IFAB to take another look at VAR
February 8 – World football’s lawmakers will once again discuss changes to the offside law at their annual meeting next month, being conducted virtually.
FIFA
CAF clears Hayatou ruling FIFA ban was based on ‘insufficient evidence’
February 7 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned FIFA’s one-year ban of former Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Issa Hayatou.
IOC members turn angrily on absent Infantino over biennial World Cup proposal
February 4 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its members have attacked FIFA’s plans for a biennial World Cup, saying that global finals every two years would cause ‘immeasurable damage’ to global sport.
Comment: Hal Robson-Kanu tells FIFA it must listen to players
Former Wales striker Thomas Hal Robson-Kanu, who now runs the nutritional drinks company, The Turmeric Co., urges FIFA to ditch its biennial World Cup plans and to work with purpose-driven brands to grow the sport’s commercial appeal organically.
Agent group says FIFA consultations on new rules are ‘fake’
By Paul Nicholson
February 3 – FIFA’s consultation process over its proposed football agent regulations has been called a “pantomime”, “fake” and a distortion “of the reality of a process which is far away from being genuine or robust”.
Chelsea and Tuchel look forward to Club World Cup, but not everything in the UAE is rosy
February 3 – On Thursday, host club Al Jazira from the United Arab Emirates and AS Pirae from Tahiti kick off the Club World Cup, the much-maligned tournament that remains a sideshow in the annual calendar.
FIFA to trial VAR ‘limb tracker’ technology at Club World Cup
February 2 – FIFA will trial ‘robot referee’ technology at the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi which kicks off on Thursday with host club Al Jazira taking on Tahiti’s AS Pirae.
FIFA holds powwow with agent bodies on proposed new regulations
February 2 – FIFA has completed a two-day consultation on football agent regulations in Montevideo, Uruguay, where the world governing body met with agent organisations from Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Ins and outs as FIFA’s legal department gets a strategic makeover
February 1 – FIFA’s legal team is undergoing a makeover with four key team leaders exiting the world governing body and the merger of two of the key integrity and judiciary functions.
FIFA opens case against Avram Grant over alleged sexual harassment
February 1 – Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant (pictured) is under investigation by FIFA over accusations of sexual harassment.
CAF to the rescue: Africans say Infantino’s migrant saving comment was ‘misinterpreted’
January 31 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and several African FA presidents have came out in support of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s controversial speech at the Council of Europe last week when he suggested the staging of biennial World Cups would provide a solution to the African migrant crisis.
Infantino calls on FFF boss Le Graët to oversee FIFA’s new Paris base
By Samindra Kunti
January 28 – On a visit to Paris, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has appointed French FA (FFF) president Noel Le Graët as his delegate to oversee the organisation’s newly opened office in Paris.
Zero tolerance? FIFA’s head of Legends programme survives sexual harassment case
January 28 – The sense that FIFA’s senior leadership is running out of control under president Gianni Infantino has been reinforced by news that a key advisor, Miguel Macedo has evaded sanction despite being found to have sexually harassed a member of his staff.
Infantino tells EU politicos that solution to African migrant crisis is a biennial World Cup
By Samindra Kunti
January 26 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has taken his sales pitch for a biennial World Cup to new, unprecedented and questionable levels when he seemed to link a World Cup every two years to a better future for refugees crossing the Mediterranean.
Blatter lets loose on Infantino, his move to Qatar and the ‘imbecility’ of a biennial World Cup
August 25 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has criticised his successor Gianni Infantino for relinquishing his responsibilities by moving his personal base to Qatar and away from FIFA’s Zurich headquarters and for dividing global football at a time when the world needed its leading sport to bring unity.