By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff staged a bullish defence of her country’s preparations for the forthcoming Confederations Cup when she officially inaugurated the last of six stadiums being used for the World Cup warm-up event.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Despite renewed efforts from football’s authorities to try and eradicate racism, Italy’s season ended with yet more examples of discrimination – just a week after FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s personal intervention over the issue.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – George Becali, outspoken owner of leading Romanian club Steaua Bucharest, has been jailed for abuse of power in his role a member of parliament, according to local reports.
By Mark Baber
May 20 – Mixed messages have been emerging over the last week regarding the controversial issue of allowing Saudi women to attend football games.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 20 – The timing could hardly be more embarrassing. Just days before the great and the good of world football roll into town for the FIFA Congress, the Indian ocean island of Mauritius – usually known more as a luxury holiday destination than for any major involvement with football – has been hit by a match-fixing scandal.
By Mark Baber
May 20 – In a deal estimated to be worth €25 million per season, newly crowned French champions Paris St Germain (PSG) have officially extended their shirt sponsorship deal with Dubai airline Emirates for another five years until the end of the 2018/19 season.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 20 – Activists from several European countries are planning to stage a rally outside this week’s UEFA Congress in London protesting against the decision to hand this summer’s European Under-21 championship to Israel.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 20 – Monaco are planning to take the French football authorities to court after being refused permission to rejoin the country’s top flight in a seething row over tax status. Although a self-contained adjacent principality, Monaco have been playing in the French league for nearly a century and were Champions League runners up in 2004.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 17 – FIFA looks set to be among a raft of international sporting organisations that will be subject to new anti-corruption laws under Swiss government proposals designed to make sure the country’s image doesn’t suffer.
By Mark Baber
May 17 – Singapore and Vietnam have both appointed new supremos for their national teams in advance of the upcoming Asian Cup qualifiers.
By Gareth Messenger
May 17 – Javier Tebas, President of the National Professional Football League (LFP), believes that four clubs in Spain are in a frail financial position with two of them on the edge of liquidation.
By Gareth Messenger
May 17 – Eight Spanish Primera clubs have had their UEFA licence applications turned down by the federation for failure to meet the financial conditions required to play in European competition.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – English football is cracking down on racism from next season – but not as strongly as UEFA. Players found guilty of racially abusing an opponent will be suspended for a minimum of five matches, half the sentence UEFA says it will impose in its competitions.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – Sir Alex Ferguson isn’t the only Manchester United icon to retire from football. Former England captain David Beckham – arguably the most recognised and respected player of his generation – has now announced that he, too, is stepping down at the end of this season after a distinguished career spanning 20 years.
By Mark Baber
May 16 – US soccer fan, Richard Swanson, was tragically killed by a pick-up truck, two weeks after embarking on a 10,000 mile charity trek aimed at dribbling a football from Seattle to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.