By Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – An expanded tournament to 48 teams, Gianni Infantino’s encouragement for a return to co-hosting and the re-establishment of rotation. It has all played very nicely into the hands of CONCACAF whose three biggest members have, as expected, now officially announced their intention to bid for the 2026 World Cup.
April 10 – CONCACAF, whose corrupt US officials and marketing representatives wrought one half of the storm that has decimated FIFA, held their 32nd Congress on the relative calm of the Caribbean island of Aruba at the weekend. Top of their agenda was the election of representatives to their own Council as well as to the FIFA Council.
April 6 – The long-running and often bitter dispute between the US Soccer Federation and the country’s top female players over wage discrimination has ended.
By Paul Nicholson
March 31 – The United Soccer League (USL) is expanding again, this time with the launch of a Third Division men’s professional national league that will start play in 2019.
March 27 – If the United States, Canada and Mexico jointly bid for the 2026 World Cup and are successful, all three should be allowed automatic berths in the competition according to the region’s top administrator.
By Paul Nicholson
March 23 – The spat over whether US Spanish-speaking network Telemundo would be allowed to broadcast Trinidad and Tobago’s upcoming Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying matches against Panama and Mexico has been resolved at the last minute. A Trinidad judge ruled that broadcaster owns the TV rights and that the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) has to allow Telemundo access to the stadium that had previously been denied.
By Paul Nicholson
March 22 – The US is set to become the land of Europe’s giant clubs at the end of July in a pre-season football extravaganza that conceivably could feature at least three of Europe’s Big 5 league champions.
March 21 – Iraq wants United States-born striker Justin Meram to rethink his decision not to join up with the squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia.
March 14 – Two South American players with top Mexican clubs have been banned for a year by the country’s FA following a review of lesser punishments which sparked a referees strike.
March 13 – The 2017 International Champions Cup (ICC), the ad hoc tournament organised by US sports agency Relevant Sports (RSE), will have as its showpiece match an El Clasico match-up between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the newly renovated Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
By Paul Nicholson
March 8 – The growth and interest in Major League Soccer in the US continued to hit new highs with record viewing numbers. and big crowds for the opening weekend of the season. This week the league renewed official airline sponsor Etihad Airways.
March 7 – The former president of El Salvador’s football federation (FESFUT), who is wanted in the United States for alleged corruption, has been sentenced to eight years in jail for labour fraud.
By Paul Nicholson
March 3 – CONCACAF has publicly taken the gloves off in its fight to take control of the Caribbean, announcing it will open its own office in Jamaica later this month. The move will effectively see the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) removed from all competition organisation of qualifying events for CONCACAF championships.
March 3 – A women’s team representing Tibet are upset and angry at having been denied visas to take part in a tournament in Texas. Most of the players were Tibetan refugees living in India and had applied at the US embassy in Delhi.
February 10 – MLS side New York City FC (NYFC) and USL club San Antonio FC have announced a partnership from the 2017 season that will make each club the other’s affiliate. The partnership will cover both playing and commercial departments.