July 23 – The Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), chaired by FIFA vice-president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (pictured), is stepping up its support of the grass-roots game in less established footballing nations by targeting Tajikistan, with special emphasis on advancing girls’ football.
By Paul Nicholson
July 23 – The Asian Football Confederation has announced plans to create its own Ethics Committee that it expects will be operational by January 2014. An initiative of new AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, he said he hoped that the committee will help fight AFC corruption at all levels.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 18 – The Lebanese referee jailed for six months after pleading guilty to accepting sexual favours in exchange for match-fixing has been back in court to give evidence in the trial of a Singaporean businessman accused of being behind the affair.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 17 – Leading football clubs in India have hit out against moves to stage a rival tournament to the national league inspired by cricket’s cash-rich IPL that attracts top international names.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 16 – Just when Asian football is striving to improve its image and develop the game, Australian coach Holger Osieck (pictured) has attacked Asian clubs for failing to release a number of his players for the East Asian Cup, which starts on Saturday in Seoul.
By Mark Baber
July 12 – Yemen’s Football Federation has pulled its national football team from participation in foreign competitions for the rest of 2013 due to a financial crisis.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 12 – Thailand is once again facing the possibility of being expelled from FIFA unless the continuing impasse over implementing contentious new reforms can be resolved.
By Mark Baber
July 11 – A new report by Deloitte highlights the opportunities for the construction sector in Qatar as the country gears up to spend $140 billion over the next five years in transport infrastructure and over $200 billion in construction projects.
By Mark Baber
July 10 – ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) secretary-general Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad has welcomed Australia’s upcoming accession to full membership whilst firming up the details of the planned ASEAN Super League.
By Mark Baber
July 8 – In a decision hailed as a sign of decreased tensions, South Korea’s Unification Ministry has given the go-ahead for the North Korean women’s national team to participate in the Women’s East Asian Cup which kicks off on July 20.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 8 – The in-fighting surrounding the future of Thai football and its controversial boss Worawi Makudi has taken another twist with Makudi cancelling a news conference at which he was expected to outline his position and how the impasse could be resolved.
By Mark Baber
July 4 – FIFA have re-imposed its ban on Iraq hosting international friendlies following a surge in violence, including bombings aimed directly at players and fans. FIFA notified the Iraqi Football Association (IFA), citing over 2,500 deaths in violence from April through June and at least 123 people killed in the first three days of July.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 4 – Controversial Fifa executive committee member Worawo Makudi (pictured) continues to cling to power as boss of Thai football despite growing demands for fresh presidential elections which he, so far, has refused to implement. Thailand avoided being thrown out of world football by FIFA last month after a tiny fourth-tier club agreed to withdrew a lawsuit that threatened to stop the Thai FA (FAT) from holding elections.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 3 – South Korea and Iran, whose recent spat made headlines throughout Asian football, have agreed to bury their differences and sign a symbolic sporting exchange agreement barely two weeks after a war of words ahead of and following their crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier which ended in ugly scenes of chaos when the Iranian players were pelted with bottles of water from the stands.
July 1 – Between nine and 15 people have been killed in a bomb blast while watching and playing football in Baghdad, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Iraqis either competing or watching and prompting a plea by Asian football authorities to beef up security in the region.