February 1 – Africa will compete for four berths at the U-20 World Cup in Poland at this month’s U-20 continental championship in Niger. Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal have a strong case to win the tournament as defending champions Zambia failed to qualify for the finals.
By David Owen
February 1 – La Liga has agreed to sponsor the Davis Cup, the reformatted men’s team tennis competition whose first new-look edition will culminate in November in the Spanish capital Madrid.
January 30 – LaLiga has combined with the Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft (GSIC) to launch a global competition for digital start-ups with football related product that are “disruptive solutions”.
February 1 – New MLS franchise Inter Miami CF that will start play in 2020 has picked KIN Partners in London as its exclusive sponsorship sales representation agency.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
February 1 – Qatar is appearing for the first time in the AFC Asian Cup finals and will take on the 4-time Asian Cup champions Japan.
By Samindra Kunti
January 31 – First-time finalists Qatar will seek to make national history on Friday in the final of the Asian Cup by overcoming continental powerhouse Japan. The Samurai Blue will aim for a record fifth continental crown in a final that is predicted to go down the wire.
By Paul Nicholson in Abu Dhabi
January 31 – FIFA’s rush to become involved in the civil extradition case of Australian refugee, Bahraini passport holder and part-time football Al-Araibi has again raised questions over the validity and motivations of FIFA’s human rights policy.
By Paul Nicholson
January 31 – Ramon Vega, the former player and businessman who is challenging for the FIFA presidency, has said that lack of financial transparency would be unacceptable in any corporate boardroom anywhere in the world.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 31 – A highly sensitive spanner has been tossed into the workings of UEFA’s annual congress next week with Paris St-Germain supremo Nasser Al-Khelaifi set to join the organisation’s executive committee despite his club being under financial investigation and he himself being embroiled in a criminal case.
January 31 – The Italian football federation (FIGC) is investigating claims a referee racially abused a player in a non-league game between Serino and Real Sarno.
January 31 – Spanish authorities have reopened proceedings into the bizarre and still seemingly murky case of the liver transplant undergone seven years ago by former French international defender Eric Abidal, saying new evidence has come to light suggesting a trafficked organ was used.
By Paul Nicholson in Abu Dhabi
January 31 – The UAE Football Association has formally protested against the eligibility of two Qatari footballers who played in the Asian Cup semi-final on Tuesday.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
January 31 – Uzbek’s Ravshan Irmatov has officiated more matches in the history of the Asian Cup than any other referee, having taken charge of 13 matches in a record four Asian Cup final tournaments.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 30 – Former Swiss international Ramon Vega has confirmed he is “actively considering” launching a challenge to Gianni Infantino for the Fifa presidency in June.
January 30 – Russian businessman Maxim Demin has regained full ownership of Premier League club Bournemouth after acquiring the 25% stake held by Chicago-based private equity firm Peak6 Investments.