By Paul Nicholson
February 3 – FIFA may have suspended their funding but CONCACAF are getting used to operating on reduced cashflow. The US Justice Department partially froze funds back in May 2015 when they arrested then president Jeffrey Webb and Costa Rican president Ricardo Li, and followed that up with a raid the confederation’s Miami headquarters.
By Samindra Kunti
February 2 – Brussels’s EURO2020 stadium may face delays in construction after an environmental report cast doubt over the viability of the venue. The projected public funding of €432 million is also raising eyebrows.
January 2 – Under-fire Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini has been given a one-game ban for his antics during Sunday’s derby defeat.
February 2 – Qatar have failed to qualify for their first Olympic football tournament since 1992 after losing 2-1 to Iraq, a significant blow to their strategy of developing a credible squad ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
By David Owen
February 2 – Next season’s new surge of broadcast income for Premier League clubs appeared to exert a heavy influence on another lacklustre January transfer window, with clubs in the relegation or promotion scraps in the top two tiers of English football accounting for a high proportion of expenditure.
By Samindra Kunti
February 2 – Earlier this month the Olympic dream of the Olyroos, Australia’s U23 team, faded in Doha as they made a backdoor exit from the Asian Cup, collecting a meagre 2-0 victory against Vietnam in group D alongside the UAE and Jordan. Neither the elimination nor the absence of European-based players caused disgruntlement, only the manner of capitulation did.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 2 – In an unprecedented move that will heap even more hardship and anguish on to both scandal-hit confederations, FIFA has blocked a reported $20 million in funding to CONMEBOL and CONCACAF – just when they are trying to put their respective houses in order.
By Andrew Warshaw at Wembley
February 2 – If Gianni Infantino’s chances of clinching the presidency of FIFA on February 26 were judged on promotional opportunism and slick public relations, we may as well stop taking bets now.
February 2 – Latest CIES Football Observatory figures show that in the Premier League Manchester United, Newcastle and Bournemouth have each used 28 players so far this season, while Arsenal have used just 21. Across Europe’s other Big 5 leagues Nice in France’s Ligue 1 have used more players that any other club with 33.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – Manchester United have moved swiftly to deny reports that their majority American owners, the Glazer family, had demanded 15% cuts in budgets across the board at the club, with a particular focus on the club’s Academy.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will have their appeals against their respective eight-year bans heard by FIFA’s appeal judges in the middle of February.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – FIFA presidential candidate Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa has outlined more detail of how he would distribute FIFA’s funds to member federations focused on “need-based support”.
By Mark Baber
February 1 – As much as $1 million in funds from soccer’s global governing body FIFA may have gone missing from Guatemala’s soccer federation last year, according to reports of an internal audit carried out by the federation.
February 1 – The spectre of racism, largely eliminated in English football, raised its ugly head again at the weekend as police revealed they are investigating reports of abusive chanting during an FA Cup tie in the north-western city of Carlisle.
February 1 – Footballers in Greece have staged a sit-down protest as a tribute to hundreds of migrants who have lost their lives trying to reach the Aegean islands.