February 10 – The English Football Association has been warned “the clock is ticking fast” after a motion of no confidence into its ability to reform itself was passed during a British Parliamentary debate.
February 9 – In a hugely controversial judgement that has caused outrage amongst the Italian Jewish community, two Lazio fans have been acquitted by a judge despite being caught on camera singing explicitly anti-Semitic chants at rival Roma supporters.
By Paul Nicholson
February 7 – The various charges against Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis – some legally and others through the media – are rapidly dropping away one by one. The latest charge to be reversed was by the Greek Administrative Court of Appeal in support of the positions of Olympiacos and Marinakis.
February 8 – English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has threatened to quit if the government does not support his proposed reforms of the organisation.
February 7 – Two British-based gaming enthusiasts who ran a betting website connected to FIFA’s globally popular EA Sports video game have pleaded guilty to breaching Britain’s gambling laws in a landmark case.
By Paul Nicholson
February 7 – The rehabilitation of Uli Hoeness now looks complete. Having been re-elected as president of Bayern Munich last November, he has now reassumed the position of chairman of the Supervisory Board. In separate news the club are said to be close to launching a new TV channel with main sponsor Deutsche Telekom.
February 7 – The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) has fined two top flight teams €50,000 each after they were implicated in suspicious betting activity.
February 6 – David Beckham’s reputation as a globally respected icon has been called into question by a series of unsubstantiated and reportedly hacked emails alleged to have been acquired by Football Leaks, sport’s equivalent of WikiLeaks, which claim the motivation for his renowned humanitarian work was partly in order to obtain a knighthood.
February 6 – The English Football Association’s image as an anachronistic body of blazer-wearing conservative officials resistant to reform will come under renewed scrutiny this week when a group of parliamentarians debate a motion of ‘no confidence’ in the governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 3 – The role and reputation of Sportradar in detecting global match-fixing and irregular betting patterns has received a major boost after FIFA decided to hire the specialist firm in place of its own detection division.
February 3 – AFC Champions League holders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have not been cleared to defend their title. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected the club’s request for ‘provisional measures’ to allow the club back into the 2017 competition following it January 18 sanction for historic match-fixing.
February 2 – The ESSA, the sports betting integrity body whose members are regulated bookmakers, has reported in its 2016 annual report just 130 cases of suspicious betting activity with just 16 in football.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has become an organisation. The eclectic grouping of consultants and lobby groups to sports organisers, formalised themselves as a Swiss association at a signing ceremony in London yesterday. They will set up permanent offices in the country.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – Yesterday they held their first Sport Integrity Forum, today the Sport Integrity Global Alliance is holding its Constitutive General Assembly that will seek to formalise its structure as a multi-industry independent coalition of sports focussed bodies (including some international sports federations).
By Paul Nicholson
January 27 – The full text of the decision on the dismissal of the appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by Albanian club Klubi Sportiv Skenderbeu to have their UEFA Champions League ban lifted has been published. It makes interesting reading and could become a landmark decision in the battle against match fixing.