March 4 – At the recent U.S. Soccer annual general meeting in Atlanta the federation introduced a stronger policy to protect officials who have been leaving the game in the thousands due to verbal and physical abuse.
February 25 – Season 30 of Major League Soccer (MLS) provided plenty of shock results, with none bigger than the newest franchise in the league, San Diego FC (SDFC), beating defending MLS Cup Champions LA Galaxy on their home turf.
ESPN has added to its football (soccer) rights in the US with a deal with Spanish-language broadcaster Univision to air home Mexican national team games in English, including World Cup qualifying matches.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 1 – It started optimistically with phrases like “a true melting pot of passion, dreams and hope” and being the most diverse nation on earth.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 21 – The United States is pulling out all the stops in an effort to prevent its 2022 World Cup bid being derailed by FIFA’s suggestion that there are insufficient financial guarantees to support the campaign.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 10 – The United States’ bid for the 2022 World Cup has received a jolt with the revelation that one of its own confederation members on FIFA”s Executive Committee may not vote for it.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – Former President Bill Clinton will be the United States’ chief figurehead at next month’s World Cup vote in Zurich.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – The United States has finally withdrawn from the race to stage the 2018 World Cup and will exclusively focus on the 2022 campaign along with Australia, Qatar, Japan and South Korea.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
September 28 – David Dein (pictured right), one of the key members of England’s 2018 World Cup bid team, has added his name to those who believe it is only a matter of time before the United States withdraw from the running in order to concentrate on the 2022 tournament.
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By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – As FIFA’s World Cup inspection team retires to compile its technical report into the nine candidates for 2018 and 2022 and the lobbying and politicking move up a gear, the four Asian contenders could be in for a massive disappointment - through no fault of their own.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 13 – UEFA President Michel Platini insists he has still not made up his mind about who to back for the 2018 World Cup but is now “100 percent sure” the tournament will come to Europe.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 11 – The expansion of Major League Soccer (MLS) illustrates the benefits of hosting a World Cup in the United States, the country’s coach Bob Bradley (pictured) has claimed.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 10 – The head of the United States bid to stage the World Cup admitted today that a growing number of FIFA’s 24 voting members favoured the 2018 tournament going to Europe.
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By Andrew Warshaw
September 9 - FIFA’s technical inspection team wound up its tour of the United States today with Bid President Sunil Gulati hinting strongly that there was more work to do to clinch the tournament in either 2018 or 2022.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
September 8 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter appears to have dashed any lingering hopes that the United States has of hosting the 2018 World Cup by claiming that no-one is in doubt that the tournament will be held in Europe.