By Paul Kennedy For one day at least, the New York Cosmos were again the No. 1 soccer story in New York. On Tuesday, Pele was onhand as the revived NASL club announced it signed a jersey sponsorship contract with Emirates Airline. That puts the Cosmos in big company as the airline also sponsors such […]
world cup 2022
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bundesliga boss launches blistering attack on Qatar
[WORLD CUP 2022] Criticism of FIFA’s decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar heated up as German Christian Seifert,the chief executive of the Bundesliga, used a media event in London on the eve of the all-Bundesliga UEFA Champions League final to launch a blistering attack on Qatar 2022, saying it was “hard, ifnot […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Gulati must walk FIFA tight rope
By Paul Kennedy Sunil Gulati is everything Sepp Blatterisn’t. The U.S. Soccer president is nuanced; the FIFA president blunt. Gulati, the 53-year-old Columbia economics teacher, is generally soft-spoken. At 77, Blatter often comes across asan old man who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of what he says. In his first remarks since being elected to […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Qatargate, doubts over Qatar 2022 linger
By Paul Kennedy More than two years after FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, the controversy surrounding the decision still lingers. In a 15-pagearticle published on Tuesday, the Paris magazine France Football examines “Qatargate” and whether FIFA should pull the tournament from Qatar. The accusations aren’t exactlyrevelatory but they are numerous: — The […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Qatar Would Consider Winter World Cup in 2022
Qatar, which won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup, has said it would consider an official request to hold the tournament during the winter, due to heat concerns. Summer temperatures in the MiddleEastern country regularly surpass 122°F, and while games would be held in air-conditioned stadiums, there have still been calls to change […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter Rips English 'Idiots' in New Coe Book
According to Sebastian Coe‘s new book, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has ”always had a problem” with English soccer,which he once described as being ”run by idiots.” Coe, the former Olympic gold medalist, headed the London Olympics, worked with Blatter as chairman of FIFA’s ethics committee and workedEngland’s failed bid to host the 2018 World Cup. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
FIFA exec tours Brazil World Cup cities
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, whose criticism of 2014 World Cup preparations angered Brazilian officials earlier this year, is back in the country to continue his tour ofhost cities. Valcke is scheduled to visit Manaus on Tuesday and the western city of Cuiaba on Wednesday. He will then meet with organizing officials Thursday in Rio […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter: Everything will be 'wonderful' in Russia
How bad are preparations going for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil? FIFA President Sepp Blatter says Russia, which won’t host until 2018, is farther along thanBrazil, which has only two years left to get everything ready. “The tournament organization in Brazil is not as good as in Russia, even though there is little more […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Brand Beckham meets Brand Qatar
[WORLD VIEW] His representatives have denied the media reports, but by all accounts, David Beckham is headed to ParisSt. Germain, where he will be paid a salary double what he made with the Los Angeles Galaxy. At 36 and with a recent history of injuries, Beckham’s value to PSG is debatable. But as the French […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Under-20 World Cup candidates to assemble in Florida
[U.S. UNDER-18 WOMEN] The U.S. under-18 women’s national team consisting of 26 players, the majority born in 1994 with several born in 1993 and 1992, willhold its final training camp of the year Dec. 11-18 in Sunrise, Fla. U.S. Soccer women’s technical director April Heinrichs will be in chargeof the camp. The ‘94s will most […]