February 5 – At last year’s World Cup in Russia FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that it would be “difficult to think about the World Cup without VAR”, but it remained unclear if he was also referring to the women’s game.
February 5 – A body has been seen in the underwater wreckage of the light aircraft which was carrying former Nantes forward Emiliano Sala and his pilot to his new club Cardiff City and which tragically disappeared over the English Channel, according to air accident investigators.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
February 1 – Almost no one was expecting the Qatar national team to drive their way through to become the continental champions in the AFC 2019 Asian Cup that completed in the United Arab Emirates Firday night.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 4 – The increasingly fractious leadership of the Confederation of African Football under Ahmad Ahmad has been dealt yet another internal blow with former Liberian FA chief Musa Bility resigning from two senior positions within CAF.
February 4 – FIFA President Gianni Infantino is under investigation in Switzerland for suspicion of bribery and potential corruption of the Swiss judiciary.
February 4 – The man behind a string of incriminating leaks that shook the footballing world over the past few weeks claims he would not get a fair trial if he is returned to his native Portugal because “the mafia is everywhere”.
February 4 – A Thai court has denied bail to part-time footballer Hakeem al-Araibi and given him until April 5 to file a written defence against Bahrain’s attempt to extradite him from Thailand before the next scheduled hearing on April 22.
February 4 – Air accident investigators have discovered the wreckage of the light aircraft carrying Argentine-born Emiliano Sala and his pilot which disappeared over the English Channel last month en route to Cardiff where Sala was due to make his debut for the Premier league club.
February 4 – A 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup referees workshop is being held in the Aspire Zone in Qatar for the next 12 days.
February 4 – Iran’s outgoing coach Carlos Queiroz claims the team’s participation at the just-completed Asian Cup was only possible due to the financial aid provided by Qatar
Japan 1 Qatar 3
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – The Qatar football project is bearing fruit. Ably supported by an army of Omanis who once again had driven across the border, this time in their thousands, to support them, Qatar lifted their first-ever Asian Cup in Abu Dhabi with a 3-1 win over a Japanese team that started as favourites.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – It is harder to get five nominations for the FIFA presidency than it is to get 100 votes in the election, said Ramon Vega, who is putting together a challenge for the top job at the world governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – UEFA has been urged to block the appointment of Paris Saint Germain supremo Nasser Al Khelaifi to its executive committee by outspoken La Liga president Javier Tebas.
February 1 – Game on, all players available. The protest lodged the by United Arab Emirates FA concerning the eligibility of Qataris players Almoez Ali and Bassam Al Rawi has been unanimously dismissed by the AFC disciplinary committee, just four hours before the final between Qatar and the UAE is due to take place.
February 1 – Premier League spending in the mid-season January transfer window fell for the first time since 2012 with a quieter than usual deadline day capping off a distinctly unspectacular window.