RIP Richard Swanson: American dribbling trom US to Brazil for One World Football Project hit by car
This is a truly tragic story. 42 year-old Richard Swanson, an American man who recently embarked on a charity walk for the One World Futbol Project, has been…

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RIP Richard Swanson: American dribbling trom US to Brazil for One World Football Project hit by car – Video

HT World Cup XX. Bid – Czech Republic
This video is official bid of Czech Republic to XX. World Cup hosting competition in online football manager Hattrick (see hattrick.org). See you in Czech Re…

By: augstenk

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HT World Cup XX. Bid – Czech Republic – Video

World Cup Soccer

By: Eric Bundy

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World Cup Soccer – Video

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 11 (UPI) — A Brazilian judge has blocked the transfer to a private group of the nation’s most famous stadium, slated to host the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro.

The Maracana, originally built to host the first post-World War II World Cup in 1950, has recently undergone a vast renovation in advance of the 2014 tournament and the 2016 Summer Olympics — a $500 million public works project. Bids to operate the stadium were solicited but Judge Gisela Faria said the winners had an unfair advantage in the process, the BBC said Friday.

The winning bidders were in a group that includes Eike Batista, a wealthy Brazilian businessman whose company IMX produced a viability study earlier in the bidding process.

“Even before the bids were put forward, the principle of fairness among the competitors had been disregarded,” Faria said in her ruling.

Several other multinational sport venue operations firms placed bids on running the Maracana but lost.

Gov. Sergio Cabral, whose administration oversaw the renovation and bidding process, said everything was “perfectly legal” and was “approved by the legal authorities.”

Faria said a final ruling on the matter will determine whether the bidding process for the famed soccer pitch was compromised.

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World Cup '14 stadium deal blocked by judge

At the tender age of 23, Anthony Wolfe was called up to the Trinidad and Tobago national team by coach Leo Beenhakker for the 2006 World Cup squad to bolster a star-studded strike force that included the likes of Stern John and Dwight Yorke.

Wolfe started his professional career with North East Stars in the TT Pro League in 2002 and won the league title with the Sangre Grande-based club in 2004, during which he contributed eight goals.

The attacker then made the switch to San Juan Jabloteh in 2006 and became the leagues top scorer with 16 goals before making the move to the United States, where he played for the Atlanta Silverbacks in the North American Soccer League, the second tier in the American football system.

Speaking exclusively to Goal.com Singapore, Wolfe recalled his experience in the footballing world thus far, which has also seen him mobbed by fans in Malaysia when he attended trials with clubs in the Southeast Asian country earlier this year, although no contract offers were forthcoming.

I played alongside both Dwight Yorke and Kenwyne Jones and the experience was great and I learnt a lot from them, especially on how to maintain our professionalism in whatever I do or wherever I go,” he said.

I learnt that I must always keep my head above waters, play hard and fair and put in hard work on the pitch. Dwight always tells me to do extra work on my own so that I can be a much better player.

When asked about his most memorable moments in his career, his answer came as no surprise.

Going to the World Cup, of course! the 30-year-old said without hesitation.

I wasn’t surprised because I knew as long as I worked hard, there was no reason why I should not [have] been included in the World Cup squad as I was in ripping form at that time; as well as [that] I [also] won the T&T Pro League top scorer award.

Being with the national team at the World Cup was just fascinating and no words can explain my joy and I enjoyed every bit of it. We were like one big happy family and it was a dream come true.

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Anthony Wolfe: World Cup experience was fascinating

Strachan has told the 30-year-old he will not be involved in the World Cup qualifier in Zagreb on June 7. McFadden won his 48th and most recent cap against Liechtenstein in September 2010, shortly before suffering a knee injury that kept him out for more than a year.

After frustrating spells with Everton and Sunderland, McFadden has rejuvenated his career at Motherwell since rejoining his first club in February.

McFadden has scored four goals in nine starts and shown evidence of the qualities that helped him strike 15 times for Scotland.

But he will have to wait until after the Croatia game to resurrect his international career.

“I’ve spoken to the manager and I won’t be involved in that game,” McFadden said. “He says I have missed a lot of football and he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on me to play in the game.

“He wants me to get a good pre-season and maybe I’ll come into the reckoning after that. He let me know if I was playing well I would be in consideration.”

McFadden, whose future is uncertain beyond the end of the season, added: “I can understand where he’s coming from but obviously at the same time I’m disappointed.

