By David Gold
March 20 – All 12 Japanese internationals plying their trade in Europe will be available for Japan’s charity game against a J-League XI on March 29 to honour the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country earlier this month, it has been announced.
By David Gold
March 18 – Japan has been forced to cancel a friendly with New Zealand scheduled for March 29, due to be played in Tokyo, and will instead hold a charity match in Osaka, with their opponents yet to be confirmed.
By David Gold
March 16 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has opened a new football academy in Myanmar and spoken of the country’s potential to play a “very active role” in the development of football in Asia.
By David Gold
March 15 – Chelsea and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have renewed their partnership, formalising the club’s support to the development of football in the Asian confederation.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 24 – The head of Asian football, Mohamed Bin Hammam (pictured), has launched yet another broadside against FIFA President Sepp Blatter but still will not say whether he intends taking on the 74-year-old Swiss for the leadership of football’s world governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
January 6 – Back in October, at the Leaders in Football conference in London, Chung Mong-joon, South Korea’s distinguished and highly respected FIFA veteran, made a deliberate and calculated stand against his boss, Sepp Blatter (pictured right).
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
January 6 – Against all the odds, FIFA gained a new vice-president today when Jordan’s Prince Ali bin Al Hussein ousted long-standing incumbent Chung Mong-joon of South Korea for one of the most powerful positions in world football.
By David Owen
January 4 – The first of many prospective personnel changes on FIFA’s ruling 24-member Executive Committee is set to come this week with elections due in Asia.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
October 12 – South Korean FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-joon today claimed that he had no plans to challenge Sepp Blatter for the Presidency of football’s world governing body.
October 2 – Mohamed Bin Hammam, the President of the Asian Football Confederation, has launched his own personal website.
September 3 – Syria, currently 92nd in the FIFA world rankings, have turned to Sheffield United, who are 17th in the Npower Championship, to help them develop the sport there and to qualify for the World Cup.
August 30 – Mohamad Bin Hammam has confirmed he wants to stay on as president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after next year and will not challenge Sepp Blatter for the leadership of FIFA.
August 13 – A controversial plan by the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI) to recruit players from overseas to play for the national team has been backed by the Government.
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
August 11 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has demanded answers from North Korea after reports that its World Cup squad was publicly humiliated and coach Kim Jong-Hun sentenced to hard labour.
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July 24 – Iraq is risking suspension from international football for the second time in three years after rival groups trying to wrestle control of the country’s Football Association held elections in separate cities today.