By Mark Baber
May 1 – Following reports in the Spanish media, suggesting Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid will face FIFA sanctions for breaching the regulations on the signing of foreign minors, both clubs have issued statements dismissing the reports and denying any wrongdoing. FIFA say their investigations are ongoing.
By Matt Scott
May 1 – Knuckledusters, clubs, grenades and bombs have been the weapons of choice as a match-fixing cartel terrorises Greek football. That is the shocking finding of an Insideworldfootball special investigation into the deepening corruption crisis in the Hellenic Football Federation [HFF] and several of the Super League clubs under its jurisdiction.
By Paul Nicholson
May 1 – The soft face of news from Russia on World Cup 2018 preparations, met the harder of face football’s geo-politics this week. As the 2018 organisers launched a competition to create the mascot for the 2018 World Cup, the organisers were pushed into defending the possibility of housing teams in 2018 in the volatile North Caucasus regions, including Chechnya.
By Matt Scott
May 1 – Twenty-six club owners, staff and Hellenic Football Federation officials now stand accused by the courts in the corruption scandal sweeping through Greek football.
By Samindra Kunti
May 1 – Anderlecht chairman Roger Vanden Stock (pictured) is the new president of the Pro League, the Belgian association of top-flight clubs. The Pro League’s general assembly elected Pierre Francois as managing director.
Remember the date: April 30 may well turn out to be a more significant day for the medium- to long-term future of FIFA than May 29. That might seem a strange claim, given that the latter is the date of the FIFA Presidential election to determine the occupant of the second-most powerful post in sport for the next four years.
By Mark Baber
April 30 – As Crimea becomes increasingly integrated into the Russian Federation, with its status within Russia apparently immutable and the large majority of Crimean residents becoming Russian citizens, the hold of the Ukrainian Football Federation over the fate of Crimean football appears increasingly iniquitous.
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.