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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
By Paul Nicholson
April 7 – While the €1 million solidarity payment to each national federation made headlines at the UEFA Congress this week, the real financial story is the €847 million profit the confederation made on its expanded 2016 European Championships, a €500 million increase on the 2012 edition in Poland and Ukraine. The tournament generated a massive €1.92 billion in total revenue.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – The head of the umbrella organisation for Europe’s major leagues insists relations with UEFA have not broken down but warns fans are not fully aware of the extent of the damage which will be caused by upcoming changes to the Champions League.
By Samindra Kunti
April 7 – The Argentine FA (AFA) has given its under-fire coach Edgardo Bauza a vote of confidence in spite of Argentina’s precarious World Cup qualifying position.
April 7 – English Football League (EFL) teams will have to increase the minimum number of home-grown players in their match-day squads from next season and from 2018-19 will have to make way for at least one ‘club-developed’ player.
April 7 – Qatar has agreed to heavily slash its budget for hosting the 2022 World Cup and is pressing ahead with eight stadiums, according to organising chief Hassan Al Thawadi.