By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – A two-day conference on match-fixing at which the dangers facing Asian football were starkly underlined have resulted in the Asian Football Confederation setting up a task force to try and clamp down on arguably the most serious crisis facing the game.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 21 – The battle to succeed Mohamed bin Hammam as head of Asian football has taken a surprising twist with Saudi Arabia’s Hafez Al Medlej (pictured left) almost certainly putting his name forward along with the anticipated contenders.
By Mark Baber
February 21 – Youssef Suleiman, a player from the Homs-based al-Wathbah club, was killed by a mortar attack on the Tishreen Sports Complex in Damascus on Wednesday.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 21 – The two rival football federations in Indonesia have agreed to merge to avoid stringent FIFA sanctions that would wreck the country’s entire international status.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 21 – In what appeared to be yet another unprovoked anti-Semitic ambush, Tottenham Hotspur fans have been attacked in a bar in the French city of Lyon on the eve of their side’s Europa League last-32 tie.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 20 – The acting head of Asian football says stakeholders throughout the entire Continent must work together to eliminate the “cancer” of match-fixing which has its roots in illegal Asian gambling dens.
February 20 – Kenya has confirmed its intention to bid to host the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 as well as the 2017 Africa Youth Championships.
February 20 – The Football League has once again rebuffed a rival bid to take over stricken English club Portsmouth, re-iterating they will only consider a fans’ takeover.
February 20 – Fifteen Eritrean footballers who disappeared whilst playing in a regional tournament in December have been granted asylum in Uganda.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
February 19 – Five years after celebrating their independence from Serbia, Kosovan football officials say they have been betrayed after being promised partial acceptance into the world game.
February 19 – In the wake of Nigeria’s stunning success at the African Cup of Nations, the country’s top flight domestic league, the newly renamed the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL), is to receive government help to sort out its financial difficulties and kick off next month.
By Mark Baber
February 19 – Club officials met yesterday to discuss a cross-border Russian-Ukrainian league. A meeting attended by 14 Russian clubs, but with only one club from the Ukraine turning up.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – In a damaging blow to the image of football in China, which has been spending like crazy to acquire top players towards the end of their careers, Shanghai Shenhua have been stripped of their 2003 league title and fined £103,000 as part of on ongoing investigation into a match fixing scandal.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – UEFA president Michel Platini has used his organisation’s own publication, Uefa Direct, to appeal for the game to pull together to eliminate both cheating and off-the-field foul play.
February 19 – Corporate hospitality packages for the UEFA Europa League final at the Amsterdam ArenA on May 15 are still available, 2 months after the sales programme was launched.