Indonesians back in the game but Kuwaitis cry political foul play
May 16 – Indonesia’s suspension from international football over government interference in the country’s national federation has ended after almost a year.
FIFA
Gibraltar and Kosovo prepare for World Cup qualification debuts
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – Kosovo and Gibraltar seem certain to be fast-tracked into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign starting in September after being accepted as the 210th and 211th members of FIFA even though Serbia says it will fight Kosovo’s entry by legal means.
Fake bomb costs Man Utd £3m as season potentially blows up in Van Gaal’s face
May 16 – A suspicious package that led to the evacuation of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium on Sunday and the postponement of the club’s final Premier League game of the game ended up being a fake device accidentally left behind by a private firm after a training exercise.
Scala quits FIFA as Infantino hammers through an end to ‘independent’ ethics
By Andrew Warshaw
May 14 – Domenico Scala, head of FIFA’s audit and compliance committee and one of the organisation’s most important independent watchdogs, dramatically resigned today after his position was rendered untenable by Gianni Infantino, prompting the first major crisis of Infantino’s three-month-old presidency.
The iron-fist of democracy: Infantino underfire for ripping apart reform agenda
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson in Mexico City
May 13 – Just when he promised the world he would be leading FIFA into a new era of transparency and good governance, Gianni Infantino faces new accusations of undermining the corruption-plagued organisation’s entire reform process after less than three months as president.
Infantino opens Congress unveiling Fatma Samoura as FIFA’s new CEO
By Paul Nicholson in Mexico City
May 13 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino took the unexpected step of unveiling the first key appointment of his regime today, naming Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura (pictured) of Senegal as his Secretary General, the first woman in its history to be handed FIFA’s most senior management position.
Andrew Warshaw: Legends everywhere but Infantino’s first Congress kicks off with one missing
When delegates from FIFA’s 209 member federations convene for their annual congress in Mexico later today, the man who wanted so much to be king will be conspicuous by his absence. Had the cards fallen differently, it would almost certainly have been Michel Platini and not Gianni Infantino taking centre stage in Mexico City at the start of the post-Sepp Blatter era.
FIFA Congress warms-up in Mexico City with a Legends fiesta
By Paul Nicholson in Mexico City
May 12 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s first act in his new job was to host a Legends match at his new office in Zurich. He seems to have liked the idea so much he has repurposed it for his first Congress as president, but this time bringing in the legends (a reported 200) to sprinkle stardust around Mexico City.
World Cup bid criteria tightened but 2026 host vote put back to 2020
By Andrew Warshaw
May 11 – The 2026 World Cup hosts will not be chosen until May 2020, three years later than originally scheduled, as FIFA beefs up eligibility rules.
Pressure on FIFA to revisit Palestine/Israel deal as progress falters
By Andrew Warshaw
May 10 – A group of anti-Israeli activists is urging FIFA not to just bury the plight of Palestinian footballers in the occupied territories when it holds its annual congress in Mexico on Friday.
Infantino ‘sad’ at Platini ban but ‘positive’ about past as he plans FIFA’s ‘new era’
By Andrew Warshaw
May 10 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has expressed his sadness at Michel Platini failing to overturn his ban for breaching FIFA’s ethics code – hardly surprising given the process by which Infantino landed the top job in world football instead of his former boss.
Last man standing falls: Rocha loses appeal and is headed for Brooklyn court
May 10 – The last of the football officials still held in Zurich after the May 2015 raids by Swiss police and US Department of Justice officials, has finally had his extradition to the US finalised.
Meaty problem has not gone away for FIFA dope testers
By David Owen
May 9 – Contaminated meat is continuing to pose a challenge for FIFA dope testers. Data published recently by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on anti-doping rule violations in 2014 – World Cup year – disclosed that of just over 2,000 samples taken by FIFA, 18 produced adverse analytical findings, identifying the presence in the sample of a prohibited substance.
FIFA issue life bans for Bedoya and Jadue for bribery
May 6 – FIFA ethics judges have handed down life bans on two senior South American officials who have already pleaded guilty as part of the FBI probe into widespread football-related bribery and corruption.
News Analysis: FIFA interferes with CONCACAF election, what will CAS do?
By James Dostoyevsky
May 5 – The ban of CFU President Gordon Derrick, which prevents him from running for CONCACAF president, is possibly one of the most lawyered documents we have seen of late. But it is a tale of law and its manipulation that is not over as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is to be asked to rule on the case.