By Paul Nicholson in Los Angeles
July 7 – It could become a football quiz question. Which is the only confederation in world football where every country has a beach? The answer is CONCACAF, the confederation that covers north and central America and the Caribbean.
July 8 – A new initiative to promote integration and social awareness was unveiled by CONCACAF prior to the Gold Cup’s first game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena — a direct follow-up to Fifa’s Anti-racism and Discrimination campaign approved at its recent congress in Mauritius.
By Paul Nicholson in Pasadena
July 8 – CONCACAF’s blue riband event the Gold Cup opened here yesterday with a double-header in the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California – both upsets as Canada lost to tiny Martinique and Mexico were edged out by Panama – plus a new world record for the largest ever Mariachi serenade with over 500 performers taking to the field at half-time.
By Mark Baber
July 5 – The 12th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup kicks off on Sunday at the Pasadena Rose Bowl in California as 12 nations from the confederation that covers North, Central America and the Caribbean compete for the region’s greatest prize culminating on July 28 at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
June 21 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, who has done much to stabilise the region since taking over a year ago, will be more delighted than anyone at the organisation’s decision to stage next year’s CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 tournament in his native Cayman Islands.
By Paul Nicholson in Rio de Janeiro
June 19 – Justino Compeán, Mexican vice-president of Concacaf, says the biggest challenge facing his confederation still lies in the Caribbean – two years after the cash-for-votes scandal that rocked CONCACAF to the core. But, he says, the organisation is in safer hands than ever under its increasingly influential president Jeffrey Webb.
By Mark Baber
June 17 – A dispute in French-speaking Quebec over whether to allow male footballers to wear turbans appears to have been resolved after Fifa clarified the rules and the suspension of Quebec from the Canadian Soccer Association was lifted.
By Mark Baber
June 13 – The United States Soccer Federation and Chevrolet announced a three-year sponsorship deal on Monday which makes Chevrolet the Official Partner of U.S. Soccer for the next three years.
By Mark Baber
June 12 – The Quebec Soccer Federation has been suspended by the Canadian Soccer Association after failing to reverse its decision to ban the use of turbans/patkas/keski on the football pitch.
By Mark Baber
June 5 – New York Cosmos and its Honorary President Pelé have signed a kit and sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines. The new deal awakens nostalgia for the 1970s, but the club has some major hurdles to overcome to add to its former glories.
June 5 – FOX Sports is to sub-license its broadcast rights to qualifying matches for Euro 2016, and the European qualifiers for 2018 FIFA World Cup to rivals ESPN. The networks will split the inventory 50/50.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 5 – An unusual and unsavoury row has broken out in the Canadian province of Quebec with the region’s football federation pledging to uphold its ban on young Sikh players wearing turbans and warning that those who don’t obey the rules can “play in their backyards”.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
June 4 – One year after becoming CONCACAF president amid the most turbulent period in its history, Jeffrey Webb says the confederation has already started to clean up its act and regain confidence after being brought to its knees by scandal and in-fighting.
By Paul Nicholson
June 3 – England football icon David Beckham’s love affair with the US continues. He was back in America this weekend visiting Miami and discussing the opportunity for an MLS expansion team in South Florida.
By Paul Nicholson
May 22 – Former CONCACAF president Jack Warner has hit back at the confederation’s Integrity Committee report that blackened his name even further following the cash for votes scandal that lead to his resignation from the sport in 2011.