By Andrew Warshaw
January 9- A top-flight Dutch club is at the centre of a diplomatic storm after going ahead with a winter-break warm weather trip to the United Arab Emirates despite an Israeli defender on its books being refused permission to enter the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 9 – The European Professional Football League, which looks after the interests of more than 800 clubs in some 30 countries, remains convinced that no official position has yet been taken over when to stage the 2022 World Cup.
January 9 – Malaysian second tier club Kedah have denied that they have been forced to change their colours from green and yellow to red as a result of fresh investment by controversial Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan.
By Paul Nicholson
January 9 – The messages of anti-discrimination and social inclusion of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people might be starting to get through as more high profile athletes and governing bodies are taking stands. Thomas Hitzlsperger became the biggest name footballer to come out as gay, while in the US the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America has added a ‘Gay, Lesbian and Ally’ page to its website.
January 9 – The CONCACAF Women’s Under 20 Championship kicks off toady in the Cayman Islands with a double headed opener with Guatemala taking on Jamaica, followed by two-time defending champion United States against Costa Rica.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
January 8 – In a move that took the entire football world by surprise, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke appears to have jumped the gun by stating that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be definitely switched to winter.
By Paul Nicholson
January 8 – English Championship club Leeds United is about to change ownership – again. Currently majority-owned by GFH Capital, a new consortium fronted by the club’s managing director David Haigh and Andrew Flowers, the managing director of the club’s main sponsor Enterprise Insurance, are poised to get shareholder control.
January 8 – A former professional footballer has stepped down from a key English pro-equality panel following criticism over comments he made last year describing homosexuality as “detestable”.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 8 – Football’s crackdown on match-fixing has now spread to Hong Kong where authorities also plan to introduce tougher measures to check the financial background of club directors ahead of the new domestic Premier League in September.
January 8 – The Rwanda Football Federation has a new chairman Vincent Degaule Nzamwita, who won the five-man race for the position over outgoing interim boss Celestin Ntangungira who had been expected to retain the post. In his first media interview Nzamwita called for unity and co-operation.
January 7 – CONCACAF has announced dates for its Champions League final stages. Played over two legs, the quarter finals feature three teams from Mexico, three from the US, and one each from Costa Rica and Panama. The winners qualify for FIFA Club World Cup 2014.
January 7 – The draw for the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers is reported to have been switched from Cape Town at the end of this month to host nation Morocco in April by the Confederation of African Football.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 7 – Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has hit back at FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s attack on her country’s lack of sufficient World Cup preparation by insisting it will stage the best tournament in history. Last weekend Blatter expressed FIFA’s growing concern in no uncertain terms, chiding Brazil for being further behind any World Cup organiser he had ever known at this stage in the proceedings.
January 7 – When the draw was made for next summer’s World Cup finals, England manager Roy Hodgson said his team’s chances might well partly depend on how many players were missing through injury.
January 7 – Premier League club Liverpool have taken another step to expand their links with India, with the signing of a regional sponsorship with smart mobile device brand XOLO. This follows an agreement at the end of last year which sees Liverpool open its first academy in partnership with local team DSK Shivajians FC in Pune.