By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 30 – Asia’s most influential sports official, Kuwait’s Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad Al Sabah, extended his burgeoning power base by joining FIFA’s inner sanctum today but the anticipated move into world football was not without controversy.
April 30 – Brazil have joined England in sending teams to the Caribbean this August for the second CONCACAF Boys’ Under-15 Championship that now has grown to a 37-nation tournament.
By Matt Scott
April 30 – Greek football has been in the grip of a match-fixing and corruption culture for 20 years, a special Insideworldfootball investigation has found. But, as the stakes have risen with the increasing riches available in football, in recent seasons the system of match manipulation has reached breaking point.
By Matt Scott
April 30 – Greek football has been apparently spared expulsion from all international competitions after a last-ditch trip to Athens by UEFA’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino on Wednesday.
April 30 – Former English Premier League footballer Delroy Facey has been jailed for two and a half years after being convicted of conspiring to bribe non-league players.
By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 30 – There was no standing ovation and no prolonged clapping, rather warm and respectful applause. But that might have been because the FIFA president was preaching to the converted. In his final appearance before regional bodies ahead of next month’s presidential election, Sepp Blatter produced an uncharacteristically low-key address to the 47-nation Asian Football Confederation congress today, in contrast to some of the vibrant language delivered elsewhere on his travels over the past few weeks.
Has there ever been a time when football has been so much in demand, even likely to affect a British general election, yet the people who run the sport are considered so incompetent, if not downright dishonest?
April 30 – CONCACAF is to assign an integrity officer to each of the teams in this July’s Gold Cup, the confederation’s premier national team tournament. The officers will travel and stay with the teams to discourage approaches from match-fixers.
By Matt Scott
April 29 – Gianni Infantino has hit back at accusations in Greece that UEFA has sat idly by while corruption at the heart of the Hellenic Football Federation destroys the game from within.
29 April – FIFA presidential candidate Louis Figo is heading to Bahrain for the Asian Football Confederation Congress, hoping to win votes with his platform promise of increased future World Cup final places for the AFC’s members.
By Paul Nicholson
April 29 – The second leg of the CONCACAF Scotiabank Champions League final kicks off tonight in Montreal in front of a sell out crowd. Last week the first leg of the final between Club America and Montreal Impact ended even at 1-1 in front of an estimated 80,000+ spectators in Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium.
By David Owen
April 29 – Kit-maker Kappa have added Napoli to their stable of Italian Serie A clubs.
By Matt Scott
April 29 – Some of the most senior figures in Greek club football have begged UEFA and FIFA to assist the Syriza government in tackling the institutional corruption that is defiling the Super League.
By Samindra Kunti
April 29 – Dutch club Feyenoord faces an UEFA-imposed fine of €50,000 and playing its next European match behind closed doors after a “racist incident” during this season’s Europa League tie between Feyenoord and AS Roma.
By Mark Baber
April 29 – Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, second and third in the Spanish League and last year’s Champions League finalists, are due to be punished by FIFA for breaches of the FIFA regulations on transfers of minors which were designed to prevent child trafficking, according to reports in the Spanish media.