February 20 – Former coach Barry Bennell, the serial paedophile whose sickening treatment of aspiring youngsters mainly in the 1980s rocked British football, was sentenced to 31 years in jail on Monday for 50 counts of child sexual abuse.
February 20 – Jack Warner, the most wanted man of all among powerbrokers snared by US authorities in the $200 million FIFAGate corruption scandal, has again managed to thwart extradition by having committal proceedings against him put on hold – for another nine months.
February 16 – Former English league coach Barry Bennell, the figure at the heart of English football’s child abuse scandal, has been found guilty of three more charges of sexual abuse against young players mainly in the 1980s and is due to be sentenced on Monday.
February 15 – Valentines Day may be over but the Climate Coalition is still encouraging people to #ShowTheLove.
February 14 – A former English league coach has been found guilty of multiple sex offences in the 1980s in the latest development in the abuse scandal that has shocked the country.
February 2 – As controversial refereeing decisions go, few are as worthy of condemnation as the booking meted out over the weekend to Nice’s former Italian international striker Mario Balotelli after he reportedly claimed he was the victim of racist chanting during a top-flight French game.
February 9 – New Manchester United recruit Alexis Sanchez has “accepted” a prison sentence for tax fraud in Spain, according to his agent, though he won’t have to serve jail time. The Sanchez camp described the settlement as “entirely unjust”, forcing Sanchez and other players into a deal with the tax authorities in Spain.
February 9 – FIFA is investigating two Russian footballers, Ruslan Kambolov and Ivan Knyazev, on suspicion of violating anti-doping regulations, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko has admitted.
February 8 – Not for the first time, Premier League champions Chelsea have been condemned over the use of anti-Semitic language by a section of their fans.
February 5 – Once one of the most influential figures in European football, playing a prominent role in the European Club Association and representing that body on various UEFA and FIFA committees, former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell continues to have his assets frozen in Spain.
February 1 – English Premier league club West Ham United have become embroiled in a race row that has that has seen their director of recruitment suspended after reportedly claiming that the club do not want to sign African players because “they can have a bad attitude” and “cause mayhem”.
February 1 – The managing director of Spanish second-tier side Cadiz has been arrested in relation to a money-laundering investigation, sources close to the operation told AFP.
January 31 – A German-Turkish player known for his pro-Kurdish views, who was targeted in a recent drive-by shooting, has been banned for life by the Turkish Football Federation.
By Paul Nicholson
January 30 – Greek football is in chaos and the crisis in the top professional tiers is not showing any signs of improvement. This is despite a FIFA normalisation committee led by Portuguese Vitor Melo Pereira and the parachuting in last week of UEFA director of national associations Zoran Laković. Rather than finding solutions, his trip in fact just rubber stamped the ‘new’ status quo.
By Tim Rohn and Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – The growing sense of unease pervading FIFA under the regime of Gianni Infantino has been exposed by a blatant attempt to undermine a scathing report into the organisation’s record on governance by the Council of Europe. FIFA’s lobbying fell on deaf ears as the council overwhelming voted in favour of adopting the report with 131 votes in favour and just five against.