By Ben Nicholson
August 11 – Although the MLS is deep into its regular season, US youth soccer seasons are soon to start again, in line with the conventional European calendar. And as the youth teams gear up, they will be adjusting to the new player development initiatives that the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has established.
August 11 – Tyre manufacturer Continental has signed up to sponsor the Copa do Brasil, the Brazilian Cup organized by the Brazilian Football Confederation CBF.
August 11 – A German Cup first-round tie between third division VfL Osnabruck and RB Leipzig was abandoned in the 71st minute on Monday after the referee was struck by a lighter thrown from a section of the crowd.
August 11 – Two Ukrainian lawmakers, Andriy Kozhemiakin and Andriy Pavelko (pictured), the latter president of the country’s football federation, have registered a bill in parliament that would criminalise corruption and eradicate match-fixing.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 10 – Zbigniew Boniek (pictured), the president of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) and former Polish international with spells at Roma and Juventus, has spurred controversy with a string of negative tweets criticising Never Again (Nigdy Wiecej), a Polish anti-racist association which cooperates with the anti-discrimination group FARE.
By Mark Baber
August 10 – Sunday’s second leg of the historic cup final between Al-Ahly, the top team in the West Bank and Gaza’s champion Shejaia was called off by the Palestinian Football Federation on Friday as Israel denied entry permits to seven of the Gaza party, including four players, whom it demanded be subjected to questioning.
August 10 – It looked lined up to be the Gold Cup final in July, but it never happened once Jamaica knocked out the US in the semi-final. Now the US and local rivals Mexico will have the chance to kick a ball in competitive anger with the winners taking the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup berth.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 10 – Marseille are looking for a new coach after one solitary game of the new French season. Marcelo Bielsa stunned supporters by announcing his resignation within minutes of their opening-day Ligue 1 defeat by Caen having just started his second campaign in charge.
August 10 – Police in Germany are investigating an unprovoked attack on a Bundesliga team bus which was on its way to pick up players travelling to an away game.
By David Owen
August 8 – Worawi Makudi, the former FIFA Executive Committee member, is to challenge for the Presidency of the Asean Football Federation (AFF), according to local press. Malaysia’s New Sunday Times reported that the 63-year-old President of the Football Association of Thailand would challenge Sultan Ahmad Shah, the incumbent, at elections in Burma this month.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 7 – Former International Olympic Committee director general Francois Carrard (pictured) has emerged as a possible chairman of FIFA’s reform taskforce set up in the light of the unprecedented corruption scandal that has enveloped the organisation.
By Samindra Kunti
August 7 – Today Paris Saint Germain kick off Ligue 1 with an away game to Lille. The question is not if the Parisians will dominate domestic French football, but how far they can progress in the UEFA Champions League?
August 7 – Police made 53 arrests, though only three of them supporters of visiting Southampton, before the English club’s Europa League tie against Vitesse Arnhem on Thursday.
By Mark Baber
August 7 – Industrial action by the Dutch police has led to the postponement of five Eredivisie matches at the start of the new season, the Dutch football association KNVB announced on Thursday.
By Ricardo Setyon
August 7 – They were best of friends but they have become the worst of enemies. Known in Brazil as ‘O Gordo e o Magro’, (the fat and the slim), former FIFA vice president and CBF chief Ricardo Teixeira (pictured left), and Traffic principal José Hawilla (right) have fallen out, and spectacularly so.