May 7 – Sulley Muntari has had his controversial one-match ban for protesting against racist abuse overturned by Italy’s football authorities but says he was “treated like a criminal” for complaining.
By Samindra Kunti
May 5 – Neymar and his father will stand trial over alleged fraud and corruption in the player’s transfer from Santos to FC Barcelona in 2013. The other defendants will be the current and former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, FC Barcelona, Santos and NN Consultoria. All have denied the charges.
May 5 – The English Football Association is mulling over ending its commercial ties with betting and alcohol firms at the end of the season, says chairman Greg Clarke.
May 5 – Italian football’s reputation around the world has been damaged by the Sulley Muntari affair, the Italian Football Federation’s anti-racism advisor has charged.
May 4 – The Czech football federation says it has been raided by police and its chairman Miroslav Pelta detained in the presence of his lawyer.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – How short-sighted can you get? Pescara’s former Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari has been banned for one game by the Italian FA for walking off the pitch complaining of racist abuse despite being praised by the United Nations’ top human rights official.
By Paul Nicholson
May 2 – After an investigation taking more than a year, FIFA’s investigatory chamber has referred Gordon Derrick’s case to the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics committee. The case is potentially one of the most controversial and politically laden decisions FIFA’s court will have had to make – though it has yet to rule against a single case from its investigators.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 – Former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, one of the first arrests in the burgeoning FifaGate scandal and still the highest profile figure to be indicted, has had his sentencing date put off for the fourth time since he pleaded guilty to racketeering and money laundering.
May 1 – Pescara’s former Ghanaian international midfielder Sulley Muntari walked off the pitch in protest at the weekend in the latest incident of racism to besmirch Italian football.
April 28 – France has become the third country after the United States and Switzerland to investigate the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
April 27 – Secret payments made to players and agents is reported to be at the centre of the football tax fraud investigation launched by British and French authorities.
By Paul Nicholson
April 26 – Five days after CONCACAF filed a lawsuit in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, claiming $20 million in damages against former executives Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, Warner has responded by saying he will file a suit against CONCACAF for $40 million claiming “persistent defamation” of character. He also says he is suing US Soccer Federation president and FIFA Council member Sunil Gulati personally.
April 26 – Professional football in England and France has been plunged into a tax fraud scandal with a number of arrests following raids linked to alleged transfer activity going back several years.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 24 – Sepp Blatter’s colourful and controversial career may be over as a result of his six-year ethics ban but despite speculation to the contrary, the 81-year-old insists he will not end up facing prosecution at the hands of either US or Swiss justice authorities.
April 24 – The international players’ union FIFpro has warned its members against signing for Romanian clubs because of the risk they will not get paid.