April 26 – Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League finalists Club America and Tigres UANL are taking part in educational workshops today, on the eve of the final, to raise awareness of diversity and send messages of inclusion and respect.
April 26 – The best goalkeeper in Europe’s Big-5 leagues this year is Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer and the worst is, not surprisingly, American Brad Guzan who has had a miserable season at a miserable Aston Villa.
By Mark Baber
April 25 – The Nigerian soap opera continues as rival groups claim to represent the official Nigerian Football Federation – with the appointment of a dead referee as match official symptomatic of the chaos in the country’s football administration.
April 25 – Costa Rica has stepped up to more hosting duties in the CONCACAF region picking up the 2017 Under-20 Championship which acts as the qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be played in South Korea in 2017.
By Samindra Kunti
April 25 – Anderlecht’s Belgian title campaign turned into chaos in the playoffs at the weekend as players argued on the pitch and a farcical 4-2 defeat at KV Oostende led to fans rioting.
April 25 – Liberia’s George Weah, regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time and the first African to win FIFA’s player of the year award, is to make a second bid to become president of his troubled nation – 11 years after losing a bitter campaign.
By Mark Baber
April 22 – FC Barcelona have unveiled the designs for their revamped home – the Nou Camp Nou – at a ceremony attended by Barca board members, the first-team squad and media representatives. Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu said the new stadium will become “an icon for the city,” though most would argue it already is in global opinion.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 22 – In his eagerly awaited first book since leaving FIFA, Sepp Blatter has revealed that he was once asked by Switzerland’s foreign ministry to persuade an African leader to quit office in exchange for an ambassadorial role.
April 22 – With scores of their players repeatedly unpaid, Romanian football authorities have eased contract restrictions that will now allow them to move on and not be retained by clubs against their will.
By Paul Nicholson
April 21 – Gordon Derrick, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) president who was banned from running for the presidency of CONCACAF after FIFA’s Independent Audit and Compliance chief Domenico Scala ruled he had failed the integrity test, did in fact clear all the CONCACAF integrity hurdles before the file was passed to FIFA.
By James Dostoyevksy
April 21 – Double jeopardy, denial of the most basic due process and defamation of character seems to be the latest modus operandi of a FIFA compliance outfit that makes statements about the person’s life and livelihood with an acute and present danger of destroying not only his career in football but his ability to make a living.
April 21 – Not many clubs sack their coach with the domestic league title about to be won. But in Scotland, where Celtic are by far the biggest fish in a relatively small pool of winners, expectations go much further than perennial success in the top flight.
By Mark Baber
April 21 – Speaking at a press conference to announce cooperation between the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) and France’s FC Metz academy over youth training, AIFF President Praful Patel (pictured) argued the blanket ban on sporting activities in Maharashta was unfair on football and revealed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) and I-League are to be merged in the near future.
April 20 – A match-fixing inquiry conducted by the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has announced that “10 persons of interest” are to be quizzed and investigated over long-standing allegations.
April 20 – New Zealand club side Wellington Phoenix have signed what they claim is the largest sponsorship deal in New Zealand football history with China’s Huawei. The deal is estimated to be worth $2 million a season, though no official figure was given.