March 13 – Bhutan, the world’s worst international team according to FIFA rankings, defied their lowly status by securing a shock 1-0 win over Sri Lanka in their World Cup qualifying debut as the Asian zone kicked off for places in Russia in 2018.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 10 – Just over a week before Fifa is expected to announce the dates for the 2022 winter World Cup in Qatar, the official who analyzed the credentials of all nine canddiates for 2018 and 2022 has presented what he believes is a workable timetable – but only if significant tweaks are made.
By Mark Baber
March 5 – Greece’s deputy sports minister Stavros Kontonis confirmed Wednesday that the Super League will resume this weekend, with matches initially being played behind closed doors. The decision came after day long talks with Super League president Giorgos Borovilos and Hellenic Football Federation chief Giorgos Girtzikis on plans to tackle violence.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 5 – Michel d’Hooghe, FIFA’s longest-standing executive committee member and head of its medical committee, has expressed his relief at being cleared of any misconduct in the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and says he just wants to get on with what he has been doing for the last 27 years.
Scotland have followed Wales in voicing their opposition to a combined British football team for the 2016 Rio Olympics as the dispute between the individual British associations intensifies.
March 5 -Major League Soccer will kick off its 20th campaign as scheduled on Friday after a new collective bargaining agreement was finally put in place at the 11th hour to end the threat of a players’ strike.
By Andrew Warshaw
Two of the contenders bidding for Sepp Blatter’s crown as president of FIFA have come away from the Conmebol congress expressing optimism – yet still seem unlikely to be able to wrest South American support away from the veteran Swiss.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 5 – Asian football supremo Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa’s control over his huge region has been underlined with the surprise decision to hold this year’s 47-nation Asian Football Confederation congress in his native Bahrain.
By Mark Baber
February 5 – Liverpool FC announced on Wednesday that sports apparel manufacturer, New Balance would be the club’s official kit supplier from the 2015/16 football season onwards in a deal described as record-breaking.
February 5 – The English Premier League’s sale of television rights for 2016-19 will go ahead as planned after UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom rejected complaints from cable operator Virgin Media.
February 5 – English Premier League club West Ham have been fined 100,000 Swiss francs and reprimanded by FIFA but have avoided being thrown out of the domestic FA Cup after fielding Senegalese striker Diafra Sakho just 18 days after he withdrew from his country’s Africa Cup of Nations squad.
February 5 – The referee who awarded the controversial last-gasp penalty decision that helped hosts Equatorial Guinea reach the African Nations Cup semi-finals at the expense of Tunisia has been banned for six months.
February 5 – Neymar’s controversial 2013 transfer to Barcelona is back in the spotlight with the news that Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu is to be questioned over alleged tax fraud in the signing of the Brazilian international striker.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – Portuguese icon Luis Figo today become the latest surprise candidate – and the second ex- international player – to throw his hat into the ring to become FIFA president. The former Sporting, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan forward joins ex-French international David Ginola, very much a token contender, in a bid to replace Sepp Blatter at the end of May.
