tomorrow’s (Tuesday) crunch World Cup qualifier.
UEFA advances ‘solidarity payment’ to help Irish with Aviva Stadium debt
By Andrew Warshaw
June 9 – UEFA have stepped in to help the Football Association of Ireland meet its debt repayments for the Aviva stadium in Dublin.
Israeli stadium DJ out of tune with UEFA’s anti-racism message
June 9 – UEFA have been left embarrassed after a local DJ played a song ahead of last weekend’s European under-21 fixture between England and Norway that contained racially offensive lyrics – just as an anti-racism appeal was made.
Infantino calls for winter world cups, not just in Qatar
By Andrew Warshaw
June 9 – The UEFA hierarchy has once again caused a potential stir with Europe’s major leagues by endorsing the idea of winter World Cups – and not just in Qatar.
FIFA reform process backed by Olympic frontrunner
By David Owen
June 9 – The frontrunner in the race for the most powerful post in world sport has backed FIFA’s reform process, saying world football’s governing body is “on the right track”. Thomas Bach, a German ex-fencer and Olympic gold medallist, is one of six candidates vying to succeed Jacques Rogge, as President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the organisation behind the Olympic Games.
Women footballers had higher London 2012 injury rate than men
By David Owen
June 8 – An in-depth study of injuries across all sports at the London 2012 Olympics has found that women footballers faced a substantially greater risk of getting hurt than their male counterparts. The International Olympic Committee study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, recorded 99 injuries among the 220 women who participated – a rate of 45%.
Aksa and Hyundai sign up for U-20 World Cup in Turkey later this month
By Mark Baber
June 7 – Ahead of the kick off of the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup on June 21, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) has agreed sponsorship deals with Aksa Jenerator to provide energy and with Hyundai to provide 112 official cars.
Egyptian club Zamalek urges complaint to FIFA about government interference
By Mark Baber
June 7 – Zamalek have written to the Egyptian FA, encouraging them to file a complaint to FIFA in a bid to bring pressure to overturn new regulations imposed by sports minister El-Amri Farouq. Zamalek maintain the new rules constitute unacceptable government interference in the sport.
Mihir Bose: Can Mourinho make us fall in love with Chelsea?
Jose Mourinho has nothing in common with Richard Burton. But the Portuguese, like the great Welsh actor, is about to discover what it means to go back to your first love. And, while not even the most devoted Stamford Bridge fan will argue that Chelsea is football’s Elizabeth Taylor, the way Mourinho has expressed himself in recent weeks, leading up to return, leaves no doubt that his great love for the west London club almost matches that of Burton for Taylor.
Barça peace match scrapped but Peace Tour to go ahead
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
June 7 – Plans by Barcelona to stage a symbolic exhibition match against a joint Israeli-Palestinian team to try and heal the wounds between the two sides and promote Middle East peace have been ditched after no agreement could be reached between the various parties.
Italians put Bari under scrutiny as another 33 named in match-fixing scandal
By Andrew Warshaw
June 7 – The latest round of match-fixing allegations in Italian football has implicated 33 players and officials associated with Bari in 2008 and 2009.