“I want to play as soon as I can. If he asked me to play now I’ll be able to. But I take a lot from the fact the manager has phoned me and explained it to me.

“I can take that as a positive, get a good pre-season, work hard next season and try to impress him.”

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World Cup – McFadden to miss Scotland game

Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup and, for the first time, the Olympics in 2016.

Felipe Dana/AP

SAO PAULO — While Brazil struggles to finish its stadiums in time for the 2014 World Cup, Twitter is already working to cash in on what the U.S. company’s head of revenue, Adam Bain, sees as a potentially huge business opportunity.

Robust consumer spending, growth potential from still-low Internet penetration and fast adoption of smart phones have turned this nation of 194 million people into an attractive market for Twitter and other online giants.

With soccer’s World Cup rapidly approaching and the 2016 Olympics around the corner, Brazil stands out as the kind of opportunity a company under pressure to monetize its 200 million-strong user base doesn’t want to miss.

“You think about the next 10 years in Brazil and it is really going to be amazing from a business perspective,” Bain, Twitter’s global president of revenue, said in an interview on a visit to Sao Paulo this week.

“Brazil is the largest opportunity we see in Latin America and frankly across all of the other markets,” the executive said. “That’s why we are here building and we will continue to invest in this market in a big way.”

The World Cup and the Olympics are meant to showcase Brazil’s status as an emerging economic power. But with just a year left before the opening match, Latin America’s biggest economy is struggling to finish new stadiums and put in place key infrastructure such as G4 mobile networks.

For Twitter, the international sports events are also crucial. The San Francisco-based company saw record levels of traffic during the 2012 London Olympics and launched a model of integration with TV that company executives like Bain think may be a substantial part of its monetizing strategy.

Twitter makes money through its “promoted tweets” or advertisement posts that users receive in their tweet feeds. The company is expected to generate nearly $600 million in revenues this year, according to the research firm eMarketer.

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Twitter eyes big business in Brazil '14 World Cup

Over the next week or two, Asian football will be focused on the second round of the 2013 Asian Champions League.

The sixteen teams standing are still divided into the western and eastern zones. In the west, there are three Saudi Arabian-Qatari clashes. Over in the east, it is more mixed with, for the first time, six nations represented.

South Korea and China have two each while Australia, Japan, Uzbekistan and Thailand also have a horse left in the race.

In the medium term however, the powers-that-be on the continent are ready to talk about an even bigger prize increasing the 4.5 World Cup spots allocated to the AFC and its 46 full members.

The clarion call was sounded by FIFA president Sepp Blatter on May 2. The Swiss supremo has a reputation for telling audiences what they want to hear and as he was talking to all 46 full members of the AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur, his words should be taken with the usual amount of salt.

We have to have a better balance. You are a powerhouse, you must be aware of your powerhouse.

It may have been more blather from Blatter but he had a point. Over four billion people call Asia home but in terms of the World Cup, 60% of all humanity gets about 16% of the representation.

And as the FIFA boss pointed out, roughly half of the regular $1 billion income received by the world governing body rolls into Switzerland from the east. At the most basic level, its just not fair.

The man behind Qatars successful 2022 World Cup bid Hassan Al-Thawadi recently saw his attempt to win election to FIFAs powerful Executive Committee defeated by Sheikh Salman, who also won the AFC presidency. The charismatic Al Thawadi, also the General Secretary of the 2022 Supreme Organising committee, believes it is an issue worth discussing.

“It is something we need to look at,” he told Al Jazeera.

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Asian football and the World Cup question

By Esteban Israel

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – While Brazil struggles to finish its stadiums in time for the 2014 World Cup, Twitter is already working to cash in on what the U.S. company’s head of revenue, Adam Bain, sees as a potentially huge business opportunity.

Robust consumer spending, growth potential from still-low Internet penetration and fast adoption of smart phones have turned this nation of 194 million people into an attractive market for Twitter and other online giants.

With soccer’s World Cup rapidly approaching and the 2016 Olympics around the corner, Brazil stands out as the kind of opportunity a company under pressure to monetize its 200 million-strong user base doesn’t want to miss.

“You think about the next 10 years in Brazil and it is really going to be amazing from a business perspective,” Bain, Twitter’s global president of revenue, said in an interview on a visit to Sao Paulo this week.

“Brazil is the largest opportunity we see in Latin America and frankly across all of the other markets,” the executive said. “That’s why we are here building and we will continue to invest in this market in a big way.”

