Premier League team Arsenal slashed its borrowings at a time when rival clubs are struggling with rising debt and posted a 44 percent rise in first-half pretax profit.

Manchester United vs Aston Villa Carling Cup’s final on Sunday will be the first ever digital Final Cup.

Carling are giving fans the opportunity to join a digital roll of honour as part of the trophy celebrations, post messages on Wembley Way, create their own personalised banners inside the stadium and take part in the biggest ever live Twitter commentary.

Nike introduces World Cup national team kits made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. Many of the World Cup footballers, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka will enter the game wearing the more environmentally-friendly and technology-advanced kit in football’s history.

The European football governing body, UEFA, has released a new report on the financial health of European football clubs, the European Club Footballing Landscape. Finances of more than 600 top-clubs among UEFA’s 53 member national associations have been studied in order to produce the broadest benchmarking report ever made.

Sports daily newspaper Marca reported today of a new and improved contract between Nike and Cristiano Ronaldo. Nike will pay Real Madrid’s superstar Cristiano Ronaldo 6 millions euros per year until 2014, which make Ronaldo the highest paid footballer under Nike’s contract.

UEFA’s long standing Marketing Chief Philippe Le Floc’h is leaving European football’s governing body after a 10-year career because of a major restructuring of UEFA’s in-house commercial arm.

The Irish Football Association’ Marketing and Communication Department has been recognized for its 2009 marketing strategy by winning the prestigious Chartered Institute Marketing’s UK award for Small and Medium Enterprise.

Pepsi Max is launching a new advertising campaign featuring football starts Messi, Drogba, Henry, Lampard and Fernando Torres in a new body paint campaign. The Africa-theme marketing campaign is due to launch this summer.

VISA, official partner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, just launched its latest brand TV advertisement in the UK, “Football Evolution”.