Oceania back ‘pre-award’ of 2026 World Cup to US, Canada and Mexico
April 19 – Oceania have come out in favour of allowing the tripartite US, Canada and Mexico bid for co-hosting the 2026 World Cup to be speeded up.
April 19 – Oceania have come out in favour of allowing the tripartite US, Canada and Mexico bid for co-hosting the 2026 World Cup to be speeded up.
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
April 12 – The United States, Mexico and Canada have somewhat cheekily asked FIFA to fast-track their bid to stage the 2026 World Cup without a proper competitive process.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 12 – Whilst the process for hosting the 2026 World Cup is perhaps the standout item on the agenda for next month’s FIFA Congress (see separate article), the future of FIFA’s ethics committee and the crisis involving Palestine and Israel are also up for potentially contentious discussion in Bahrain.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 11 – An expanded tournament to 48 teams, Gianni Infantino’s encouragement for a return to co-hosting and the re-establishment of rotation. It has all played very nicely into the hands of CONCACAF whose three biggest members have, as expected, now officially announced their intention to bid for the 2026 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 10 – It’s been an open secret for months but now the United States, Mexico and Canada look set to formally announce a joint bid for the 2026 World Cup later today.
April 10 – Russian World Cup chief and deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko, barred from being a member of FIFA’s ruling Council because of a conflict of his sporting and political interest, has accused the world governing body of overcharging his country for TV rights for next year’s finals.
By David Owen
April 10 – FIFA, the world governing body currently exposed to investigations by the United States Department of Justice and Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General, is budgeting for a deficit of close to half a billion dollars this year before a sharp rebound in the World Cup year of 2018.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – Saoud Al-Mohannadi, the Qatari official controversially disqualified at the last moment from standing as an Asian member of FIFA’s ruling Council, has won a landmark appeal that could have far-reaching consequences in the region as well as raise questions over the supposedly independent decision-making process of FIFA’s ethics watchdogs.
By Samindra Kunti
April 6 – With 72 days left until the kick-off of the 2017 Confederations Cup, less than a third of the event’s tickets have been sold. The domestic TV rights for the tournament and the World Cup finals also remain problematic.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 6 – An Israeli-based media watchdog is back on the offensive over the sensitive issue of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian players and officials in the occupied territories, once again condemning Palestine Football Association president JIbril Rajoub (pictured) for trying to get Israel sanctioned and possibly thrown out of FIFA.
April 5 – With 22 days to go to the start of the Beach Soccer World Cup Bahamas 2017 the trophy is touring the islands, if not whipping up a soccer fervour and frenzy for the April 27 kick-off, certainly getting a warm Caribbean-style welcome for the 16-team competition that will be the first FIFA World Cup finals competition hosted by a Caribbean nation.
April 4 – Just when it is striving to shake off its tainted past, CONCACAF is having to deal with yet another painful sanction slapped on one of its past federation bosses.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Any attempt by Morocco to link up with Spain and Portugal in a bid to stage the 2026 World Cup seems destined to fall foul of FIFA’s strict hosting regulations.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Yet another potentially significant twist has emerged in the 2006 World Cup scandal that continues to heap suspicion on those who organised the tournament in Germany.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 31 – FIFA’s hugely expensive 22-month internal investigation into the bribery and corruption that brought the organisation to its knees has been officially wound up, with mountains of potentially incriminating evidence passed to Swiss law enforcement authorities.