By Paul Nicholson
February 9 – The battle for the presidency of CONCACAF has been raised a notch in intensity with the official announcement by Canadian FA president and CONCACAF executive committee member Victor Montagliani that he will run for election in May at the confederation’s congress in Mexico.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 8 – “Canover Watson’s fall from grace is now complete,” reported the local newspaper after yet another one-time high-profile FIFA figure brought shame upon football’s scandal-tarnished world governing body.
By Paul Nicholson
February 3 – FIFA may have suspended their funding but CONCACAF are getting used to operating on reduced cashflow. The US Justice Department partially froze funds back in May 2015 when they arrested then president Jeffrey Webb and Costa Rican president Ricardo Li, and followed that up with a raid the confederation’s Miami headquarters.
By Mark Baber
February 1 – As much as $1 million in funds from soccer’s global governing body FIFA may have gone missing from Guatemala’s soccer federation last year, according to reports of an internal audit carried out by the federation.
By Paul Nicholson
January 26 – CONCACAF has released details of its proposed reform measures to its member federations, at the centre of which would be the replacement of the executive committee with a CONCACAF Council.
January 26 – Gianni Infantino’s bid to squeeze over the line in next month’s FIFA presidential election has been given impetus after he received the bloc support of the central American Football Union (UNCAF), which carries seven votes in next month’s ballot.
By Mark Baber
January 26 – Jack Warner’s solicitors have won a victory in their battle to prevent, or at least delay, their client’s extradition from Trinidad and Tobago to face charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money-laundering in the US.
By Paul Nicholson
January 25 – The president of the Bermuda FA and chair of FIFA’s appeals committee, Larry Mussenden, has announced that he will run for the vacant CONCACAF presidency. The president will be elected at a congress in May.
January 20 – Former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, who sprang to prominence as the man to clean up FIFA but is now under house arrest as part of the US probe into widespread corruption by football’s powerbrokers, has not been paid since shortly after becoming embroiled in FIFA’s biggest ever scandal.
By Paul Nicholson
January 20 – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has indicated that it is broadly in support of the FIFA/CONCACAF reform statutes that will be voted on at the CONCACAF Extraordinary Congress on February 25 in Zurich, the day before FIFA holds its Congress to vote on reform and elect a new president.
By Ben Nicholson
January 20 – MLS Commissioner Don Garber (pictured) recently commented that the prospects for an MLS franchise in St. Louis and Sacramento are good, while San Diego needs to “figure itself out”. He intimated that the NFL’s decisions to move into and leave areas, influences the MLS’ franchise decisions.
By Paul Nicholson
January 19 – With FIFA election candidates lobbying for votes and a flamethrower as entertainment for the assembled, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) focused on its own football activity at the weekend, for the first time holding a ‘public’ draw ceremony for the 2016 CFU Men’s Caribbean Cup in Antigua.
January 15 – The first official Futsal coaching badge in north America has been announced at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) conference in Baltimore this week. The NSCAA Diploma for futsal will be created with the co-operation of U.S. Futsal.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – The number of emergency gatherings of football federation chiefs is growing with CONCACAF confirming its own Extraordinary Congress for February 25 in Zurich, the day before its members attend FIFA’s own Extraordinary event to elect a new president.
By Ben Nicholson
January 15 – Louisville FC, which plays in the US third tier USL, is signalling MLS ambition by commissioning planning firm Conventions, Sports & Leisure International to perform a feasibility study for the construction of a football-specific stadium.