October 15 – FIFA ethics committee judges have banned the former president of Dominican Republic’s federation for 10 years from all football-related activities at both national and international level.
October 15 – Just weeks after taking centre stage at FIFA’s much-trumpeted coaches forum in London to debate tactical and technical trends following the World Cup, Marco van Basten is leaving his role as the organisation’s chief technical development officer at the end of the month.
October 12 – Former FIFA executive committee member Worawi Makudi is fighting his ban from the global game at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The former Thai strongman is seeking to have the ban lifted as Thai FA elections approach.
October 10 – FIFA has launched a major initiative to expand the women’s game worldwide with the unveiling of the governing body’s first-ever ‘global strategy’ for the women’s game, with the aim of creating an international women’s club competition and doubling the participation of women in the game to 60 million by 2026.
By Samindra Kunti
October 8 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has launched another stinging attack on his successor Gianni Infantino, accusing the latter of “selling out the people’s game,” alluding to Infantino’s expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams and his mysterious $25 billion investment plan.
October 5 – FIFA’s competitions committee has proposed an increase in prize money for the upcoming Women’s World Cup in France next year. The amount of the increase has not been disclosed but the proposal has now been sent to the finance committee for review before it presented to the FIFA Council for approval.
October 1 – No rival candidate has yet come forward to challenge Gianni Infantino when he bids for re-election next year but if anyone does, African football will stand firmly behind the present incumbent.
October 1 – The British government says it would provide the necessary financial guarantees for a joint UK-Ireland 2030 FIFA World Cup bid.
September 26 – Watch out the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Juventus because FIFA have announced ground-breaking plans to limit the number of players a club can loan out each season to prevent top talent being hoarded.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
September 25 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued a stunning indictment of the conduct of former FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke in issuing its full written reasons for dismissing his appeal against a 10-year ban from football and a CHF100,000 fine.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – Luka Modric, who captained Croatia to the World Cup final, was crowned world footballer of the year at FIFA’s glittering best awards gala in London on Monday but there were more than a few anomalies and controversies at the lavish, star-studded globally televised ceremony.
September 24 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has admitted for the first time that he had his doubts about the use of video assistant referees at the World Cup but insisted the system was now here to stay.
September 24 – Corsica wants to become the latest country to join FIFA citing the case of Gibraltar as evidence that it has a right to become an independent footballing nation.
By Paul Nicholson
September 20 – FIFA’s ethics committee has imposed life bans on three individuals who pleaded guilty in the FifaGate corruption scandal. FIFA has also slapped $1.03 million fines on each of them, though their claim of jurisdiction for the fines looks to be on shaky ground and incomplete (if not fabricated) information.
September 20 – Ticketing for the 2019 Women’s World Cup France was launched in Paris yesterday at the Montparnasse Tower. The 24-team championship, in its eighth edition, will be played from June 7 to July 7.