By Andrew Warshaw
October 9 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organisers have angrily dismissed claims that the Saudi-led political and trade blockade of the Gulf state could see it stripped of hosting rights because of inability to complete essential infrastructure projects in time.
October 9 – Mohamed Salah’s dramatic injury-time winner against Congo ended Egypt’s 28-year exile from the World Cup, sending the football-mad country into a massive celebration.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 6 – A FIFA technical team led by director of competitions Colin Smith has completed the latest inspection to Russia’s World Cup sites and reports that although preparations are on course a “significant” amount of work is still to be done over the next few months.
October 4 – In a significant intervention over organisation of the World Cup, Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed concern over delays to preparations but says they are not yet “critical”.
September 28 – Organisers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are under fresh scrutiny over their treatment of migrant workers despite insisting for months that much work is being done to improve standards.
By Samindra Kunti
September 21 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France to attract a billion viewers as local organisers unveiled the logo, slogan (‘Dare to Shine’) and additional scheduling details. Across Europe, qualifying got underway for the tournament with England trouncing Russia 6-0.
August 25 – Samara’s World Cup stadium has fallen 30 days behind its construction schedule, the contractor of the venue has announced. The venue is set to host six matches, including a quarter-final, during the 2018 World Cup.
August 21 – Qatar has unveiled the design for the sixth of the eight stadia it is building for the 2022 World Cup, the Al Thumama Stadium which is located six kilometres south of central Doha.
July 18 – A second stadium being built for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be ready on time by the end of next year, despite the blockade imposed by Gulf neighbours.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 17 – Reports that FIFA has received a collective request from Arab nations to strip Qatar as 2022 World Cup hosts have emerged as fake.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 3 – The Confederations Cup may be over but the spectre of doping continues to hang over Russian football, a major headache for World Cup chief and deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 3 – Defiant as ever, Sepp Blatter says he will travel to Russia for next year’s World Cup despite serving a six-year ban from all football-related activities imposed by FIFA’s ethics committee.
July 3 – The Confederations Cup has been a test of Russia’s organisational skills and a credible warm-up for 2018. Alexey Sorokin, chief executive of the Organising Committee for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, in an exclusive interview with Samindra Kunti talks about the learnings from the tournament, Russia’s expectations for 2018, and his bid for a seat on FIFA’s Council.
By Mark Baber
June 19 – Qatar has moved swiftly to reassure the world’s football community that construction is progressing on stadia for the 2022 World Cup, despite the political, economic and social isolation attempts by its neighbours led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
By Paul Nicholson
June 12 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has expressed confidence that the diplomatic crisis surrounding Qatar in the middle east will not threaten the 2022 World Cup, but that FIFA is monitoring the situation closely.