USA 1 Saudi Arabia 0
June 19 – American comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to say, “I don’t get no respect.” The same could be said for the United States Men’s Soccer Team as barely 10,000 fans showed up for a supporter friendly 8.15 pm kickoff versus Concacaf Gold Cup, Group D opponents, Saudi Arabia in a 1-0 win that again raised more questions than answers.
April 15 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s determination to win his battle to expand the 2022 World Cup beyond Qatar’s borders has taken him to Kuwait in a last-ditch effort to pull in another 16 finalists in three years’ time.
April 15 – Having been stripped of hosting rights for this year’s Africa’s showpiece event, the African Cup of Nations, Cameroon have instead been handed the consolation prize of the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in place of Ethiopia.
April 15 – Six players have been banned from taking part in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania after failing MRI tests to determine their age and eligibility for the competition.
April 15 – Morocco, Ivory Coast and South Africa, alongside Namibia, were paired in the group of death at the draw for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The hosts Egypt and reigning champions Cameroon were handed favourable draws.
April 15 – The recent resurgence of racism across world football has prompted FIFA president Gianni Infantino to call for a crackdown following several high-profile incidents, echoing UEFA’s call for referees to abandon matches in the worst-case scenarios
April 15 – France’s Ligue 1 match between Dijon and Amiens was held up last Friday after visiting captain Prince Gouano was the target of monkey chants, adding to a string of recent racist incidents across Europe.
April 15 – Standard Liege’s home league game against rivals Anderlecht was abandoned in the Belgian top flight plays-offs after just 30 minutes following flares thrown by visiting supporters. The Brussels-based team will be slapped with a fine and potentially a 5-0 forfeit score.
By David Owen
April 14 – An eventful 2017-18 season resulted in the English Football Association lifting turnover by £24.3 million while only managing to invest an additional £919,000, compared with 2016-17 levels, back into the game.
April 15 – African football legend Samuel Eto’o has joined the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) as a Global Ambassador.
April 15 – FIFA, whose new sponsorship revenues look as though they are stuck in a China-located trough, is nevertheless finding new revenue streams in efootball and has licensed the broadcast rights to stream the FIFA eWorld Cup and FIFA 19 Global Series events in the US to Fox Sports.
By Paul Nicholson
April 12 – CAF president Ahmad Ahmad, surrounded by multiple allegations of financial corruption and confederation mismanagement, is also facing multiple charges of sexual harassment from both CAF staffers and consultants brought in to work on CAF events under his tenure as president.
April 12 – The chances of FIFA increasing the number of teams at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar from 32 to 48 is around 50-50, Gianni Infantino has admitted.
April 12 – The 24 participants in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations will learn their fate at the tournament’s draw in the Egyptian capital Cairo this evening. The draw comes amid growing allegations about financial corruption and sexual harassment by CAF president Ahmad Ahmad.
April 12 – The reputation of Chelsea fans has once again been called into question after the club banned three people from entering the stadium for Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final at Slavia Prague after a video appeared to show them singing an abusive song about Liverpool’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah.
April 12 – After a week of discontent I-League club Minerva Punjab FC have rescinded their decision to fold after they got permission from the local Odisha government to play their first AFC Cup home match in Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium on May 1.