By Andrew Warshaw
July 21 – Angel Maria Villar, FIFA’s second most senior official and an ally of Gianni Infantino, has been denied bail along with his son following their sensational arrest earlier this week as part of an anti-corruption probe by Spanish authorities.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – Is the net starting to close in on former FIFA and Brazilian powerbroker Ricardo Teixeira? Brazilian and Spanish federal prosecutors have reportedly begun exchanging information about suspected corruption by Teixeira, for whom an international arrest warrant is apparently on the verge of being issued by Spanish authorities.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – The dramatic arrest of Spanish football chief and FIFA powerbroker Angel Maria Villar has had an immediate knock-on effect on the operations of Spanish football, with the announcement of next season’s domestic fixtures thrown into confusion.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 18 – Who says the crisis at FIFA is over? Angel Maria Villar, FIFA’s senior vice-president and one of the last surviving members of the organisation’s old guard, has been sensationally arrested in his native Spain along with his son in an anti-corruption raid carried out by Spanish authorities.
By Paul Nicholson
July 17 – FIFA has written to Cameroon club Etoile Filante to emphasise that its Disciplinary Committee has not yet ruled on the complaint that a Court of Aribitration for Sport (CAS) decision that would immediately suspend Cameroon FA (Fecafoot) president Tombi A Roko Sidiki was not being followed.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 14 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the FIFA-appointed official who led the inspection team that evaluated the credentials of all 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding candidates, is free to resume his career in football after the Court of Arbitration for Sport cut his ban for seeking unpaid intern work in Qatar for relatives to two years.
By Paul Nicholson
July 13 – FIFA has wriggled out of responsibility to enable it to continue to support an unelected president of a national federation, claiming it is not the “competent” authority to enforce the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that Tombi A Roko Sidiki is unlawfully holding the position of Cameroon FA (Fecafoot) president.
By Paul Nicholson
July 14 – Controversial Liberian FA president Musa Bility (pictured), a member of the Confederation of African Football executive committee, is under renewed allegations from stakeholders in his own federation who claim that he is “embezzling” funds from the federation and FIFA grant money.
July 12 – French international forward Karim Benzema has won a crucial ruling in his bid to clear his name in a long-running sex tape scandal.
July 11 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) have announced session detail and speakers for their Sport Integrity Forum in Lisbon, Portugal on July 26.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 7 – If circumstances had panned out differently, Michel Platini could now be running FIFA. Instead, the three-time European Footballer of the Year, who rose to become UEFA president, is now well and truly yesterday’s man after his final appeal against his four-year ban for financial wrongdoing was thrown out by Switzerland’s supreme court.
July 7 – The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) is developing predictive software technology for use in securing future major sports events. Combined with the use of smart data systems, the software is targeted to be used as part of big event safety and security planning.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 6 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin believes a salary cap, which for many years has been widely debated in forums across European football, might be the only viable solution to stemming the increasing gap between the haves and have-nots.
July 6 – Fierce adversaries on and off the pitch, it is little surprise that Scottish champions Celtic have waded into the tax avoidance case surrounding Glasgow rivals Rangers.
July 6 – The pain and anguish of a disputed penalty awarded deep into injury time were too much for fans and officials of China League One side Baoding Rongda. The match officials were attacked by fans and officials on Saturday, whilst a tearful Chairman told the press in a post-match interview the club would be withdrawn from the league.