August 18 – Thirty-four cities in the United States, seven in Canada and three in Mexico, in all encompassing 49 stadia, are on a list of proposed venues to host the 2026 World Cup, the United Bid Committee for the three prospective joint hosts has announced.
By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – FIFA has again stepped into the Sierra Leone row to protect Isha Johansen, the SLFA president that the world governing body recognises but who football stakeholders and government officials in Sierra Leone argue is holding the position in an unelected capacity after her mandate ended August 3.
August 16 – The new season roll-out of the video assistant referee (VAR) system has been met with criticism in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium after a series of errors. But FIFA is determined to push through the referral system in time for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
By Paul Nicholson
August 14 – FIFA had advance warning of the impeding US Department of Justice assault on corrupt officials within its organisation and had taken steps to defend itself via an agreement with top US law firm Quinn Emmanuel.
August 14 – Iran is being formally asked by FIFA to provide further information as to why it banned two Iranian internationals for life as punishment for playing for their Greek club against an Israeli side.
July 31 – Eight more qualifiers have made their way through to the FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final to be held in London August 15-17.
By Paul Nicholson
July 27 – The chaos of Greek football might be resolving with long awaited federation elections on August 18 and the removal of the normalisation committee imposed by FIFA, but the Greeks will not be left completely on their own.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 27 – The career of Angel Maria Villar, one of the last remaining members of football’s political old guard who somehow managed to maintain his status while friends and colleagues were being swallowed up by scandal, is now effectively over after the seemingly untouchable lawyer resigned as vice-president of FIFA and UEFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 27 – Morocco have decided to gamble once again and take on the joint might of north America and Mexico in a bid to host the 2026 World Cup, according to leading Confederation of African Football (CAF) official Amaju Pinnick.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 21 – Harold Mayne-Nicholls, the FIFA-appointed official who led the inspection team that evaluated the credentials of all 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding candidates, has emerged from his prolonged silence with all guns blazing to launch a blistering attack on those he says turned his life into a “nightmare”.
By Paul Nicholson
July 17 – FIFA has written to Cameroon club Etoile Filante to emphasise that its Disciplinary Committee has not yet ruled on the complaint that a Court of Aribitration for Sport (CAS) decision that would immediately suspend Cameroon FA (Fecafoot) president Tombi A Roko Sidiki was not being followed.
By Paul Nicholson
July 13 – FIFA has wriggled out of responsibility to enable it to continue to support an unelected president of a national federation, claiming it is not the “competent” authority to enforce the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that Tombi A Roko Sidiki is unlawfully holding the position of Cameroon FA (Fecafoot) president.
By Paul Nicholson
July 14 – Controversial Liberian FA president Musa Bility (pictured), a member of the Confederation of African Football executive committee, is under renewed allegations from stakeholders in his own federation who claim that he is “embezzling” funds from the federation and FIFA grant money.
July 11 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whose first act in his new job 18 months ago was to host a star-studded Legends match at his new office in Zurich, something of a vanity project, organised a similar event last week after inviting some of the world’s finest ex-players (and one of two present ones) to dust off their boots for an exhibition game in his home town of Brig.
July 10 – With the World Cup in Russia less than a year away, one of FIFA’s top front-line sponsors, McDonald’s, have been in discussions about a possible withdrawal due to ethical concerns.