March 22 – The joy of Panamanian Ceclio Waterman, as he celebrated his last-minute winner against the USA on the set of CBS with former Arsenal great and TV pundit, Thierry Henry, screaming ‘Eres mi idolo’, Spanish for ‘You’re my idol’, reminded all watching that ‘this is the reason we love the game’.
March 21 – SoFi stadium, Inglewood, California is for all intents and purposes a spaceship, and the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) probably wishes they were boarding it with a one-way ticket to Mars after being dumped out of the Concacaf Nations League semifinal by Panama.
March 22 – Prior to the Concacaf Nations League doubleheader on Thursday at SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, the smart money was on the USA and Canada to advance and contest the final on Sunday. 180 minutes later, the smart money looked foolish.
By Samindra Kunti
September 21 – Brooklyn federal prosecutors have asked for an anonymous and semi-sequestered jury in the upcoming trial of three former South American football executives, but Jose Maria Marin and his lawyers are challenging that motion. Marin faces trial on November 6.
By Paul Nicholson
September 20 – Champagne corks will be popping in Miami, New York, and Zurich following the decision by the FIFA Ethics adjudicatory chamber to ban Gordon Derrick, the president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and general secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), for six years.
September 20 – Kenya looks likely to be stripped of its hosting rights to CHAN 2018 at an African Football Confederation (CAF) executive meeting on Saturday following a final inspection of the proposed venues last weekend.
By Samindra Kunti
September 21 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France to attract a billion viewers as local organisers unveiled the logo, slogan (‘Dare to Shine’) and additional scheduling details. Across Europe, qualifying got underway for the tournament with England trouncing Russia 6-0.
September 20 – The fractious relationship between the North American Soccer League (NASL) and its national governing body, the US Soccer Federation (USSF) has boiled over with the NASL filing a federal antitrust lawsuit against the USSF in Brooklyn federal court.
September 20 – MLS side LA Galaxy have linked with the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to promote the charity’s ‘H20 Claro’ campaign to Hispanic communities in Los Angeles.
By Paul Nicholson
September 19 – It is one of the most important positions in FIFA if done correctly, and in the past one of the most corrupted. FIFA has appointed CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president, Victor Montagliani as chairman of FIFA Ticketing AG, the FIFA subsidiary that controls and administers the global sale of tickets for the World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 19 – The saga over South Africa’s soon-to-be-replayed World Cup qualifier against Senegal rumbles on with group rivals Burkina Faso appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
By Andrew Warshaw
September 19 – Alexey Sorokin (pictured), the public face of next year’s World Cup in Russia, is set to be elected on Wednesday as Europe’s last remaining representative on the FIFA Council in place of the barred Vitaly Mutko, ensuring his country retains an influential voice at FIFA’s top table.
By Samindra Kunti
September 19 – Brazilian football legend Romario has confirmed that he wants to run for the presidency of the Brazilian FA (CBF) and oust the incumbent Marco Polo Del Nero, whose tenure has been mired in corruption accusations.
September 19 – Embattled Sierra Leone football leader Isha Johansen is to bid for re-election despite an increasingly bitter power struggle and a four-year reign blighted by in-fighting.
September 19 – Already charged by UEFA because of the behaviour of their fans last week in the Europa League at Arsenal, Cologne are back in the spotlight – this time domestically where they are demanding a replay claiming that video technology in their 5-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Sunday was at fault.
September 19 – Stats from app creator RightNow Digital indicate that the transfer window offers clubs a big opportunity to engage with their fans. In 2017 there was a 300% increase in fan app activity.
September 19 – Everton’s announcement of video game Angry Birds as its first sleeve sponsor turned into a social media gift Monday as the club’s returned child progidy Wayne Rooney was convicted of drunk driving. Twitter was buzzing with comment on the irony.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – Last week’s remarkable testimony to a group of British parliamentarians by former FIFA governance guru Miguel Maduro not only exposed the way FIFA, under Gianni Infantino, tried to exert influence on independent judicial bodies but also highlighted serious misgivings about FIFA’s electoral process.