By Samindra Kunti
February 7 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has offered national team coach Stephen Constantine an extension of his contract up to the end of the 2019 Asian Cup. The Englishman qualified India for the continental championship, but within federation circles doubts rose about his suitability to take India forward.
February 6 – Brazil’s top division has rejected implementing video technology both because of cost and uncertainty over the system’s consistency.
January 31 – Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and for Manchester City it is the route to winning titles. The club top a European table of clubs across 31 leagues ranked by the most accurate passes per domestic league game since the start of the season.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 29 – Far too long delays, questionable judgements, wrong decisions, contrasting opinions. The global debate over whether to introduce video technology – which FIFA president Gianni Infantino is determined to do before the World Cup – shows no sign of abating following yet more controversy at the weekend.
January 26 – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has signed a contract extension until 2020, with the option of a further year.
January 24 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the move towards introducing video technology is premature and could prove counter-productive if problems with the system are not ironed out.
January 23 – Manchester City have come top of another table. Their latest chart-topping performance is a ranking teams according to the percentage of players signed from foreign clubs.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – As anticipated the use of video technology at the World Cup in Russia has moved a step closer though a final decision will not be made until early March.
January 23 – A ground-breaking agreement between Spanish football and authorities in Saudi Arabia has received a furious rebuke from Spain’s football union which says the arrival of nine Saudi players in La Liga will harm local development and is purely a money-earning exercise.
January 22 – In a ground-breaking agreement between Spanish football and authorities in Saudi Arabia, nine Saudi players will dispute the remainder of the season in La Liga, according to local reports.
January 19 – Football’s lawmaking body, the International FA Board, has confirmed that video assistant refereeing will be the main focus of attention at Monday’s interim business meeting in Zurich.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 18 – Just a few days before the video assistant referee system is expected to be given a provisional thumbs-up by football’s lawmakers, debate is raging yet again about when and how it should be used – this time in England where VARs have only just started to be trialled in certain cup games.
By Samindra Kunti
January 18 – Ronaldinho has at last called time on his professional playing career. The 37-year-old has not played at club level since leaving Brazilian side Fluminense in July 2015 and on Wednesday his agent and brother Roberto Assis announced Ronaldinho he has officially retired.
January 16 – A French referee who aimed a kick at a Nantes player before sending him off in a high-profile top-flight fixture against Paris St-Germain has been suspended “until further notice” by the French Football Association.
January 15 – Former Manchester United and Wales star Ryan Giggs has been appointed manager of his national team on a four-year contract in succession to Chris Coleman.