Liga MX side Puebla "clarified that it was not acquired by TV Azteca." The team said in a statement that two people from TV Azteca owner Grupo Salinas "will join Puebla." The statement said, "Our link with Televisión Azteca is limited to the broadcasters' exclusive rights to Puebla" (LA AFICIÓN, 7/5).
The Premier League season "will kick off on a Friday evening for the first time, after TV fixtures were announced." Arsenal will host Leicester City on Aug. 11, with a 7:45pm kickoff, as the Premier League starts its 25th anniversary season. Sky Sports was awarded the rights to screen 10 Friday night matches as part of its multi-million pound deal with the Premier League (BBC, 7/6).
Switzerland's supreme court dismissed an appeal by former FIFA VP Michel Platini "against his four-year ban for financial wrongdoing." The Swiss Federal Tribunal said that the ban imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport "does not appear to be manifestly excessive." The federal court is the fourth to find Platini was not entitled to $2M in backdated salary in '11 for working as former FIFA President Sepp Blatter's presidential adviser from '98-02 (SKY SPORTS, 7/6).
Eight people -- including seven children -- "died in a stampede ahead of a football match in Malawi," police said. Dozens more were "injured in the crush" at Lilongwe's Bingu national stadium. The stampede happened as "thousands of people rushed for seats" ahead of a friendly between Malawi Premier Division sides Nyasa Big Bullets and Silver Strikers (BBC, 7/6).
Bundesliga side Hoffenheim installed a videowall at its main training pitch. A 6m x 3m screen is positioned on the halfway line of the club's main training pitch. The system works with four cameras, two from the tower high above the halfway line and one behind each goal. The feed from each camera is able to be shown on the screen at any time (Bundesliga).
