By Paul Nicholson
March 9 – Regulation of the runaway Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) business in the US took a step closer in Virginia this week, but a ruling is still awaited in New York over whether DFS games operated by DraftKings and FanDuel are illegal or not.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 9 – The FifaGate corruption scandal that has already snared 41 individuals and entities allegedly involved in more than $200 million of bribes and kickbacks has widened still further after Miguel Trujillo (pictured), a Florida-based consultant licensed to arrange official matches between member associations, admitted charges against him when he appeared in a Brooklyn court.
By Ben Nicholson
March 7 – David Beckham’s Miami franchise dream is very much alive and kicking, and he says that it is not just his dream, revealing that some world class players have been “showing interest” in his upcoming MLS franchise.
March 3 – The former president of the Guatemalan FA, Brayan Jimenez, pleaded not guilty and was released on $1.5 million bail Wednesday 24 hours after being extradited to the United States to faces charges for his alleged role in football’s global corruption scandal.
By Mark Baber
March 2 – Former Guatemalan Football Federation president and member of FIFA’s Committee for Fair Play and Social Responsibility Brayan Jimenez was extradited on a commercial flight from La Aurora airport to the US on Tuesday to face charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and embezzlement.
By Paul Nicholson in Zurich
February 25 – Having said all the ‘right things’, and then voted the ‘right way’, CONCACAF’s member associations will now proceed to, hopefully, ‘doing the right thing’. A big step forward was taken by the confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean and its member associations at their extraordinary congress in Zurich where they voted unanimously to approve a wide ranging package of reforms.
February 24 – In a welcome break from news on reform and political manouevring issues, CONCACAF has announced that it is using the quarter finals of its club showcase championship, the Scotiabank Champions League, “to promote social well-being through soccer”.
By Ben Nicholson
February 24 – Minnesota United FC are rumoured to be facing the possibility of changing their name because the MLS is concerned about the presence of three ‘Uniteds’ in the league.
By Paul Nicholson
February 17 – A fourth candidate has announced that he will run for the vacant presidency of the regional governing body for the north and central Americas and Caribbean, CONCACAF. Gordon Derrick, president of the Caribbean Football Union since 2012, has thrown his hat into the ring.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – FIFA’s decision to freeze funding to CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, the two confederations most affected by the ongoing corruption scandal with a spate of officials charged and arrested, has drawn a carefully worded response from CONCACAF who insist they are putting their house in order and clearly want the payments resumed.
By Paul Nicholson
February 10 – The central American federations that form the UNCAF regional body that is part of CONCACAF, have moved swiftly to show their support for Canadian Victor Montagliani in his bid for the confederation’s presidency. But their declaration has been met with accusations that CONCACAF’s old guard are skewing the election to their man.
By Paul Nicholson
February 9 – The battle for the presidency of CONCACAF has been raised a notch in intensity with the official announcement by Canadian FA president and CONCACAF executive committee member Victor Montagliani that he will run for election in May at the confederation’s congress in Mexico.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 8 – “Canover Watson’s fall from grace is now complete,” reported the local newspaper after yet another one-time high-profile FIFA figure brought shame upon football’s scandal-tarnished world governing body.
By Paul Nicholson
February 3 – FIFA may have suspended their funding but CONCACAF are getting used to operating on reduced cashflow. The US Justice Department partially froze funds back in May 2015 when they arrested then president Jeffrey Webb and Costa Rican president Ricardo Li, and followed that up with a raid the confederation’s Miami headquarters.
By Mark Baber
February 1 – As much as $1 million in funds from soccer’s global governing body FIFA may have gone missing from Guatemala’s soccer federation last year, according to reports of an internal audit carried out by the federation.