The World Cup and the Olympics are meant to showcase Brazil’s status as an emerging economic power. But with just a year left before the opening match, Latin America’s biggest economy is struggling to finish new stadiums and put in place key infrastructure such as G4 mobile networks.

For Twitter, the international sports events are also crucial. The San Francisco-based company saw record levels of traffic during the 2012 London Olympics and launched a model of integration with TV that company executives like Bain think may be a substantial part of its monetizing strategy.

Twitter makes money through its “promoted tweets” or advertisement posts that users receive in their tweet feeds. The company is expected to generate nearly $600 million in revenues this year, according to the research firm eMarketer.

Bain, the man in charge of turning Twitters’ huge user base into money, came to Brazil to talk to businesses that are starting to lay out their strategies for the World Cup and the Olympics.

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Twitter eyes big business in Brazil's World Cup, Olympics

Olympic Stadium To Host Rugby World Cup Games
Olympic Stadium To Host Rugby World Cup Games Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has been voted the 2013 Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers' Association.

By: MultiFastnews

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Olympic Stadium To Host Rugby World Cup Games – Video

The governing body, which has allowed several stadiums to over-run the deadline for this year’s Confederations Cup warm-up event starting next month, said that “no compromises” would be made when it came to the real thing next year.

“FIFA is for sure concerned as it is vital that the firm deadline of December 2013 will be kept,” it stated.

“The host cities, federal government and stadium owners have committed themselves to this date and acknowledged that for the FIFA World Cup, no compromises can be made to avoid jeopardising the successful staging of football’s flagship event.

“This crucial not only for FIFA but for the entire host nation.”

FIFA has insisted that the six stadiums not being used for the Confederations Cup will be ready by December. They are in Sao Paulo, Manaus, Cuiaba, Natal, Porto Alegre and Curitiba.

Brazilian media quoted the head engineer at Sao Paulo’s Itaquerao stadium as saying that work would over-run by two months.

Frederico Barbosa said that, although the main part 48,000 capacity stadium would be finished in time, the extra 20,000 temporary seats to be added for the World Cup would not.

“The technical teams of FIFA and the Local Organising Committee have reinforced the tight monitoring on all remaining six FIFA World Cup stadiums not only limited to Sao Paulo,” FIFA added.

FIFA set a deadline of last December for the six Confederations Cup stadiums to be completed, but has allowed several to over-run.

Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana was opened with an exhibition match 10 days ago, but it was only one third full and only two of the entrances were used. A test event due to be staged on May 15 was cancelled on Tuesday.

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World Cup – FIFA 'concerned' over Sao Paulo stadium delay

Ankara, May 9 (IANS) FIFA President Sepp Blatter said he is confident that Turkey will put on a good organisation as the host of next month’s FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The head of world football’s governing body met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, six weeks before the start of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013, reports Xinhua.

“This is FIFA’s first competition in Turkey and we have very high expectations, but we are confident it will be a great event,” Blatter said. “I encouraged the Prime Minister that Turkey uses the FIFA U-20 World Cup as an international showcase for Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Olympic Games.”

The meeting in Ankara saw the pair primarily focus on FIFA’s major youth competition, but other topics such as Istanbul’s bid for the 2020 Olympic Games and football development in the country were also discussed, a statement on the FIFA website said.

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Turkey will be good host for U-20 World Cup: Blatter

FIFA opened an investigation after Argentine referee Nestor Pitana missed the incident which happened as Suarez tussled with Gonzalo Jara as they lined up for a corner during Chile’s 2-0 win in Santiago.

“The matter in question does not require the intervention of the FIFA disciplinary committee and therefore the disciplinary procedure in question is declared closed,” FIFA said.

Uruguayan Football Association president Sebastian Bauza, who has claimed Liverpool striker Suarez is persecuted – especially in England – said the forward needed to realise that he was being scrutinised.

“It’s very good news for Luis, the national team and for the whole group,” he said.

“We understand that from now on, Luis should realise that he will be watched from all sides and we hope that this experience, when added to others, will be useful, so that he becomes the player will all want him to be.”

The AUF had argued in his defence that Suarez reacted to provocation by Jara, who grabbed his genitals. It also submitted video evidence of incidents missed by referees in other games and which were not followed up by FIFA.

