By Andrew Warshaw
August 15 – Nigeria and Ghana, whose respective federations have been gridlocked for several weeks, have been warned by FIFA to halt “undue influence” in their affairs by outside authorities or risk being thrown out of international football.
August 13 – FIFA has banned Zambia’s former federation chief Kalusha Bwalya for two years following an investigation into his links with disgraced ex-Asian football boss Mohammed Bin Hammam and fined him CHF100,000.
August 10 – Mexican broadcaster Televisa is failing to shake off allegations that it bribed its way to the broadcast rights to the 2018, 2022, 2026 and 2030 World Cups, with an amendment to a March complaint in the NY Federal court being filed this week.
August 8 – The 2018 World Cup qualifications were riddled with accusations of match-fixing in Africa in particular – including FIFA for the first time ordering one game to be replayed – but the finals tournament itself was clean.
August 6 – France kicked off the U-20 Women’s World Cup on home soil with an emphatic 4-1 win over Ghana, on an opening day of the tournament held plenty of surprises with defending champions DPR Korea slipping to defeat against England, debutants the Netherlands defeating New Zealand and Mexico recording a first-ever win over Brazil.
August 6 – Saudi Arabia may have collapsed at Russia 2018 but their fast-fingered eSports champion Mosaad ‘Msdossary’ Aldossary struck a blow for the country hammering Belgium’s Stefano ‘StefanoPinna’ Pinna 4-0 in the final of the FIFA eWorld Cup at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 2 – England has moved a step closer to deciding whether to bid for the 2030 World Cup even though they would face strong opposition from a joint South American bid as well as one from north Africa.
By Paul Nicholson
August 1 – One of the most politically driven and controversial decisions of FIFA’s ethics body has been revisited by the FIFA Appeal Committee. Gordon Derrick, the former general Secretary of the Antigua & Barbuda Football Association and President of the Caribbean Football Union, has had his ban reduced from six to four years.
August 1 – While most French fans in Moscow were able to celebrate their team’s World Cup triumph, one supporter was apparently not so lucky after being detained allegedly for simply displaying a Tibetan flag.
July 25 – FIFA has named its 10 shortlisted nominees for Best Men’s and Women’s players for the year. The men’s award – usually a run-off between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – for the first time in many years looks wide open.
July 20 – Clubs from Russia and Qatar, World Cup hosts past and future, are among six fined by FIFA and warned they risk one-year transfer bans for failing to settle debts to players.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 18 – With attention now switched to Qatar 2022 following the World Cup in Russia, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has again provided an indication of where his thinking lies with regard to future bids.
July 16 – Nigeria will be kicked out of FIFA unless they comply with strict regulations over government interference in the affairs of their national association, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed.
July 12 – It will hardly register amid the disappointment of semi-final elimination but the English FA has been fined CHF70,000 after three players – Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Raheem Sterling – wore unauthorised equipment at the World Cup.
July 11 – FIFA is investigating a new video of Croatia defender Domagoj Vida’s comments in the wake of his side’s quarterfinal World Cup victory over Russia.