May 4 – No sooner had Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho bemoaned a packed fixture schedule as the club battle to close its season out with a Champions League qualifying place, than the club triumphantly announce a sixth pre-season friendly, against Norway’s Valerenga on July 30.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – Will they be replaced or given another mandate? Amid growing speculation that FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and chief investigator Cornel Borbely may not have their positions renewed at the upcoming FIFA Congress, confirmation has been made that the entire future of FIFA’s judicial bodies is up for discussion by the ruling Council that precedes the full session in Bahrain.
May 3 – With FIFA focus firmly on politics and scandal, you could be forgiven for missing the progress of the Beach Soccer Cup in the Bahamas which has now reached its quarter final stage.
May 3 – Olympique Marseilles has hired one of the world’s leading advertising and marketing agencies, McCANN France, to carry out a club rebranding, develop a communications strategy and lead the ticket marketing effort for the 2017-18 season.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – How short-sighted can you get? Pescara’s former Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari has been banned for one game by the Italian FA for walking off the pitch complaining of racist abuse despite being praised by the United Nations’ top human rights official.
May 3 – Sepp Blatter has not spoken in person to United States prosecutors in his native Switzerland despite his previous assertions to the contrary.
May 3 – ‘Points mean prizes’ as the old gameshow catchphrase goes. In football’s version of the gameshow the phrase would more accurately be ‘money wins prizes’ according to the latest analysis of the CIES Football Observatory.
May 3 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed that Mali’s suspension by FIFA has been lifted.
By Paul Nicholson
May 2 – After an investigation taking more than a year, FIFA’s investigatory chamber has referred Gordon Derrick’s case to the adjudicatory chamber of the FIFA Ethics committee. The case is potentially one of the most controversial and politically laden decisions FIFA’s court will have had to make – though it has yet to rule against a single case from its investigators.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 – Turkey’s chances of ending years of disappointment by finally landing the European Championship finals in 2024 could be scuppered by a new human rights provision in UEFA’s hosting guidelines.
May 2 – The United Nations’ top human rights official has hailed Pescara’s Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari as an “inspiration” for walking off the pitch in protest after complaining about racist chanting.
By Paul Nicholson
May 2 – The story of Portsmouth Football Club has been more of a rollercoaster ride than a fairy tale in recent seasons. The club plummeted from the Premier League in 2010, sinking to Division 2 by 2014. During this time they went bust, changed owners and were rescued by fans. Now, despite a loyal and sizeable support, the club is struggling to keep its Fratton Park stadium open.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 – Former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, one of the first arrests in the burgeoning FifaGate scandal and still the highest profile figure to be indicted, has had his sentencing date put off for the fourth time since he pleaded guilty to racketeering and money laundering.
May 2 – Tottenham Hotspur will play just one more game at its current White Hart Lane stadium, against Manchester United on May 14, before bulldozers move in and demolish the structure to make way for the new stadium to take its place.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 1 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino is reported to be under fresh scrutiny over potential ethics breaches – at a particularly sensitive time.