By David Owen
April 10 – FIFA, the world governing body currently exposed to investigations by the United States Department of Justice and Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General, is budgeting for a deficit of close to half a billion dollars this year before a sharp rebound in the World Cup year of 2018.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – Saoud Al-Mohannadi, the Qatari official controversially disqualified at the last moment from standing as an Asian member of FIFA’s ruling Council, has won a landmark appeal that could have far-reaching consequences in the region as well as raise questions over the supposedly independent decision-making process of FIFA’s ethics watchdogs.
By Samindra Kunti
April 6 – With 72 days left until the kick-off of the 2017 Confederations Cup, less than a third of the event’s tickets have been sold. The domestic TV rights for the tournament and the World Cup finals also remain problematic.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 6 – An Israeli-based media watchdog is back on the offensive over the sensitive issue of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian players and officials in the occupied territories, once again condemning Palestine Football Association president JIbril Rajoub (pictured) for trying to get Israel sanctioned and possibly thrown out of FIFA.
April 5 – With 22 days to go to the start of the Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017 the trophy is touring the islands, if not whipping up a soccer fervour and frenzy for the April 27 kick-off, certainly getting a warm Caribbean-style welcome for the 16-team competition that will be the first FIFA World Cup finals competition hosted by a Caribbean nation.
April 4 – Just when it is striving to shake off its tainted past, CONCACAF is having to deal with yet another painful sanction slapped on one of its past federation bosses.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Any attempt by Morocco to link up with Spain and Portugal in a bid to stage the 2026 World Cup seems destined to fall foul of FIFA’s strict hosting regulations.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Yet another potentially significant twist has emerged in the 2006 World Cup scandal that continues to heap suspicion on those who organised the tournament in Germany.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 31 – FIFA’s hugely expensive 22-month internal investigation into the bribery and corruption that brought the organisation to its knees has been officially wound up, with mountains of potentially incriminating evidence passed to Swiss law enforcement authorities.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 31 – After much anticipation, FIFA has announced its proposed allocation of slots for the first expanded 48-team World Cup in 2026 – except for two places which are to be decided by a new six-team inter-zonal playoff round.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 31 – For years they were the two most powerful officials in world football, sometimes at loggerheads, sometimes insisting they were the best of allies.
March 31 – Former FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon, who at one stage was hoping to take over from Sepp Blatter, is going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to try and get his five-year ban from all football-related activities overturned.
March 30 – Video assistant referees could change the face of football in as many as 25 areas of the game, according to the technical director of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) the game’s law-making body.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 29 – The new head of African football has thrown his weight behind a possible bid by Morocco to stage the 2026 World Cup, potentially a significant irritant to north America which is regarded by many as a shoo-in to host the event.
March 29 – A group of Swiss parliamentarians has written to FIFA urging it to resolve football’s Middle East impasse by banning the six Israeli clubs playing in the occupied territories.