December 12 – A week after a banana was thrown by a Tottenham Hotspur fan – inexcusable but a rare occurance in English football – the far more prevalent problem of verbal racism has again reared its ugly head.
September 7 – Former Guatemala football chief and one-time FIFA executive committee member Rafael Salguero avoided a jail term when he was sentenced on Thursday to time served, releasing him from house arrest following his role in the FifaGate corruption scandal.
December 6 – The global condemnation of Saudi Arabia for its role in the brutal murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi appears to have had little effect on top-flight Italian football administrators.
December 6 – British gambling companies have struck a ground-breaking deal which will see the end of their tv adverts during live matches.
December 5 – The Afghan government has now followed the lead of the AFC and FIFA and opened an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against the national women’s football. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called the allegations of abuse by male coaches and officials ‘shocking’.
December 5 – Former Guatemala football chief and one-time FIFA executive committee member Rafael Salguero (pictured left) will be sentenced by a judge in New York this week in the latest move in the FifaGate scandal.
December 5 – The still unresolved power battle within Sierra Leone football administration has had a significant damaging on effect on the field with the country thrown out of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign because of government interference in the running of the federation.
December 4 – As faux pas go, it was right up there with the most awkward. Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris was in full swing and Norway forward Ada Hegerberg had just won the inaugural award for the best player in women’s football when the moment was tarnished by a moment of chauvanistic indiscretion.
November 30 – The world players union FIFPro has called for an urgent inquiry into suspect medical treatment administered at several top-tier clubs in Cyprus.
November 30 – FIFA’s ethics committee has imposed a four-year ban on Manuel Dende (pictured second left in happier times), former president of the Sao Tomean Football Association, for accepting a bribe believed to be from former Asian confederation chief and FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed bin Hammam.
November 29- Issa Hayatou, former President of the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), has launched a scathing attack on the huge fine imposed on him by an Egyptian court over a broadcasting deal for Africa’s football governing body, insisting the decision was politically motivated.
November 29 – Just days after he was arrested and temporarily suspended, FIFA has lost a key governance official following Sundra Rajoo’s decision to resign as one of the deputy chairmen of the FIFA’s Ethics Adjudicatory Chamber, a position he has only held since last year.
November 27 – FIFA has been urged by its own human rights advisory panel to set Iran a deadline for lifting its ban on women attending male matches in order to put an end to gender discrimination.
November 26 – Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has strongly denied a doping infraction following a report that he allegedly breached the rules after the 2017 Champions League final in Cardiff.
By Paul Nicholson
November 23 – Dutch clubs in the Eredivisie have agreed a package of reform measures that will increase the revenue distribution amongst its clubs and a requirement for them to invest deeper in youth training programmes.