March 20 – When Canadian national team boss Jesse Marsch threw a political grenade at SoFi Stadium two weeks ago in the direction of US President Donald Trump, he embraced sports and politics.
His American-Argentine counterpart, USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino, was a little more ginger with the subject when quizzed prior to his team’s semifinal match-up against Panama in the Concacaf Nations League.
March 20 – UEFA has come down hard on NK Olimpija Ljubljana and RSC Anderlecht in the wake of a collection of serious fan misconduct incidents in recent European fixtures.
March 20 – Dutch authorities have convicted four more men for their part in November’s violence against Israeli fans that sparked accusations of anti-Semitism.
March 20 – “This has the potential to be a real heavyweight fight and we are excited to be part of it.”
By Paul Nicholson
November 11 – Chelsea’s development of Stamford Bridge into a new-build 60,000 capacity stadium has been pushed back by at least three years.
By Paul Nicholson
November 10 – The stand-off in the blockade of Qatar by its Gulf neighbours has inevitably dragged the hosting of the 2022 World Cup into the geo-political mix with news that the United Arab Emirates has a plan to attack Qatar’s currency and devalue its economy. Alongside the financial warfare sits a PR offensive designed to destroy confidence in the Qatari economy and change the hosting status of 2022.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 10 – FIFA has been urged by its own advisory board on human rights to step up monitoring risks to those working on construction sites at World Cup venues in Russia and Qatar.
By Paul Nicholson
November 10 – Amazon and Manchester City have now officially announced a ‘multi-part’ documentary series that will go behind the scenes at the club and will air exclusively on Prime Video next year across 200 territories worldwide.
By Mark Baber
November 10 – Adidas has revealed the official match ball for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, paying homage to the first-ever Adidas World Cup ball.
November 10 – Amidst growing debate over whether the formal introduction of video technology would prove counter-productive after of a string of poor judgements, Northern Ireland are ironically crying foul having seen their World Cup hopes take a dive because of two crucial decisions that almost certainly would have been overturned by the system.
November 10 – One of the fiercest critics of Qatar’s record on workers rights has welcomed steps made by the Qataris to end the ‘kafala’ employment system in the country and says other Gulf leaders should copy Qatar’s lead.
November 10 – A former deputy governor of St Petersburg has admitted to his involvement in an embezzlement scheme related to the construction of the city’s World Cup stadium.
November 10 – Several hundred Hong Kong fans once again defied a Chinese law against disrespecting the national anthem when they booed the anthem at a match on Thursday.
November 10 – Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven have extended their partnership with iFOREX as an Official Sponsor of the club for the 2017/18 season.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – The Portuguese official ousted by FIFA as its chief governance and electoral watchdog has blasted the organisation’s approach to political neutrality under Gianni Infantino as “shocking” and says there is no chance of reform from within because of its closed-shop mentality.
By Lefteris Charalambopoulos
November 9 – An irreversible decision issued by the Council of Appeals Court Judges in Athens, Greece, charging 28 individuals of match-fixing, drops four charges against Evangelos Marinakis and puts an end to speculation and some wild allegations against the shipping magnate and owner of Olympiakos. It also raises questions about the depth of the malaise and infighting that plagues Greek football.
When England won the recent under-17 World Cup to add to their under-20 triumph in June, one of my journalist colleagues (I wish I could take the credit) came up with a novel and intriguing idea.
November 9 – The bitter in-fighting over who runs Sierra Leone football has taken a remarkable twist with FIFA intervening to overturn a decision by the country’s national FA to remove Isha Johansen (pictured left) from her role as president – right in the middle of a court case in which she is charged with corruption.
By Samindra Kunti
November 9 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its sidelined president Praful Patel (pictured) have challenged the Delhi High Court’s ruling that deemed Patel’s presidential elections invalid and taken the case to the Supreme Court with an appeal.