It’s been a bad shocking year for football news, with the World Cup just months away: 

 “The alleged fixer arrested earlier this week claimed he fixed World Cup games and matches in Europe and Australia.”

(The Telegraph)

 

“A wide-ranging match-fixing investigation has uncovered more than 680 suspicious matches — including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers and two Champions League games — and found evidence that a Singapore-based crime group is closely involved in match-fixing…”

(National Post)

 

“Last Sunday, an amateur soccer match in Brazil came to an unbelievably gruesome end when a referee was murdered by outraged fans. His head was then cut off and placed on a spike. The beheading was retaliation; the ref initially stabbed a player to death.”

(Deadspin)

 

“A crane installing a part of the roof of the stadium that will host the opening soccer match of the 2014 World Cup here collapsed on the arena on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring a third.”

(Wall Street Journal)