By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – Just how petty can you get? In what must surely rank as one of its most nonsensical decisions, verging on the autocratic, FIFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Wales and Northern Ireland after fans were spotted wearing poppy symbols in the recent World Cup qualifying campaign.
November 23 – The former president of the Ecuadorean FA has been convicted of money laundering in his own country and handed a 10-year sentence in the latest blow to CONEMBOL linked to the US-led case.
November 23 – Two referees and one linesman have been suspended for three months and publicly criticised by African football’s ruling body while another has been warned following their performances in recent World Cup qualifiers.
November 22 – The Belgian FA, the KBVB, is set to punish Olivier Deschacht (Anderlecht), Knowledge Musona (Ostende), Tuur Dierckx (Antwerp) and Laurent Henkinet (Beveren), for betting on Belgian club matches.
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
November 16 – Saoud Al-Mohannadi, the Qatari official who FIFA disqualified at the last moment from standing as an Asian member of its ruling Council, has now been banned by FIFA’s ethics committee for one year for failing to cooperate as a witness with a FIFA investigation.
November 17 – The ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) has renewed its deal with Sportradar to provide match-fixing detection and prevention services for its AFF Suzuki Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 15 – The debate over whether Europe’s minnows should have their own pre-qualifying competition for major tournaments is nothing new but Germany’s Thomas Muller has stoked an unsavoury spat with officials of San Marino following his team’s 8-0 demolition of the 201st-ranked FIFA nation.
On May 27, 2015, in Brooklyn, New York, Loretta Lynch, Attorney-General of the United States, made a media-savvy appearance. Accompanied by her subordinate (“I am honored to be joined today by Director James Comey of the FBI […])” she highlighted a series of charges that put a number of mainly non-US football officials into serious trouble: “[The individuals indicted today] were expected to uphold the rules that keep soccer honest, and to protect the integrity of the game.
November 11 – Former Venezuela FA chief Rafael Esquivel pleaded guilty Thursday as anticipated to multiple charges resulting from the global football corruption scandal.
November 11 – Former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb has succeeded in having his sentencing delayed for a third time. Webb, who has pleaded guilty in the FIFA corruption cases brought by the US Department, will now be sentenced by a US federal court judge on May 11 next year.
November 9 – The former president of the Venezuelan FA is expected to change his plea to guilty in Brooklyn on Thursday over his alleged role in the US-led football corruption probe, according to agency reports quoting court records.
November 9 – The sentencing of disgraced former CONCACAF leader Jeff Webb (pictured) could be delayed yet again if a court in New York grants another request for an adjournment.
November 8 – With the AFC Solidarity Cup in full swing in Malaysia the AFC Disciplinary Committee has stepped in and suspended four Laos players on suspicion of match-fixing.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 4 – In the latest move in its drive to reform itself and enhance its credibility after becoming shamefully embroiled in world football’s corruption scandal, CONMEBOL have named José Manuel Astigarraga as its new secretary general.
November 4 – Iran have been fined by FIFA after fans were asked to sing religious chants and wear black at a World Cup qualifier played on a holy day.