January 6 – FIFA has joined forces with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in a new campaign encouraging the football industry to raise awareness about global match-fixing.
January 5 – The English Football Association continues to come under fierce criticism in Uruguay for the three-match ban imposed on Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani for a social media post containing a Spanish phrase that is offensive in some contexts, but which has an acceptable interpretation in others.
January 5 – The UEFA Foundation for Children and Sportradar Intelligence & Investigation Services are marking a three-year safeguarding partnership that reinforces the work carried out by the foundation.
January 4 – In a snub to English football authorities, FIFA have stepped in to block the 10-game worldwide ban imposed by the English FA on international defender Kieron Tripper for breaking betting rules.
January 4 – Manchester United’s Uruguayan international striker Edinson Cavani has completed the first of a three-match ban for a social media post containing a Spanish phrase that is offensive in some contexts but which has an acceptable interpretation in others.
Last month SIGA appointed the first members of its youth council in a bid to give youth a real voice in the sports integrity debate and a wider social change. But do the world’s youth care? And if they do, what is that they care about. SIGA youth council member Anđelija Milovanović opens the discussion with Anton Klischewski, vice chair of the Sports Integrity Global Alliance Youth Council.
December 30 – The Ivory Coast FA (FIF) has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against FIFA’s appointment of a normalisation committee in the country.
December 30 – England and Atletico Madrid defender Kieran Trippier has been given a 10-week worldwide ban and fined £70,000 after an English Football Association panel found he broke betting rules.
By Paul Nicholson
December 22 – The day after his election to the FIFA presidency in May 2016, Gianni Infantino attended his first official public function in Zurich at the opening of the CHF 140 million ($158 million) FIFA Museum project.
By David Owen
December 22 – Football remains anything but a doping blackspot, assuming official statistics offer a reliable guide.
December 21 – England international forward Marcus Rashford, who famously forced the British government into a u-turn with his calls for free school meals to children from low-income families, has collected a special individual honour as a result of his work to raise awareness.
December 17 – UEFA and president Aleksander Ceferin have formally confirmed they will support the newly launched European climate pact.
December 16 – Italy’s international midfielder Bryan Cristante has been banned for one Serie A game for breaking the country’s strict blasphemy laws following his own goal in Roma’s 5-1 over win over Bologna on Sunday.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – International players’ union FIFPro is celebrating exactly 25 years since the landmark Bosman ruling that changed the face of world football.
December 15 – In a remarkable interview with the online version of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, the disgraced former head of Haiti’s football federation – banned for life for sexual abuse – has launched a passionate defence of his behaviour by accusing FIFA of being corrupt, declaring he is being used as a scapegoat and arguing that he was given only 10 minutes to respond to the sickening accusations against him.