Suarez will, however, miss Uruguay’s next World Cup qualifier away to Venezuela on June 11 because of accumulated yellow cards after he was booked in a separate incident against Chile.

Uruguay, semi-finalists in South Africa three years ago, are in danger of missing the 2014 tournament in Brazil after taking only two points from their last six qualifiers and dropping to sixth in the South American group.

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World Cup – Suarez escapes punishment for punch

Luis Suarez and Uruguay would not make the World Cup if the standings hold.

Getty Images

Uruguay forward Luis Suarez has escaped a sanction for allegedly punching an opponent during the World Cup qualifier against Chile, the country’s football federation (AUF) said in a statement.

Soccer’s governing body FIFA opened an investigation after Argentine referee Nestor Pitana missed the incident which happened as Suarez tussled with Gonzalo Jara as they lined up for a corner during Chile’s 2-0 win in Santiago.

“The matter in question does not require the intervention of the FIFA disciplinary committee and therefore the disciplinary procedure in question is declared closed,” FIFA said in a fax which was published on the AUF website (auf.org.uy).

AUF president Sebastian Bauza, who has claimed Suarez is persecuted, especially in England where he plays for Liverpool, said the forward needed to realise that he was being scrutinised.

“It’s very good news for Luis, the national team and for the whole group,” he said.

“We understand that from now on, Luis should realise that he will be watched from all sides and we hope that this experience, when added to others, will be useful, so that he becomes the player will all want him to be.”

The AUF had argued in his defence that Suarez reacted to provocation by Jara, who grabbed his genitals. It also submitted video evidence of incidents missed by referees in other games and which were not followed up by FIFA.

Suarez will, however, miss Uruguay’s next World Cup qualifier away to Venezuela on June 11 because of accumulated yellow cards after he was booked in a separate incident against Chile.

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Luis Suarez escapes punishment for World Cup qualifier punch

Rio de Janeiro, May 9 (IANS) World football governing body FIFA admitted concern over delays in the construction of Sao Paulo’s 2014 World Cup Stadium.

Earlier this week, the building firm responsible for the Itaquerao Stadium said the venue would not be ready until at least March next year, more than two months after the FIFA deadline, reports Xinhua.

“FIFA is concerned as it is vital that the firm deadline of December 2013 is kept,” FIFA said in a statement.

“The host cities, federal government and stadium owners have committed themselves to this date and acknowledged that no compromises can be made.This is crucial not only for FIFA but for the entire host nation.”

Itaquerao’s developer Odebrecht is still awaiting a promised $200 million loan from state-run banks and has threatened to stop work if an imminent deal is not struck.

FIFA has set a Dec 31 deadline for the six stadiums not being used for the Confederations Cup in the cities of Sao Paulo, Manaus, Cuiaba, Natal, Porto Alegre and Curitiba.

Each of Brazil’s six venues for June’s Confederations Cup – considered an organisational warmup for the World Cup – long overshot their original deadlines of December 2012.

Brasilia’s Estadio Nacional is still yet to be reopened despite being scheduled to host the Confederations Cup opener between Brazil and Japan, June 15.

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Sao Paulo World Cup stadium delay upsets FIFA

There are some football clubs in life who ooze style.

There are some who breathe originality.

And there are some which epitomize coolness.

However, there are some sad cases, in which the logo designer has crippled the football club with one swift and ill-advised click of a button.

With all the marketing opportunities, advertising campaigns and television possibilities in World Football at this time, you would have thought clubs would design their logos, kit and team in order to attract players, supporters and sponsors.

However, the following 25 clubs did not receive this memo, as they have delved into the forgotten world of Clip-Art to come up with some of the most atrocious logos in football in the present day.

And when there is just one MLS team on this list, you know they have to be bad.

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25 Worst Logos in World Football

A test event scheduled for May 15 at the giant stadium, venue for the Confederations Cup in June and the 2014 World Cup finals, was cancelled by the Rio government on Tuesday.

When the venue was officially reopened at the end of April, four months behind schedule, it functioned at only 30 percent of its capabilities, only two entrances were used and it still resembled a building site on the outside.

The high-profile June 2 match against England, when the stadium will be open to its new full capacity of 78,000 spectators, will therefore be the only test before it hosts three matches during the June 15-30 Confederations Cup.

The Rio government issued a statement saying that instead of the May 15 event, there would be a series of simulations of the facilities “to optimise the necessary tests, focusing on the technical aspect”.

