By Samindra Kunti
January 17 – Brugge strongmen Bart Verhaeghe and Vincent Mannaert, AA Gent’s Michel Louwagie, Standard’s Bruno Venanzi, Charleroi’s Mehdi Bayat and FIFA’s Steven Martens were named among the 57 suspects that the federal prosecutor wants in court in operation ‘Clean Hands’, the largest investigation into match-fixing and corruption in the history of Belgian football.
By Samindra Kunti
January 17 – Belgian authorities want FIFA technical director Steven Martens in court. He was named as one of 57 football administrators, coaches and referees that the federal prosecutor wants to charge as part of operation ‘Clean Hands’, the largest investigation into match-fixing and corruption in the history of the Belgian game.
January 17 – Saudi Arabia’s AFC Champions League title holders Al Hilal will again open their defense of their title in the same group as Tajikistan’s Istiklol in the Group Stage of the 2022 AFC Champions League.
January 17 – Equatorial Guinea stunned Algeria 1-0 to leave the defending champions in danger of exiting the Africa Cup of Nations in the first round. Hosts Cameroon and powerhouses Morocco and Nigeria have all ensured their passage to the knockout phase.
January 17 – FIFA is reported to have slapped Marseille with a transfer ban in the ongoing dispute over the 2020 signing of midfielder Pape Gueye, according to local reports.
January 17 – Football Australia has issued a ‘show cause notice’ to A-League club Melbourne Victory following homophobic chanting by supporters in a match against Adelaide United on January 13.
January 17 – A Spanish cup game between fierce city rivals Sevilla and Real Betis was abandoned on Saturday after Sevilla’s Joan Jordan was struck on the head by an object thrown from the stands and collapsed to the ground.
January 14 – Former FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke has been questioned by French authorities over the award to Qatar of the 2022 World Cup.
January 14 – The global transfer market is still reeling from the impact of Covid-19, shrinking to $4.86 billion in 2021, down 13.6% from the $5.63 billion spend in 2020, FIFA’s Global Transfer Report has found.
January 14 – KPMG Football Benchmark’s European Champions Report 2022 gives another snapshot of the disruptive impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on club finances over the past year.
January 14 – Full crowds are being allowed to return to Scottish and Welsh stadiums, bringing them into line with the situation in England.
January 14 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed Mali’s 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations victory over Tunisia, rejecting the North Africans’ appeal about the match ending before full-time.
January 14 – Football’s often uncomfortable relationship with sports betting and the promotion of online bookmakers has been highlighted again in two separate moves in Germany and the UK.
January 13 – Celtic are the latest club to partner with Strikerz Inc., the firm behind the online football video gamingleague, UFL, that is currently in development and which the firm promises will bring a revolution in online football video gaming.
January 14 – With the Qatar 2022 World Cup to be hosted at the end of this year in a country with a questionable human rights track record, the Houston 2026 World Cup Bid Committee have come up with their own community-driven Human Rights Report to support their own venue hosting credentials.