By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Already embroiled in a tax evasion case that has clouded his image, Lionel Messi, through his representatives, has fiercely denied allegations in a Spanish newspaper that his father is suspected of being involved in helping to launder Colombian drug money.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 9 – With the glitz and glamour of the World Cup draw still fresh in the mind, Brazilian organisers have suffered a massive public relations blow after television pictures of scores of fans fighting running battles in a domestic championship match were flashed around the world.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 6 – The last minute cancellation of the Soccerex convention scheduled to be held in Rio later this month has sparked a war of words between the convention organiser Duncan Revie and Rio de Janeiro’s state government. Revie blames the government for pulling out due to civil unrest, the government says that the situation results from a commercial revenue shortfall.
By Paul Nicholson
October 22 – FIFA chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak has announced an extension of the Football for Health programme in the CONCACAF region with three new pilot initiatives to be undertaken in countries from the three language groups in the region – English, Spanish and French. The markets have still to be chosen.
October 23- FIFA has imposed worldwide bans on three more El Salvador national team players in an ongoing match-fixing investigation, bringing the total to 19.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 21- The international players union, FifPro, has issued a damning indictment of the exploitation of minors in South American football, urging Fifa to take action and demanding a complete overhaul of the practice.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 21- Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, the government official in charge of preparations for next year’s World Cup, appears to have staged a u-turn and has decided to stay on.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – In the most damaging case of match-fixing ever to strike at the heart of central American football, FIFA has extended worldwide the lifetime bans imposed last month by the El Salvador federation on 14 of its current and past senior internationals.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 25 – A group of more than 70 players from Brazil’s top two soccer leagues say their health could be at risk because of fixture congestion to accommodate the 2014 World Cup.
By Mark Baber
September 19 – The threat of closure on safety grounds again looms for the Maracanã Stadium, scheduled to host next year’s World Cup final, as the 4th District Attorney’s Office requests a new engineering report.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 9 – Just weeks after demonstrations marred the Confederations Cup, Brazilians have again issued a reminder, though on a smaller scale, that next year’s World Cup may not run quite as smoothly as organisers hope.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 5 – Two of South America’s biggest footballing icons, Diego Maradona and Romario, have joined forces to denounce the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) for not doing enough to distribute its funds.
By David Owen
August 16 – The UFRJ Rio de Janeiro doping control laboratory should find out early next month if it faces possible revocation of its accreditation, insideworldfootball has learnt. Under the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL), a facility whose accreditation has been revoked is ineligible to perform testing of doping control samples for any testing authority.
By Paul Nicholson
August 13 – Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez who died in Qatar a day after playing his first game for the Al Jaish club on July 29, had a congential heart ailment that had gone undetected in numerous physical examinations. The 27-year-old Ecuadorian striker’s death had added fuel to the debate over whether to switch the 2022 Qatar World Cup to winter, partly so as not to endanger players’ health. However,
By David Owen
August 9 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has suspended the accreditation of the UFRJ doping control laboratory in Rio de Janeiro just 10 months before the 2014 FIFA World Cup is scheduled to get under way in Brazil. The move – likely to cause acute embarrassment to Brazilian authorities – comes less than a year after the laboratory, also known as Ladetec, was reinstated following a partial suspension from January 2012.