April 16 – Manchester United are to return to the US for their pre-season tour this summer and will defend their ‘International Champions Cup’ title which they won last last year.
April 14 – This Thursday the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) will gather its national federations in Bahamas for what will be the third annual congress under the presidency of Jeffrey Webb. It has been a period of dramatic transformation and reform for the confederation and produced a regional governing body that is virtually unrecognisable in comparison to what had gone before.
April 13 – The head of the United States Soccer Federation says handing the 2026 World Cup to his country would not only give the sport a further boost but also allow FIFA to put its flagship event back on safe territory in terms of its international image.
April 13 – CONCACAF has launched its first Women’s Football Day as a celebration of women’s football across the region. Planned as an annual event, the first will be held on Saturday, May 23.
April 10 – A new attendance record was set in the iconic Azteca Stadium in Mexico City for the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League semi-final between Mexican giants Club America and Costa Rica’s Herediano this week.
April 8 – CONCACAF continued with the development of their coaching courses, holding their first Goalkeeping course at the end of last month in St Kitts & Nevis.
March 24 – With five days to go before the 16-team 2015 CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championship in El Salvador kicks off, official rosters have been announced. A month ago, CONCACAF gathered the head coaches of the national teams for a four-day technical workshop in Florida.
March 20 – CONCACAF is holding referee development symposium for its international referees drawn from across the confederation. The four-day Florida event, presented by Comex/Futline, is hosting 50 officials from the FIFA international list.
By Paul Nicholson
March 17 – The New York Cosmos, one of the world’s most iconic football club names, has announced that they will travel to Cuba for a friendly match against the Cuban national team on June 2. The Cosmos will be the first professional sports team to play in Cuba since 1999.
March 13 – The final and third-placed play-off for this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup will be played in Philadelphia. The tournament kicks off July 7 in Dallas and travels through 12 North American cities before reaching Philadelphia for the finals weekend on July 25-26.
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 Paul Nicholson
March 4 – Jeffrey Webb is set to be re-elected unopposed to the presidency of North and Central American and Caribbean confederation CONCACAF. The XXX Congress on April 16 will see one contested election with a battle for the FIFA Executive Committee post for the Central American region.
February 17 – When CONCACAF launched its U15 Boys championship in 2013 with 22 teams, it became the first confederation to hold an U15 championship. In 2014 it broke new confederation ground, hosting an U15 Girls tournament.
By Ben Nicholson
February 16 – Las Vegas’ expansion bid has received a fatal letter from MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Addressed to Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman the letter said that the MLS would be unable to consider Las Vegas for an expansion franchise until 2018, due to “the uncertainty as to when we might be able to move forward in Las Vegas”.
By Ben Nicholson
February 16 – The MLS is facing a player strike that could result in a delayed start to the season unless the league can appease the MLS Players Union in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for the 2015 season. The issue circles around the MLS’ approach to free agency.