Soccer fans in the U.S. are used to the complications of watching Premier League games, which often require getting up at an ungodly hour to watch British teams like Manchester United or Chelsea FC at a bar with a fancy cable sports package. They’ll have another option this summer, however. [More]
soccer
Adidas Accuses Puma Of Swiping Its Stripes For New Soccer Cleats
By 2.22.17
Perhaps more than any other piece of apparel, sneaker brands are often closely associated with their well-known logos. Nike’s got the swoosh, Adidas has its three stripes, and Puma has, well… a puma. However, Adidas now claims that Puma’s latest soccer cleats cross the trademark infringement line by allegedly copying the Adidas stripes. [More]
There’s No Ban On Beer At The 2022 World Cup In Qatar — At Least, Not Yet
By 11.10.16
Because attending sporting events and drinking a cold alcoholic beverages go so well together, many soccer fans have already started worrying about a potential ban on beer for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That’s not the plan, the event’s organizers say, at least, not so far. [More]
World Cup Ticket Prices Will Top $1,000 For The First Time
By 7.6.16
If you’re planning on attending the 2018 World Cup in Moscow, you better start saving, as ticket prices will cross the $1,000 mark for the first time. [More]
World Cup Champ Women’s Soccer Players Accuse U.S. Soccer Federation Of Wage Discrimination
By 3.31.16
While the women on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team have outshone the men’s team — winning three World Cup championships since 1991 and gold medals in all but one of the Summer Olympics since 1994 — they remain significantly underpaid than their underperforming male counterparts. Today, five members of that championship team filed an action with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that the U.S. Soccer Federation is unfairly discriminating against female players. [More]
FIFA Chief Sepp Blatter Banned Over $2M Payment To Fellow Soccer Exec
By 12.21.15
More than six months after he announced he would eventually be ending his nearly two-decade reign atop the world’s largest soccer organization, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been banned from the sport for eight years. [More]
Four Major Sponsors Call For FIFA President To Resign Immediately, He Refuses
By 10.2.15
Sure, sure, the president of global soccer association FIFA is under criminal investigation in Switzerland, but that doesn’t mean that he should make any rash decisions, like resigning in advance of the emergency presidential election in February. Now some of FIFA’s deep-pocketed sponsors are calling for Blatter to resign immediately, and he… refuses. [More]
FIFA’s $30 Million Vanity Film Somehow Managed To Earn $918 At Box Office
By 6.19.15
FIFA, the world’s most powerful soccer organization, is embroiled in criminal accusations and charges against a number of senior executives. Longtime FIFA President Sepp Blatter (and owner of a name that bears repeating… Sepp Blatter) recently announced he was stepping down only days after being re-elected. Meanwhile, soccer fans around the world are in the throes of both the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2015 Copa América in Chile. In spite of all this in focus on FIFA and football right now, United Passions, the $30 million, FIFA-backed vanity film about the organization’s brilliant leadership has managed to bring in about as much money as a Kevin Federline concert. [More]
FIFA President Sepp Blatter (Eventually) Quitting Amid Corruption Probe
By 6.2.15
Last Friday, Sepp Blatter was reelected as president of FIFA, the world’s most powerful soccer organization, only days after several high-ranking FIFA officials were arrested on charges of receiving illegal bribes and kickbacks. Today, after nearly two decades as head of the group behind the World Cup, Blatter announced he will be stepping down. [More]
John Oliver Pledges To Eat McDonald’s, Drink Budweiser If They Use Sponsorship Power To Change FIFA
By 6.1.15
Last week, the soccer world was rocked when numerous current and former FIFA officials were arrested and charged with accepting illegal kickbacks and bribes. Only days later, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, under whose oversight these alleged crimes have occurred for nearly two decades, was reelected. That’s why John Oliver has called on FIFA’s high-profile sponsors to use their financial leverage to effect some change in the most powerful soccer organization in the world. [More]
Visa Sends A Warning That It Could Pull Its FIFA Sponsorship
By 5.28.15
What a difference a week makes: Although last week it seemed Visa, Coca-Cola and other big name sponsors would stick with their sponsorships of the 2022 soccer World Cup amidst rumors of human rights abuses in host country Qatar, after multiple officials of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and several allied businesses were arrested yesterday, it seems some companies are getting cold feet. [More]
FIFA Officials Arrested On Racketeering, Bribery, Money Laundering Charges
By 5.27.15
The world’s most prominent soccer organization has been rocked this morning with the arrest in Switzerland of multiple officials of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and several allied businesses on charges that include racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. The Justice Dept. claims the defendants have been enriching themselves through corruption for more than two decades. [More]
Visa, Coca-Cola Respond To Human Rights Concerns About Qatar World Cup; Not Pulling Out As Sponsors
By 5.20.15
Since the mysterious cabal that is FIFA announced that the 2022 soccer World Cup would be played in Qatar, there have been rumors of graft, concerns about the exceedingly high temperatures, and most importantly multiple reports of human rights abuses at worksites for the new stadiums and other facilities being erected around the country. As more people call on the event’s largest sponsors to pull their support, some are responding, though none are giving any indication that they won’t slap their name on the wildly popular tournament. [More]
Soccer Team Requires Fans To Scan Hands Before Entering Games
By 11.12.14
If you think it’s a hassle getting a pat-down and walking through a metal detector at an NFL or baseball game, that’s nothing compared to what fans of one professional soccer team have to go through. In an effort to identify hooligans and cut down on hooliganism, the team now requires hand scans from all of its hometown fans before entering the stadium. [More]
FIFA Exec Says Qatar Is Just Too Hot To Host 2022 World Cup
By 9.22.14
There are numerous reasons why Qatar was a questionable choice to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, from the conditions for the workers building the venues to allegations of corruption in the bidding process to basic issues of human rights. But for one exec at the international soccer association, it’s just too darn hot in Qatar. [More]
StubHub Users Seeking World Cup Tickets In Brazil Stymied By Cyber Attack
By 5.7.14
Soccer fans (yes, other countries, we know you call it football) in Brazil trying to score resold tickets on StubHub in that country have been blocked from doing so after the site suffered a large denial-of-service attack and shut down. This, amidst the insistence of soccer’s governing body FIFA and the Brazilian government that all tickets to the upcoming World Coup tournament should come directly from FIFA. [More]
Adidas Drops World Cup T-Shirts After Host Country Brazil Deems Them Too Sexy
By 2.27.14
The country that put thong bikinis on the map would rather not put out the wrong message about its citizens during the 2014 World Cup. Brazil has nixed two graphic T-shirts from Adidas for being too suggestive, saying the country doesn’t want to promote sexual exploitation. [More]
Audio: Fan Begs Comcast "Executive Customer Relations" For Fox Soccer HD
By 7.21.11
The clock is running out. English Premier League soccer kicks off on August 12th. Many satellite and cable providers have added the Fox Soccer Channel in HD, but Comcast still has not in the Bay Area. Soccer fans who want to see the beautiful game in HD are looking to switch providers if Comcast doesn’t add FSCHD pronto. This is an audio recording one of the fans made to Comcast “executive customer relations.” My favorite part is how at first the rep says one of the holdups is bandwidth issues and then after the fan proves that wrong and says “The bandwidth argument doesn’t hold up either,” the rep agrees and says, “I know, I know.” [More]
