By Paul Nicholson
June 12 – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has confirmed Barbados FA president Randy Harris as its new leader to finish off the two years remaining on the presidential term after former president Gordon Derrick was banned from football by FIFA at the end of last year.
By Mark Baber
June 12 – The victory of Ukraine’s Karpatalya over Northern Cyprus in the 2018 Paddy Power World Football Cup in London on Saturday was a far from a cause for celebration for Ukrainian Sports Minister Igor Zhdanov who called for the players to be interrogated by security services for “sporting separatism” and ties to separatist and terrorist groups.
By Andrew Warshaw in Moscow
June 11 – The two sides in the bid to stage the 2026 World Cup upped the ante today as they made final presentations to all but one of FIFA’s six individual regional groupings – and not without considerable controversy.
By Paul Nicholson
June 11 – UEFA and FIFA’s failure to get any kind of control or governance over Greek football is reaching unprecedented levels even by their own woeful standards. The integrity of the game in Greece was hammered again with news that champion club AEK’s owner Dimitris Melissanidis is under investigation for accounting fraud.
June 11 – One of the main architects in getting Kosovo recognised as an international football federation and admitted as a UEFA and FIFA member, Fadil Vokrri, has passed away aged 57.
June 11 – The rapidly expanded secoind tier US professional league, the USL, broke another record last week as total attendance for the 2018 season broke the one million barrier at the earliest point in its history.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 8 – Just days before FIFA’s top brass and entire membership are both due to meet on the eve of the World Cup, explosive new corruption allegations have plunged African football into disgrace and led to Ghana dissolving its national federation.
By Paul Nicholson
June 8 – While Concacaf focus in Moscow next week will be on the United 2026 bid to bring the World Cup back to the region, the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) also faces a potentially pivotal moment.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 7 – The tit-for-tat row over the cancellation of Argentina’s friendly with Israel this coming Saturday has intensified with the Israelis demanding FIFA investigate what it said were threats against Argentina players and laying the blame squarely at the feet of the Palestinian authorities.
June 7 – A Croatian court has sentenced the former boss of Dinamo Zagreb, Zdravko Mamic (pictured right with brother Zoran), to six-and-a-half years in prison for tax evasion and siphoning off profits from player transfers, allegedly including that of Luka Modric to Tottenham Hotspur and Mateo Kovacic to Inter.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 6 – It has taken a tournament for unaffiliated nations, stateless peoples, breakaway diasporas, indigenous communities and ethnic minorities to launch what is being hailed as one of football’s most refreshing innovations to cut down on dissent and improve respect for officials.
By Samindra Kunti
June 6 – Argentina has cancelled a World Cup warm-up match with Israel following political pressure from Palestine. The cancellation of the highly controversial friendly has thrown Argentina’s World Cup preparations further into disarray.
June 6 – Veteran Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been suspended for three games by UEFA in the wake of his red card and behaviour during Juventus’ Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.
June 6 – UEFA will give a record €2.04 billion to clubs playing in the Champions League and Europa League next season, a more than €800 million increase on last season.
June 5 – Manchester City’s Premier League-winning manager Pep Guardiola has been handed a two-game suspension by UEFA for his conduct during the defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals.