January 2 – Qatar’s efforts to build a credible team ahead of hosting 2022 World Cup remain a formidable challenge after yet another disappointment, this time failing to reach the semi-finals of the Gulf Cup in Kuwait.
January 2 – Barcelona kit manufacturers Nike appear to have jumped the gun somewhat with an advert on their official online store urging fans to purchase Coutinho jerseys for the remainder of this campaign even though the Liverpool playmaker has not yet signed.
January 2 – Gianni Infantino insists FIFA’s 211 federations are “overwhelmingly in favour” of expanding the World Cup to 48 teams.
January 2 – One of the fiercest rivalries in European club football, dubbed the “eternal derby”, has made headlines once again for all the wrong reasons.
January 2 – Russian World Cup fans could be offered Aeroflot flight tickets for just 5 rubles (9 cents) between cities where Russia’s team is playing. Russian president Vladimir Putin has been reported as saying it is a “good idea.”
January 2 – Local broadcast deals in Russia for the 2018 world cup have been agreed with FIFA after a fraught negotiation process that saw the Russians unwilling to pay the asking price for their home world cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 27 – Under-fire Russian football supremo Vitaly Mutko has now stepped down as chief organiser of the 2018 World Cup having two days ago relinquished his role as president of the Russian Football Union (RFU) after mounting global criticism of his alleged involvement in the Russian doping scandal that has seen the country banned from Olympic sport.
December 28 – It isn’t every day that a former World Football Player of the Year becomes president of his country but Liberia’s George Weah has made that remarkable transition after the second round of voting in a sometimes acrimonious election campaign saw him defeat 73-year-old Joseph Boakai who has been vice president for the last 12 years.
December 27 – The bitter in-fighting over who runs Sierra Leone football has taken another twist with FIFA’s Members Association Committee giving under-fire Sierra Leone FA (SLFA) president Isha Johansen a boost by ordering a series of reforms.
By Paul Nicholson
December 27 – Former Peru football boss Manuel Burga, 60, has been acquitted of a corruption charge by the Brooklyn jury that found Juan Napout, of Paraguay, and Jose Maria Marin, of Brazil guilty of similar charges before Christmas.
By David Owen
December 27 – Brighton and Hove Albion, the south-coast club making a decent fist of its return to the English top flight after 34 years, has spelt out the cost of last season’s promotion charge.
December 27 – Somalia took a step nearer to regaining control of their national stadium in Mogadishu after Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheyre, confirmed that African Union peace keeping troops stationed at Stadium Mogadishu would withdra from the stadium by 2018.
December 27 – Major League Soccer’s latest expansion team franchise has been awarded to an investment group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their team will being MLS play in 2020.
December 20 – The dates for the first Tackling Match-fixing conference has been released for March 9-10. To be held in Chelsea, London, at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel, the conference will be the first dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by governing bodies, clubs and sports lawyers in addressing what is the biggest threat to the integrity of football worldwide.
By Paul Nicholson
December 22 – Jose Maria Marin, former head of Brazil’s Football Confederation (CBF) and Juan Angel Napout, former head of Paraguayan football are spending their first Christmas in jail after the jury in what has been dubbed the FIFA-gate trial found them guilty of racketeering conspiracy and accepting bribes in return for commercial rights.