June 6 – The next few weeks are exciting ones for Concacaf. The Women’s World Cup in France sees the US defends its crown, and in just over a week the confederation’s expanded blue riband men’s national team event, the Gold Cup, kicks off at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.
June 6 – Brazil’s Neymar remains in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. On Wednesday he limped off the field in a 2-0 warm-up win over Qatar with a ligament injury that will keep him out of the Copa America on home soil.
June 6 – Ugly scenes between a minority of England fans and Portuguese police marred the Nations League semi-final in Guimaraes, tarnishing the image of travelling England fans once more. The Football Association has condemned the fans involved as “an embarrassment”.
June 6 – A potentially pivotal two-day summit of Europe’s leading clubs to discuss controversial proposals to revamp the Champions League has been plunged into disarray with the Spanish and English both openly rebelling against the plans.
June 6 – Concacaf have announced plans for the development of the women’s game in its region – under the Concacaf W moniker – with the objective of providing every girl in their confederation footprint with an opportunity to play football.
By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
June 5 – No sooner had he been re-elected FIFA president for another four years than Gianni Infantino subjected himself to an hour of media scrutiny with his pet project, an expanded Club World Cup in 2021, top of the agenda.
By Paul Nicholson
June 5 – With all the recent distractions of FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s geo-political game-playing around a 48-team Qatar 2022 World Cup out the way, preliminary qualification begins tomorrow for a good ‘old-fashioned’ 32-team one, with the road to Doha beginning in Mongolia.
By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
June 5 – Admitting that he had made mistakes, Gianni Infantino nevertheless gave himself and FIFA’s collective membership a comprehensive – and at times Blatter-esque – pat on the back today as he reviewed his first three years as FIFA president and looked forward to the next four.
June 5 – French President Emmanuel Macron has angered European football chiefs by wading into the debate over UEFA’s proposals to overhaul the Champions League in 2024.
Macron reportedly urged UEFA to abandon the concept during an opening event for the Women’s World Cup that begins Friday and was delivered in front of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
By Samindra Kunti in Paris
June 4 – Alejandro Dominguez (pictured) reinforced his allegiance with Gianni Infantino FIFA Congress with Conmebol pledging to support the FIFA president’s re-election by acclamation.
June 5 – Lennart Johansson, the longest-serving president of UEFA and one of the great statesmen of European football who campaigned tirelessly for fair play on and off the field, has died at the age of 89.
By Samindra Kunti in Paris
June 5 – On the sidelines of the AFC Extraordinary Congress Praful Patel, president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), reaffirmed India’s intention to bid for the 2027 Asian Cup after his federation dropped out of the race for the 2023 edition, which was awarded to China by Asia’s governing body on Tuesday.
By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
June 4 – It’s a fait accompli as they say in France. Gianni Infantino will be re-elected FIFA president in the French capital on Wednesday.
By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
June 4 – Under-fire African football chief Ahmad, who unconfirmed reports say is under investigation by FIFA’s ethics gurus, today pleaded for unity among his colleagues with a rallying cry he clearly hoped would ward off mounting attacks on his presidency of FIFA’s largest confederation.
By Paul Nicholson in Paris
June 4 – After the revolution comes evolution. If no-one has ever coined that phrase then Concacaf should claim it because it aptly describes the regional confederation’s emergence from the dark days of May 2015 and the movement towards the light of new competitions, better governed operations and, perhaps most importantly, a return to international parity in the eyes of the rest of the world.