Football's world governing body FIFA has filed a criminal complaint over what it describes as "criminal mismanagement" of the World Football Museum project in Zurich. The project was first announced by disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2012 and the attraction opened its doors in February 2017 at a cost of around CHF500m (€459m, £415m). The 3,000sq m (32,300sq ft) museum is part of a larger development which includes

Pierattelli Architetture have proposed a new football stadium for ACF Fiorentina with an accompanying masterplan aimed at regenerating the Novoli district of Florence. Fiorentina was bought earlier this year by Italian American businessman Rocco Commisso, who has indicated his desire to build a new stadium to replace the club's existing Stadio Artemio Franchi, which was completed in 1932. Discussing the potential benefits of a new stadium, Massimo Pierattelli, president of

Football League club AFC Wimbledon has revealed detailed design visuals for its new £30m Plough Lane stadium in south London. The images show that the stadium – designed by KSS Group – will feature a main West Stand with three tiers, dominated by 12 glass-fronted executive boxes. The two opposite corners will be unconnected, but due to the venue's flexible design, they can, in the future, be joined to create

Spanish firm Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos have revealed the first concept images of their latest project – a 260,000 sq m football complex in Dalian, China. The expansive campus will comprise 23 regulation-size pitches, a hotel, gardens, and a select number of short-stay residential units. The US$297m (€264.7m, £235.8m) facility will also function as a training ground and academy for professional teams and youth clubs, including Dalian Yifang FC. Cruz

Plans have been unveiled to build the UK’s first dedicated women’s football stadium at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. Scarborough Group International has submitted a planning application for a 3,900-capacity stadium, which would become the new home of Sheffield United Women Football Club. Whittam Cox Architects, supported by Arup Sheffield, have been appointed to design the £5m (US$6.5m, €5.6m) Stadium, which will feature a single grandstand, housing hospitality and conferencing facilities

To celebrate the start of the World Cup in Russia, sports giant Nike has partnered with KOSMOS Architects to create an outdoor football court in Moscow inspired by the traditional Russian ‘korobka’ – courtyard cages for street matches. The 4,700sq m (50,600sq ft) Nike BOX Msk in Gorky Park can be used for a variety of sports and pursuits – from basketball to gym training, running and yoga – but

Fifa's World Football Museum is opening a temporary exhibition in Moscow, Russia, through the course of this year's World Cup. To be hosted at the Hyundai Motorstudio in the Russian capital, the major exhibition – called The History Makers – will open on 9 June, five days ahead of the football tournament's kick off. The exhibition runs until 20 July, five days after the tournament's conclusion. As part of The

The architect behind Everton FC’s planned new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock in Liverpool has told CLADglobal that his design will “embrace the future of English football without totally forgetting the past” – avoiding the pitfalls that have befallen clubs such as West Ham when moving away from a much-loved home. Dan Meis, founder of Meis Architects, admitted he feels “a huge responsibility” at the task of creating a replacement

2016 Premier League champion Leicester City Football Club (LCFC) has revealed plans to build a £80m training ground near Loughborough, Leicestershire. The club has acquired 180 acres of land on the site of the former Park Hill Golf Club in Charnwood and the new centre will be designed by architects KSS, who have previously worked on training grounds for Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton and Hove Albion. The centre will include

Sports architecture firm Populous will design a 365-day stadium for Didier Drogba’s US football franchise Phoneix Rising FC, which has ambitions of joining Major League Soccer (MLS). Local design firm Gould Evans will collaborate on the project, which the club has described as “a world-class venue that serves fans and the broader Phoenix community as a full-scale entertainment destination”. Phoenix Rising FC is co-owned by former Chelsea and Ivory Coast

Fulham Football Club has submitted an application to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council for the redevelopment of the Riverside Stand at its historic Craven Cottage home. New renderings released by Populous show how the stand has been designed with “an iconic roof design” to better connect with the river. Sports architects Populous are behind the proposals, which club chair Shahid Khan claims will “transcend the customary standards

Scottish football club Celtic has been granted planning permission in principle for a hotel and museum complex to be built adjacent to the 47-time Scottish Premier League (SPL) champions’ home ground in Glasgow. First revealed in February, the £18m (US$24m, €20m) plans, which were submitted to Glasgow City Council for approval, also include a new ticket office and retail store, with the development to come up outside the main stand

Real Madrid football club has announced plans to create an interactive football experience centre as part of a major development in Zhuhai, China. Business conglomerate the Lai Sun Group is behind the development – an integrated tourism and entertainment project called Novotown – which will, in its second phase, feature the world-first Real Madrid experience. Utilising advanced technologies, entertainment elements and football, visitors will be able to experience a number

Italian Serie A football team Atalanta has purchased its home stadium from the local authority and revealed its intention of redeveloping the antiquated venue. A contract between the football club and the Municipality of Bergamo has been agreed for the for the sum of €8.6m (£7.8m, US$10.1m), plus a further €2.3m (£2.1m, US$2.7m) or improvement works that were carried out in 2015. Further work will be done in the shape

