By Samindra Kunti
November 15 – Belgian authorities, already investigating clubs and the league for match-fixing and money laundering crimes, have now raided the premises of top flight club Mouscron and arrested three people. The focus of the new police probe is Israeli super agent Pini Zahavi who is suspected of having had an illegal role and undue power at the club.
November 14 – Eduardo Li, the former president of the Costa Rican Soccer Federation (FEDEFUTBOL) and one of the original ‘Zurich Seven’ arrested in the FifaGate corruption scandal, is now free to return to his homeland on so-called supervised release after serving nine months in prison and a period on parole.
November 13 – Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has been charged by the Football Association with misconduct for alleged breaches of its betting rules although he insists that he has “never gambled on football”.
November 13 – Former French international Samir Nasri, who was banned for a doping offense for 18 months, is poised to be given a controversial route back into the game by joining Premier League West Ham.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 12 – One of Gianni Infantino’s staunchest allies in Africa has branded the latest allegations against the FIFA president as “hopelessly weak” and says his Continent still stands firmly behind Infantino who is running for re-election next year.
November 12 – In a landmark move viewed as a partial breakthrough in gender discrimination, hundreds of Iranian women were allowed to watch the weekend’s Asian Champions League final in Tehran between Persepolis and Japan’s Kashima Antlers.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – Swiss prosecutors have launched an investigation into alleged suspicious links between Gianni Infantino and a senior judicial official who comes from the same area of the country as the FIFA president.
November 9 – France’s Human Rights League says it will file a legal complaint against Paris Saint Germain (PSG) following yet more exposure from Football Leaks into the club’s way of operating, this time over alleged racism within its scouting system.
November 9 – Just days before the start of the tournament, Kenya has condemned a Confederation of African Football (CAF) decision to reinstate Equatorial Guinea into the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and is going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
By Andrew Warshaw
November 7 – Eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday with two rounds to go and in trouble near the foot of the French league, Monaco have been rocked off the pitch with the news that their Russian billionaire owner has been taken into in custody.
November 7 – The International Football Association Board, the game’s rulemaking body, discussed the handball rule at an interim meeting on Tuesday and how it could be made clearer.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 6 – In a landmark case that is potentially pivotal to UEFA’s efforts to force clubs to balance their books or suffer the consequences, Paris St Germain’s ongoing dispute with European football’s governing body over financial fair play is going all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
By Andrew Warshaw
November 5 – European football has been rocked by fresh revelations of a proposed breakaway super league to start in 2021 while FIFA president Gianni Infantino has separately been accused of secretly helping two of Europe’s most affluent elite clubs gain more lenient sanctions for breaching financial fair play rules.
November 5 – Club football is wide open to criminal ownership, money launderers, third party ownership groups and sports betting fraudsters, according to a report published last week.
November 5 – The USL has announced the full line for its 10-team USL League One, a third tier professional league licensed by the US Soccer Federation. FC Dallas, who have a team in the MLS, will be a founding member for the league’s inaugural season in 2019.