By Andrew Warshaw
September 1 – Despite continually protesting his innocence over any involvement in manipulating the vote that handed Germany the 2006 World Cup, Franz Beckenbauer, his country’s most revered footballing figurehead who led the bid process, is being investigated by Swiss prosecutors as part of a corruption probe.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 1 – He described his original $2 million pay offer as “insulting” yet now he is getting even less. Or is he? After six months in charge, and having failed to sign a contract that had been on the table since March, Gianni Infantino has now apparently agreed an annual salary of 1.5 million Swiss francs.
September 1 – A Russian panel which handles player contract disputes is unfairly weighted in favour of executives from the league and clubs according to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
August 25 – FIFA’s ethics watchdog has opened formal proceedings against ex-South Africa football chief Kirsten Nematandani and two other officials over alleged ethics violations related to the fixing of international friendlies in 2010, just weeks before South Africa hosted the World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 25 – Hope Solo, the world’s best-known and most decorated women’s goalkeeper and a household name across the sport, has been suspended by US Soccer for six months for describing Olympic opponents Sweden as “a bunch of cowards”.
August 24 – With global match-fixing and results manipulation showing little sign of easing, the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has joined forces with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to release a new resource guide which both organisations hope will help law enforcement and sports organisations better detect cases of wrongdoing.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 19 – Former South African Football Association (SAFA) president Kirsten Nematandani has come out fighting over allegations of ethics violations related to the fixing of international friendlies in 2010 just weeks before South Africa hosted the World Cup.
August 10 – Police have arrested 10 people as part of a probe into alleged match-fixing in the little-known Welsh Premier League.
August 4 – The federal judge overseeing the US-led corruption probe into FIFA and a raft of its former senior officials says the trial of the first eight defendants will probably now not start before September or October next year.
By Nan Sato, Shimin Law
The Communist government in China has long had an uncomfortable relationship with gambling, but the mounting interest in sports betting may make the country’s leaders rethink some of its policies.
August 1 – William Hill has agreed a two-year partnership with Premier League Everton to become its new official betting partner, offering exclusive odds to Everton fans.
July 28 – As anticipated, German football supremo Wolfgang Niersbach has decided to appeal his one-year ban over the scandal surrounding possible vote-buying during Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid.
By James Dostoyevsky
July 27 – UEFA is finally moving to replace Michel Platini as its president. In mid-September, the European football’s governing body, which organises some of football’s financially most profitable competitions, will have to chose between three men from three different backgrounds.
July 27 – FIFA have confirmed the worldwide extension of the two-year ban imposed on the vice-president of the Equatorial Guinea Football Association, Gustavo Ndong Edu, for match-fixing.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 26 – The career of German football supremo Wolfgang Niersbach (pictured), not so long ago touted as a possible UEFA president in succession to Michel Platini, has been halted firmly in its tracks after he was banned for one year by FIFA’s ethics committee in the first sanction resulting from the investigation into Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid, throwing into question his position on the top tables of both FIFA and UEFA.