By Paul Nicholson
October 8 – FIFA has carried out its threat and suspended the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) with immediate effect. FIFA, which has long been battling for the preservation of the incumbent administration in Sierra Leone led by president Isha Johansen, took its action despite on-going criminal investigations into the leadership.
October 5 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has moved to integrate the Video Assistant Referees, VAR, into its major club competitions. On Thursday, CAF announced that the VAR will feature in the finals of this season’s African Champions League and Confederation Cup.
October 3 – Africa’s football chief Ahmad Ahmad is reported to have promised Cameroon’s president Paul Biya that CAF has “never thought about” stripping the country of hosting rights for next year’s African Cup of Nations.
October 2 – FIFA has once again stepped into the internal power struggle in Sierra Leone by calling on the government to allow national FA president, Isha Johansen (pictured left), back into the organisation’s headquarters.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 1 – Danny Jordaan’s bid to take up one of Africa’s top positions at the heart FIFA suffered a crushing blow at the weekend when he was heavily beaten in the ballot for a place on the FIFA Council.
October 1 – No rival candidate has yet come forward to challenge Gianni Infantino when he bids for re-election next year but if anyone does, African football will stand firmly behind the present incumbent.
October 1 – The decision on whether to give the green light to Cameroon to stage the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has been deferred yet again – this time until November.
September 21 – Nigeria’s Amaju Pinnick, recently elected vice-president of the African Football Confederation, achieved a widely expected landslide victory in the race for the presidency of his national federation, securing a second term after crushing his opponents.
September 21 – In a clear sign that it still supports beleaguered Sierra Leone FA president Isha Johansen despite a bitter power struggle at home, FIFA have warned the country it risks an international ban following a move to overturn the leadership of the federation.
September 20 – New Liberian FA president Musatapha Raji has suspended Liberia Football Association Competition Director Mathew Diggs and re-assogned former Montserrado County sub Association chairman Josiah Toe pending an investigation into the alleged theft of registration fees.
September 19 – Sierra Leone and its beleaguered federation president Isha Johansen have been plunged back into the spotlight after the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) raided the federation’s offices.
September 18 – Ghana has meted out bans to dozens’ more officials in the wake of the country’s damaging matchfixing scandal.
September 17 – Two senior Rwandan federation officials have been arrested in the latest bribery scandal to rock African football.
September 17 – Yet another stampede has occurred in African football with tragic consequences.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – Danny Jordaan, the public face of the 2010 South Africa World Cup whose star has waned in recent years after being plunged into the limelight for all the wrong reasons, could soon be back as part of world football’s powerful elite after being endorsed for a place on the FIFA Council.