January 23 – As part of its reform process to streamline its top-heavy bureaucracy, save costs and respond to the worst crisis in its history, FIFA has slashed the number of standing committees from 26 to nine.
By Samindra Kunti
January 23 – Despite being unbeaten, Gabon became only the fourth hosts in history to exit the Africa Cup of Nations at the group stage – and the first for 23 years – as concerns continue to mount over the state of pitches at Africa’s flagship event.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – Russia’s under-fire senior football powerbroker Vitaly Mutko, allegedly caught up in the country’s damning doping scandal, reportedly ignored a private request from FIFA president Gianni Infantino to withdraw from the spotlight.
January 23 – In emotional scenes, some 20,000 fans, including families of the victims, turned out last Saturday as Brazil’s Chapecoense played their first match since most of their players were killed in that tragic air crash in Colombia in late November.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – Any hopes Gianni Infantino may have that FIFA has buried its toxic past have again been laid bare with yet another former prominent official banned for life by FIFA’s own ethics committee.
If I were FIFA, I think I would be just a little concerned about this week’s 12-year sponsorship deal between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 20 – In a potential landmark ruling that could have far-reaching consequences, a Belgian court has found FIFA and the Belgian FA (KBVB) jointly guilty of obstructing former Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra’s transfer to Charleroi in 2015 and has ordered them to pay him €6 million.
January 20 – Major League Soccer has unveiled giant retailer Target as a new sponsor in a multi-year deal that begins this season. This is the first football (soccer) sponsorship for Target who also announced they would become MLS expansion side Minnesota United’s shirt sponsor.
By Samindra Kent
January 20 – Senegal are the first team to progress to the quarter-finals of the 2017 African Cup of Nations after a commanding 2-0 win against Zimbabwe. The fortunes of favorites Algeria took a dent following a surprise defeat against rivals Tunisia.
January 20 – The pattern of growth in Facebook Likes has been remarkable over the past five weeks as Manchester City had a growth of nearly 330,000 followers, nearly matching Manchester United’s 388,000 – on the face of it a major step forward for the blue side of the City.
January 20 – The Chinese FA is set introduce a €30 million transfer cap on foreign players as part of an 18-point plan designed to take some of the overheating out of a Chinese soccer market where money seems to have become no object.
January 20 – AFC Champions League holders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors from South Korea have been banned from all Asian Football Confederation competition in 2017, preventing them from being able to defend their title. The sanction carries out the hard stance taken by AFC that it will have a zero tolerance attitude towards any form of match-fixing.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 20 – East Timor has been kicked out of the 2023 Asian Cup and fined $76,000 for fielding several Brazilian-born footballers with fake documents, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced today.
January 20 – A British worker has lost his life working on Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar which will host the group matches and a quarter final at the 2022 World Cup.
January 2 – Germany’s Bundesliga will become the first major league to use video assistant referees next season for game-changing decisions.