The Maracana, FIFA’s main concern during delays in the building or modernisation of most of the World Cup stadiums, has had a complete overhaul costing 290 million.

Workers are racing against the clock to meet the latest deadline of May 27 for the stadium to be delivered to world football governing body.

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World Cup – England visit turns into crucial Maracana test for Brazil

(MENAFN – Arab Times) Kuwait Financial Centre “Markaz” recently published the executive summary of its report on analyzing the implication of hosting FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. In this research note, Markaz identifies FIFA specific investments and projects in Qatar and tracks their progress status; and attempts to determine its impact on the regional economies in general and on Qatar in particular. Qatar won the honors for hosting one of the biggest sporting events in the world, when the country won the bid against five countries including the US to host 2022 edition of FIFA World Cup. Qatar will hog the limelight during the event and would represent an Arab world that stands for well-developed, modern, diversified, capable and futuristic group.

Prowess Qatar has hosted FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 1995, Asian Games in 2006, and Gulf Cup of Nations in 1992 and 2004 where it eventually won the cup too. Apart from these, it has hosted several other regional and International sporting events and would like the opportunity to showcase its prowess to host large scale international events. The event is expected to draw over half a million visitors to the country, which accounts for almost a third of its current population. The huge influx of people and the associated needs is expected to have a direct impact on the Hospitality and Infrastructure sectors and indirectly on the Financial, Communication and Power sectors. In this report, we intend to assess the magnitude of change that this event will drive into Qatari economy and in the neighboring GCC states.

Prior to winning the FIFA bid, Qatari Government, under National Vision 2030, had announced ambitious spending plans to boost the infrastructure of the country as part of diversification away from hydrocarbon driven economy in line with other GCC peers. Hosting the world cup would instill a sense of urgency and provide an additional incentive to attain the National Vision 2030. Select projects were also launched to specifically address the issue of hosting a successful world cup. Ambitious and large scale infrastructure plans and the associated spending levels will have implications on the financial sector. Government of Qatar has already made moves to deepen the debt market and it intends to issue three and five-year domestic government bonds to build sovereign yield curve.

Banks would have ample opportunities to increase their loan book size and generate income fees. As of September 2012, credit to private sector has grown by 14.5% (YoY basis) while credit to public sector registered a growth rate of 44.3% (YoY basis). GCC firms are actively expected to pursue the diverse opportunities in Qatar. Intra-regional trade would receive a major boost as most of the raw materials involved in the construction of many projects would be sourced from neighboring countries. Large regional financial institutions would stand to benefit by offering financial services to the large number of projects.

However, there remains certain risks; such as: cost overrun for event specific investments which are likely to be redundant for Qatar as it has a very small population base and limited means to put them to use after the event, inherent implementation risk for large scale projects which have high tendency to be delayed, and risk of hosting the event during the hottest months of the year in June/July. Additionally, post FIFA World Cup event there is likely to be a huge legacy cost in terms of excess hotel room capacity, dismantling of newly built stadiums to be given away to other developing nations, and extended metro lines.

Implication of FIFA World Cup 2022 Category Implication Qatar’s GDP Spending Specific to hosting world Cup is largely restricted to stadium creation and establishing hospitality centers, tourist spending and the associated economic activities may add 1-1.5% to GDP value. Infrastructure Infrastructure spending worth 3 billion is being made for the construction and up gradation of football stadiums. Doha metro interconnecting the stadiums, airport and city center is under execution. FDI The declining trend in FDI is expected to turnaround as the multiple projects move from boardroom to execution phase by 2015. Hospitality & Tourism The room inventory is all set to double (from the current 44,000) as 140 new properties are being established at a cost of 12.4 billion and they pose to threaten the already prevalent low Hotel occupancy rates (approx. 60%). Banking and Investment Multiple opportunities exist in project financing and capital rising. Qatar’s recent move to deepen the debt market and build a sovereign yield curve augurs well for the outlook. Regional economies Qatar would need to tap the neighboring countries for building and construction materials. FIFA specific projects would be providing opportunities for regional Financial Institutions and Infrastructure companies Source: FIFA, Markaz Research

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World Cup projects seen to boost Qatar GDP

Long a soccer backwater, Jordan is in the thick of the race to qualify for a berth in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.        

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Goal: Jordan in Thick of World Cup Race

Long a soccer backwater, Jordan is in the thick of the race to qualify for a berth in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

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Jordan in Thick of World Cup Race