February 19 – A Brazilian derby between Vitoria and Bahia was abandoned with 11 minutes remaining on Sunday after the hosts had six players sent off in a game marked by a mass brawl.
February 16 – Conmebol is reportedly considering moving its headquarters out of Paraguay, where it has resided since 1986, after losing a $10 million lawsuit.
February 16 – Germany’s Bundesliga has reported first half of 2017-18 season attendances as being the second-highest average attendance in Bundesliga history at 43,429 fans per match.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 15 – Football politics moves in unpredictable ways. Not so long ago, then English FA chief Greg Dyke criticised Qatar being awarded the rights to stage the 2022 World Cup as the “worst moment” in FIFA’s history.
February 14 – Uruguayan club Nacional have been fined $80,000 and their fans banned for three away games for taunting Brazilian rivals Chapecoense about the plane crash which killed 71 people including 19 Chapecoense players and staff in November 2016.
By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – The Jersey FA is seeking to become the 56th member of UEFA at the confederation’s Congress in Bratislava, Slovakia, next week. The island nation, part of the British Isles, has increased its lobbying and sharpened its case for inclusion, including making its case to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
February 13 – Just days after a FIFA delegation led by secretary general Fatma Samoura, met with Spanish officials to discuss concerns about government interference in the aftermath of veteran powerbroker Angel Villar’s demise, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) announced it is finally holding elections in April to select Villar’s replacement.
February 13 – La Liga and Serie A are in battle for the services of Javier Tebas, the longstanding and mercurial Spanish league president. The Italian league has made an approach to lure him away from Spain.
February 12 – Portugal claimed their maiden UEFA Futsal Championship title by defeating Spain 3-2 in extra time in Slovenia. In Asia, Iran took the highest honours, beating Japan 4-0.
By Paul Nicholson
February 12 – It took three rounds of voting before Carlos Cordeiro emerged triumphant in the ballot for the US Soccer Federation presidency. Cordeiro, who has been the US federation’s vice president for the last two years and an independent board member for nine years, fought off eight challengers for the post in what proved to be a canny campaign that appealed to the broader base of US soccer’s community.
By Paul Nicholson
February 12 – Sunil Gulati may now have left the presidency of the US Soccer Federation but he leaves behind one huge legacy issue in the shape of training compensation for youth players and whether the US is going to abide by FIFA rules and conventions or go it alone and continue to refuse the training payment solidarity principles.
By Mark Baber
February 8 – Football in Ghana, including the Ghana Premier League, First Division and the Ordinary Congress of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has been put on hold as Accra Great Olympics, one of the teams relegated at the end of last season, won an injunction on Monday delaying kick off of the new season until their appeal against relegation is heard.
February 8 – How are the mighty fallen. As a former president of Barcelona and a key figure in the European Clubs Association, Sandro Rosell was used to the high life. Not any longer.
By Paul Nicholson
February 7 – The fledgling third tier professional division of US football – USL Division III has named FC Tucson as the second fanchise, following the announcement last week of South Georgia Tormenta FC as the first founder member of the league scheduled to kick off in 2019.
By Samindra Kunti in Casablanca, Morocco
February 5 – Edouard Ngaissona from the Central African Republic (CAR) has sparked more controversy and suspicion over football governance in Africa after being elected to the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the top table of football decision making in the region.