By Mark Baber
June 23 – As the Gulf diplomatic crisis rumbles on, with no end in sight, the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) has issued a statement aimed at limiting the spread of damage to football, in the wake of Egypt’s national team and Cairo club Ahly refusing to give access to Qatari-owned sport channel beIN Sports in recent matches.
June 22 – A row has broken out over wages in the top divisions of South African football following claims that Kaizer Chiefs’ Bruce Bvuma was earning just R5000 (£303) per month against the background of a FIFPro survey which suggests 38% of players are earning less than R8000 (£486) a month.
By Mark Baber
June 18 – After a week of inspections of stadia CAF have given Kenya more time to make progress, whilst assuring that a Plan B is in place for hosting of the CHAN tournament in January 2018, in case “there are some problems.”
By Mark Baber
June 16 – Despite optimistic noises from sections of the Kenyan press and Football Federation of Kenya officials and with a African football confederation (CAF) inspection team currently in the country to examine preparations, Kenya’s hosting of CHAN 2018 is in peril due to delays in preparing adequate host stadiums.
By Mark Baber
June 12 – A busy weekend of international football saw African Cup of Nations qualification under way in earnest, with all 48 teams in contention having now completed their first game in the Group stage, whilst European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup have passed the halfway stage.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 9 – One month after suspending the elections of the Sudan Football Association (SFA) at the request of the incumbent SFA officals, FIFA have now threatened to throw out the African country altogether if a controversial government decree is not revoked within the next 24 hours.
By Paul Nicholson in Manama, Bahrain
May 7 – Hany Abu Rida, the Egyptian FA president who is standing for election to the FIFA Council, arrived in Manama, Bahrain, for the FIFA Congress from Cairo this afternoon (Sunday May 7) on a private jet accompanied by more than 30 of his African federation colleagues.
By Paul Nicholson in Manama, Bahrain
May 7 – The odds – as well as CAF and FIFA – were stacked against him, with few even expecting him to make it to the start line for the African election of its last FIFA Council member. It has been a political process that makes the not-so-long-ago days of Issa Hayatou’s reign as president of the confederation start to look like a model for transparency and equality.
By Paul Nicholson
April 27 – The African race for a position on the FIFA Council has a new competitor. Former FIFA senior development manager for Africa, Zelkifili Ngoufonja (better known in football circles as Zul), has put himself and is campaigning on a platform of transparency, youth development and a good deal for Africa at FIFA.
By Paul Nicholson
April 19 – Controversial Liberian FA president Musa Bility, who failed eligibility tests to stand for the FIFA presidency but who nevertheless engineered a position for himself on CAF’s executive committee, is under renewed pressure in Liberia with the women’s football league clubs pulling out en masse from the current season after multiple promises of financial support for the clubs never materialised.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 13 – Ambitious Zimbabwean FA leader Philip Chiyangwa, who heads the 14-strong Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), has written to the new head of African football to officially protest over the manner in which hosting rights for the African Cup of Nations were handled by the previous regime.
April 12 – The new president of African football, Ahmad Ahmad, has hinted that he is open to the idea of changing the dates of the African Cup of Nations, the confederation’s flagship event.
By Paul Nicholson
April 10 – Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Ahmad has said he believes the 12-year deal signed with Lagardère Sports for $1 billion was for too long a term, might have been too cheap and that he is going to revisit this agreement.
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 28 – An international friendly sbetween African rivals Senegal and the Ivory Coast, staged on the outskirts of Paris, was abandoned on Monday when fans invaded the pitch and confronted the players.