By Andrew Warshaw
May 11 – China and India may be arguably the world’s two biggest untapped footballing markets but unless they solve the problem of match-fixing and betting fraud they will never catch up.
May 5 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) have signed a partnership agreement to strengthen safety and security in Asian football.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 4 – The high-ranking Asian official at the centre of the latest cover-up allegations to rock the region has not only re-iterated that he is innocent of any wrongdoing but that the dark days of his organisation’s corruption-tainted past are over.
By Andrew Warshaw at the Dead Sea, Jordan
May 4 – Back in his comfort zone after being made to feel more than a little marginalised by his own confederation which clearly views his bid for the FIFA presidency as a unwanted distraction, Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein pulled no punches about the need for greater democracy among his colleagues when he opened the Soccerex Asian forum here today.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 30 – Asia’s most influential sports official, Kuwait’s Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad Al Sabah, extended his burgeoning power base by joining FIFA’s inner sanctum today but the anticipated move into world football was not without controversy.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 30 – There was no standing ovation and no prolonged clapping, rather warm and respectful applause. But that might have been because the FIFA president was preaching to the converted. In his final appearance before regional bodies ahead of next month’s presidential election, Sepp Blatter produced an uncharacteristically low-key address to the 47-nation Asian Football Confederation congress today, in contrast to some of the vibrant language delivered elsewhere on his travels over the past few weeks.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 28 – Forty-eight hours before far-reaching elections that could shape the future of Asian football, Qatar’s bid for a place at the top table of FIFA was withdrawn today after its federation vice-president Saud Al Mohannadi pulled out of the running, fuelling the prospect of a powerful alliance between the Continent’s two most influential sports officials.
By Mark Baber
April 27 – Western Sydney Wanderers’ last home game of the season on Saturday was marred by controversy as police, including members of ‘Strike Force Raptor’, a specialised force designed to carry out operatives against gangs engaging in criminal activity, reacted to a flare being lit by entering the ‘active support area’ and using OC (pepper) spray, leading to a 14-year old boy being hospitalised for 7 hours.
April 27 – Asian football chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa may have suffered an untimely blow over fresh revelations about his general secretary Dato’ Alex Soosay but it seems clear the claims have not affected FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s opinion of the AFC or its leader.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 27 – Asian football has been rocked by fresh revelations that threaten to take the shine off Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa being re-elected unopposed as president of his confederation this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 24 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), poised for a series of crucial election ballots, has scrapped its executive committee meeting scheduled for the eve of its 47-member Congress in Bahrain on April 30.
By Mark Baber
April 20 – Eleven fans were sentenced to death on Sunday over the February 2012 Port Said stadium riot which left 74 people dead and more than 500 injured. The sentences have been referred to Egypt’s grand mufti whose opinion is required before any execution can take place.
April 20 – In a further escalation of a dispute that seems certain to once again incur the wrath of FIFA, the Indonesian government has suspended the activities of the country’s national association.
By Mark Baber
April 17 – A-League club Perth Glory have given up their fight against Football Federation Australia (FFA) sanctions, admitting their guilt in breaching the salary cap regulations and accepting a $269,000 fine and relegation to seventh spot in the home-and-away season – losing their place in the A-League finals.
By Mark Baber
April 17 – The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the latest football governing body to see vicious infighting, with allegations of corruption, attempts to disqualify potential electoral opponents, threats of legal action and attempts by the incumbent to lever FIFA’s power against potential rivals, prior to this Friday’s Punjabi Football Association (PFA) elections.