Iraq sack Shenaishil after Russia 2018 qualification failures
April 11 – Iraq’s Radhi Shenaishil has become the third coaching casualty of Asian World Cup qualifying Group B after being sacked late on Monday.
Unfair competition: CL and Europe’s Big 5 leagues lead the stats of most 3 goal thrashings
April 11 – The issue of competitive balance in European competition was brought into political focus recently with UEFA’s new Champions League qualification criteria which sees four teams from the top four nations automatically qualify for the group stages. Not only does this reduce the opportunity of other teams from smaller leagues to challenge but it will likely concentrate more of the revenue towards the biggest teams.
2018 qualification fears force Argentina to fire Bauza with four games left
April 11 – Just days after being given the dreaded vote of confidence, Edgardo Bauza has been sacked as Argentina coach, with the team outside the automatic qualifying places for next year’s World Cup.
Seraing and Doyen lose CAS appeal over TPO, but recruitment ban reduced
April 11 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) have finally released a statement upholding FIFA’s recruitment ban on Belgian club RFC Seraing for breaching third-party ownership rules – but has confirmed is has reduced the sanction from four transfer windows to three.
Ranieri absolves Leicester players from his ‘killing’ but someone was ‘behind me’
April 11 – Claudio Ranieri has finally broken his silence over his controversial sacking at Leicester City by hinting he had been betrayed by an unidentified party – but denied his players contrived to force him out.
Brazil’s Santa Catarina clubs add match-fixing detection capacity via Sportradar
April 11 – Brazil’s Santa Catarina state league has signed up with Sportradar’s match-fixing security service to monitor league matches. It is the second of the state leagues, after Sao Paulo, to bring in the company’s Fraud Detection System to monitor betting patterns.
Andrew Warshaw: FIFA, FIFA Ethics and an upcoming independence judgement day
It isn’t every day that a ban by FIFA’s ethics watchdogs is overturned on appeal. Many have tried and failed to clear their names, not least Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini.
US, Mexico and Canada to announce joint 2026 World Cup bid today
By Andrew Warshaw
April 10 – It’s been an open secret for months but now the United States, Mexico and Canada look set to formally announce a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup later today.
Ahmad set to put Lagardère deal back in play, but is he gambling CAF’s security?
By Paul Nicholson
April 10 – Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Ahmad has said he believes the 12-year deal signed with Lagardère Sports for $1 billion was for too long a term, might have been too cheap and that he is going to revisit this agreement.
Mutko says Russia is being squeezed for TV cash to make up for FIFA’s financial flop
April 10 – Russian World Cup chief and deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko, barred from being a member of FIFA’s ruling Council because of a conflict of his sporting and political interest, has accused the world governing body of overcharging his country for TV rights for next year’s finals.
News Analysis: FIFA pins hopes on Russia 2018 to rescue it from torrent of red ink
By David Owen
April 10 – FIFA, the world governing body currently exposed to investigations by the United States Department of Justice and Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General, is budgeting for a deficit of close to half a billion dollars this year before a sharp rebound in the World Cup year of 2018.
CONCACAF rejigs Council and trumpets a year of ‘transition’
April 10 – CONCACAF, whose corrupt US officials and marketing representatives wrought one half of the storm that has decimated FIFA, held their 32nd Congress on the relative calm of the Caribbean island of Aruba at the weekend. Top of their agenda was the election of representatives to their own Council as well as to the FIFA Council.
AC Milan flies high with Emirates A380 aircraft branding
April 10 – AC Milan may be struggling to finally get the sale of the club to Chinese investors off the ground, but main sponsor Emirates is having no such problem with its involvement with the club, unveiling an A380 aircraft sporting a special AC Milan livery at Milan Malpensa International Airport.
Internacional to play in Serie B after CAS refuses to judge on claims against Vitoria
By Samindra Kunti
April 7 – The Court of Arbitration CAS has dismissed an appeal lodged by Brazil’s Internacional over Vitoria Da Bahia’s problems with the player’s registration of Victor Ramos. The decision confirms Internacional’s relegation to Brazil’s Serie B.
Political victim? Qatar’s Al-Mohannadi wins FIFA appeal too late to repair election damage
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – Saoud Al-Mohannadi, the Qatari official controversially disqualified at the last moment from standing as an Asian member of FIFA’s ruling Council, has won a landmark appeal that could have far-reaching consequences in the region as well as raise questions over the supposedly independent decision-making process of FIFA’s ethics watchdogs.