US architecture firm Gensler has designed a stadium for Major League Soccer (MLS) hopeful North Carolina Football Club – one of a number of football-specific projects the studio is working on. The football club has earmarked downtown Raleigh as the location for the stadium. The development will include a conference space, office, hospitality and retail space, housing and public parking. “This is an important step in our pursuit of a

David Beckham’s plans to launch a glamorous new Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise in Miami have taken a major step forward, with the county’s board of commissioners agreeing to sell a 2.8 acre plot of land he needs to build a stadium. Miami Beckham United (MBU), the consortium representing the footballing icon, has paid over US$9m (€7.9m, £7m) for the land in Miami’s Overtown neighbourhood and said it is “looking

World-renowned chefs the Roux family will create fine dining experiences for spectators at Tottenham Hotspur’s new-look White Hart Lane stadium when it opens next year. While football fans in Britain are accustomed to enjoying a pie and a pint of beer during a game, Tottenham wants to offer a rather more high-end alternative for those with deep pockets and an appetite for the finer things in life. For 12 matches

Footballer Lionel Messi has inspired a new theme park in China, which will have over 20 multimedia attractions dedicated to the FC Barcelona star. A consortium of developers, including China’s Phoenix Group and Spanish conglomerate Mediapro, are backing the Messi Experience Park in Nanjing – described as “a unique global experience” that will allow visitors “to immerse themselves in all things Messi”. The park will utilise virtual and augmented reality

Los Angeles FC, the Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise co-owned by Hollywood actor Will Ferrell, has unveiled plans to spend US$30m (£23.5m, €26.8m) on a new training facility. The facility will be built on the campus of California State University, and will be the third most expensive in MLS history following the US$60m (£46.9m, €53.6m) investments made my Atlanta United and Real Salt Lake in their respective training centres. Designed

Representatives of footballing icon David Beckham have unveiled the latest version of the stadium the former England captain wants to build as a home for his new franchise in Miami, Florida. Tim Leiweke, one of the investors behind Miami Beckham United, spoke to local politicians and residents at a Town Hall meeting last Wednesday (17 May) in Overtown, the neighbourhood where Beckham wants to locate the stadium. According to the

A hotel, residential apartments and a training academy have been incorporated into Southend United FC’s proposal to build a 22,000-capacity stadium development. The Populous-designed structure will see the hotel and apartments integrated into the stadium, with a number of the latter built along the stadium roofscape. Training academy facilities will be be flanked by community pitches. A full-sized covered pitch and “elite player accommodation” have also been earmarked for the

South Korean architecture studio Heerim Architects and Planners are reportedly in line to design Qatar’s 40,000-capacity Fifth Precinct Stadium, which will host matches up to the quarter-final stage at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. According to Reuters, the practice said in a stock exchange statement on Tuesday (25 April) that it has agreed a US$16.2m (€14.8m, £12.6m) design and engineering services contract for the project. A joint venture of Qatar’s

A team of engineers in Saudi Arabia has proposed how stadium seats in the near future could be made more sustainably using the fibres of palm trees. A five-member group from Al Faisal University submitted the plan as part of a regional innovation competition established by the Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, which is overseeing the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the country. The team’s method involves using

German top flight football team Hertha Berlin has unveiled plans to develop a new 55,000-capacity stadium in the shadow of its current Olympiastadion home. After spending time reviewing 50 sites for the mooted venue, the club has identified a spot of land in the Olympiapark close to the 80,000-seat stadium where it currently hosts home matches. Werner Gegenbauer, the president of Hertha Berlin, said the stadium would be “privately financed”

Alberto Rolla, one of the architects behind the recently-constructed Juventus Stadium, has designed a 40,000-capacity venue for Serie A rival Fiorentina. The ground will be located in Florence and cost around €420m (£367.2m, US$448m) to build. Stadium seating will be tight, with fans in the front row seven metres from the pitch. The surrounding 48 hectare area will be developed to include a hotel, a shopping mall, public realm, 700

Italian Serie A football team Cagliari Calcio has inched closer to realising its ambition to build a new stadium after receiving a loan for its construction. The club has been provided the money by the local government and Sardinian financial institution Sfirs to build the 21,000-capacity stadium, which is being designed by Polish architect JSK Architekci. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Cagliari Calcio president Tommaso Giulini, the city’s

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, has given Chelsea FC the green light to build a new £500m (US$612.9m, €579.1m) stadium on the site of Stamford Bridge. Khan said he was satisfied with the 60,000-capacity stadium’s “high-quality and spectacular design”, which was approved by Hammersmith and Fulham Council in January. As part of Chelsea’s submission, the Premier League club has committed to investing £12m in community activities, such as employment