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Former Barcelona coach, Tito Vilanova, passed away today in a Catalan clinic. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and has been battling the disease ever since.

Vilanova came up through Barcelona ranks and played for various teams before he hung up his boots and began work at the Barca academy as a coach responsible for training the U-14 team, which at the time, included Messi, Fabregas and Pique. He managed a few catalan pubs prior to joining Guardiola’s coaching staff.

“The Club wishes to express its most heartfelt sympathy to his family, who are being joined in these moments of mourning by FC Barcelona members and fans all around the world, as well as the rest of the footballing and sporting world,” Barça said in a statement confirming the sad news, continuing: “The Vilanova family has asked for respect for their desire for the strictest intimacy in the moments after his death.”

Wednesday FC Barcelona was enabled to sign new players after their ban was cleared. The governing body panel chairman Larry Mussenden made the decision on the basis that the issues revolving around the ban were unlikely to be resolved by the July first the beginning of the next transfer window.  As the ban is currently lifted only under the contexts that the issues will not be resolved by the transfer date, FC Barcelona is preparing and establishing counter measures against FIFA in the future  against reinstatements of the ban that is valid until 2015. Barcelona is expecting to initiate many more challenges against the ban.  FIFA’s intent behind the ban was to ensure the safety of the underage players. The issue of signing underage players without the required fields is becoming a more common happening event as can be seen with the cases with Chelsea and Nates. This states the victory of FC Barcelona and the beginning of many cases against potentially violated player signing regulations. http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2014-04-23/barcelona-transfer-ban-suspended-fifa-la-liga-appeal-neymar-lionel-messi

FC Barcelona’s former head coach Tito Vilanova died Friday at the young age of 45. It was an international shock to the soccer community when Tito Vilanova finally lost his long time battle against throat cancer.  When he was diagnosed with the cancer he gave over his position to recover against his condition, he stayed alongside Pep Guardiola and aided some of the most dominant playing in Europe for the team winning 14 titles. Vilanova has been to have helped raise up star players like Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and many, many others. FC Barcelona’s current President Josep Maria Bartomeu released this statement “Tito Vilanova was a wonderful person and will never be forgotten at FC Barcelona. Thank you for everything you taught us, rest in peace,” showing the whole FC’s appreciation for his work and dedication to the sport which he loved so much and greatly helped to improve.

“The Club wishes to express its most heartfelt sympathy to his family, who are being joined in these moments of mourning by FC Barcelona members and fans all around the world, as well as the rest of the footballing and sporting world. The Vilanova family has asked for respect for their desire for the strictest intimacy in the moments after his death. Over the next few hours, FC Barcelona will be opening a space in the main grandstand at the Camp Nou for people to express their condolences, which will be open to anyone who wishes to express their sympathy and love for the late Tito Vilanova. The Club will shortly be announcing when this space is open, as well as details of the religious ceremony that will be held in the coming days.” – President Josep Maria Bartomeu

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2014/04/25/former-fc-barcelona-head-coach-tito-vilanova-dies/

In the 2014 FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final 18 year old Rafael Salles Leite Fortes, a Rio de Janeiro native, will be representing Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. This will be the first time ever that the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) will have taken place in the same country at the same time. Rafael established his position as the top player winning the FIWC Brazil Qualifer. The qualifying round took place at Flumninense’s historic former stadium Estádio Laranjeiras.  In the finals Rafael faced his fellow FIFA14 opponent Luccas wining 6-0. Rafael will need to compete against the French FIWC defending champion, Bruce Grannec, and against 18 other international qualifiers.  If he were to become the new champion he would acquire 20,000 USD and a invite to the FIFA Ballon d’Or. Rafael will be competing against his opponents in July.

http://www.fifa.com/interactiveworldcup/organisation/media/newsid=2323671/index.html

News is surfacing that Liverpool Football Club was close to going under in 2010. The main problem for the club was its immense debt accumulated by Tom Hicks. John Henry then bought the club and managed to turn it around. While they continue to lose money compared to previous years, the owners and stakeholders in the club are optimistic. They are most optimistic about playing in the champions league in the next season. They believe that that opportunity will help them reduce their previously incurred debts.

http://www.espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1796910/liverpool-were-verge-collapse-sale-2010?cc=5901

While this may seem initially unreasonable, USA defender John Anthony Brooks was benched by his club because of a large tattoo on his back. Brooks had the procedure done during the season and was advised to avoid intense physical activity for the few days after the procedure. Coach Jos Luhukay was not pleased saying that Brooks shouldn’t have gotten it done during the season.

http://blog.foxsoccer.com/post/83035776347/usa-defender-john-anthony-brooks-benched-due-to-giant

Sidelined from last season due to injury, Stephan El Shaarawy is hopeful for his chances to make this years World Cup team. He played for the first time in four months last week in a 2-1 win over Verona. Although he only had 30 minutes played in that game, El Shaarawy says that he feels good and is very optimistic. He says that his return to the team was very emotional but that he is focused on the goal of making the Italian World Cup team.

http://www.espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1792209/ac-milan-star-stephan-el-shaarawy-hopeful-making-world-cup-italy?cc=5901

FIFA plans to freeze blood and urine samples of star players at this summer’s world cup. This is an effort to curb drug use among players and help the image of FIFA. They wish to avoid scandals such as those in the past. Diego Maradona was suspended for the 1994 world cup because of such offenses. FIFA will compare the frozen samples to other samples taken throughout the year and looks for unusual patterns in the samples. They hope that this will allow for a cleaner and purer game for everyone to enjoy.

http://www.espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1796908/fifa-announce-new-anti-doping-protocol-advance-2014-world-cup-brazil?cc=5901

The U.S. Open Cup will be held on May 14 at 7:30 pm at the Drillers Stadium. Tulsa Athletics is set to play the Oklahoma City Energy FC. The U.S. Open Cup is the national championship of American soccer that is open to amateur and professional teams. The Athletics are an amateur team competing in the National Premier Soccer League and are currently in their second year, while the Energy is in its first season in the USL Pro Division.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/soccer/tulsa-athletics-soccer-will-host-u-s-open-cup-in/article_5f6de024-7d13-5fa3-bcc6-65efcc47bef0.html

FIFA world player of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo, will help Nike introduce a new lightweight cleat at an event in Madrid. It is the latest version of a product line that debuted in ’98 and is made of woven fibers. This is the next phase for Nike in its battle against Adidas for supremacy in sales of cleats, uniforms, and other soccer necessities. The Superfly shoe is available June 12th with the top-end version retailing for $275.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-25/nike-unveils-superfly-in-5-billion-battle-for-soccer-supremacy.html