By Paul Nicholson
February 18 – The tensions and distrust between the Israelis and the Palestinians regarding the negotiation of freedom of movement for Palestinian footballers, have been sharpened with the news that the two young Palestinian footballers shot by Israeli security forces in the West Bank are unlikely to play again.
February 14 – Jibril Rajoub, chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, has said they will seek the expulsion of Israel from FIFA at the next FIFA Congress, and that he has the support of other Arab and North African nations.
February 13 – India and the Netherlands government officials have signed a memorandum of understanding for co-operation on sports and sports infrastructure. The first fruit of the partnership is a Amsterdam ArenaA announcing Tenon Property Services Limited and Ecofirst Services Limited, a Tata company, as their local Indian partners.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
February 6 – Palestine football’s leading figurehead has warned he will call for Israel’s expulsion from FIFA unless it shows greater willingness to ease the plight of his country’s players and officials. FIFA recently set up a mediation Task Force and earlier this week Palestinian FA chief Jibril Rajoub met with his Israeli counterpart Avi Luzon and FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Zurich in the latest move to solve the long-term issue of access to and from Palestinian territories.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 5 – In another alarming example of how matchfixing is blighting Asian football, Malaysian authorities have found an entire lower league team guilty of manipulating games.
January 27 – In a major boost for the region, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced plans to expand the Asian Cup, its flagship tournament, from 16 to 24 teams as part of a raft of changes designed to increase the number of international matches for member nations.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – The financial power of Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City has stretched to the other side of the world with the announcement that the high-flying Premier League club have taken over cash-strapped A-League team Melbourne Heart.
January 23 – Reports of a Malaysian gambling syndicate approaching I-League club Munbai FC have prompted the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to move towards setting up an anti-corruption unit.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 22 – As the Chinese celebrate their New Year, the year of the horse, so the football federation welcomes a new president who faces a “colossal” task and a race against time to repair the sport’s corruption-tainted image off the pitch and a lack of progress on it.
January 22 – Despite the bitter political tensions between the two neighbours, North Korea has agreed to send men’s and women’s football teams to South Korea for this year’s Asian Games in Incheon.
January 9 – Malaysian second tier club Kedah have denied that they have been forced to change their colours from green and yellow to red as a result of fresh investment by controversial Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 8 – Football’s crackdown on match-fixing has now spread to Hong Kong where authorities also plan to introduce tougher measures to check the financial background of club directors ahead of the new domestic Premier League in September.
January 7 – Premier League club Liverpool have taken another step to expand their links with India, with the signing of a regional sponsorship with smart mobile device brand XOLO. This follows an agreement at the end of last year which sees Liverpool open its first academy in partnership with local team DSK Shivajians FC in Pune.
January 3 – Violence between fans of Australia’s Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers has triggered the Football Federation Australia (FFA) into action, with both clubs being charged with bringing the game into disrepute.
By Paul Nicholson
January 3 – Europe’s giant clubs aren’t heading for the alpine ski slopes for their winter break but to the warmer climate of the Middle East for preparation for the second half of their seasons. French champions and league leaders Paris St Germain are already in Doha, Qatar, and last night played a friendly against Spain’s Real Madrid (Madrid won 1-0) in front of a 45,000 capacity crowd at Aspire’s Khalfa Stadium. Bayern leave for Qatar at the weekend.