The Summary for the Business of Football

"Soccerway.com is set to make the latest and most comprehensive soccer data available directly to mobile phones and other portable devices around the world. Soccerway.mobi will feature live results from all major soccer competitions, as well as statistics, fixtures, results and tables for more than 615 competitions across the globe. With a real-time news feed that will also keep subscribers updated with the latest developments in the world of football, the service will be an exhaustive supplier of soccer data to mobile platforms. Arjen Robijn, director of Global Sports Media and publisher of Soccerway.com, said: "We are aiming to gain the same share on the mobile market as we have on the web."

"The National Bolivian Brewery has become a sponsor of the Bolivian Football Federation (FBF). Financial details of the agreement have not been revealed, but the deal will run through to the end of the qualifying games for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Bolivia has picked up one point from its first two qualifying games for the tournament. FBF president Carlos Chávez and national team technical director Erwin Sánchez were both in attendance at the signing ceremony".

"Premier Soccer League (PSL) club AmaZulu has secured a three-year sponsorship deal worth R20 million (US$3 million) with the Spar Group . The two parties first worked together almost 20 years ago, with the supermarket chain's last involvement in 1992 witnessing the Durban club lift the Coca-Cola (sponsor) Cup in 1992. "South Africans are passionate about soccer and what better way for Spar to celebrate this than by becoming involved with one of our local teams and helping them to pave the way to success," Spar Group managing director Roelf Venter told The Mercury".

"FIFA president Sepp Blatter has opened the way for England to bid for the 2018 World Cup after he told UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown he expects rotation of the tournament to be scrapped at an executive committee meeting next week. Blatter met Brown on Wednesday with an England bid for the 2018 finals top of the agenda. The Prime Minister asked whether FIFA would end rotation of the finals between different continents. Blatter said he expected the system would be changed so that any country - apart from those in the continent hosting the previous World Cup - could bid. England is likely to be up against China, Russia, Australia, Benelux and the USA and Mexico for the 2018 event".

"Wembley Stadium in London, Berlin's Olympiastadion, Munich's Allianz (sponsor) Arena, Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu and Valencia's Mestalla are in the running to host the UEFA Champions League final in 2010 or 2011 . UEFA has also confirmed London's Emirates (sponsor) Stadium and Dublin's Lansdowne Road will compete with the Veltins (sponsor) Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Espanyol's Estadi Montjuic in Barcelona, Hamburg's HSH Nordbank (sponsor) Arena and the National Stadium in Bucharest for the right to stage the UEFA Cup final over the same two years. A UEFA delegation will visit the venues before the end of this year with a decision expected in March next year".

"Peter Montopoli, who oversaw the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada , has played down reports that the tournament suffered losses of more than C$1.7 million (US$1.8 million). Montopoli, who was event director for the competition, insists the financial figures for the World Cup are not "final yet," after a report in the Globe and Mail newspaper claimed an internal document within the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) had revealed the losses. "It is not an accurate final financial picture because we are still opening up invoices," said Montopoli. The 2007 edition of the event set a new attendance record for the Under-20 World Cup, with more than 1.1 million people snapping up tickets".

"Julio Grondona will continue his long reign at the the head of the Argentinian Football Association (AFA) after being re-elected as president for a seventh consecutive term. The 76-year-old, who took control at the AFA for the first time 28 years ago, is a FIFA vice-president, and he leads the financial committee and the marketing and television council at world football's governing body. Grondona did not face opposition in the election and collected 44 of the 46 votes as only the boards of Independiente and Velez Sarsfield refused to support him".

Source: Soccerex