By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – It is harder to get five nominations for the FIFA presidency than it is to get 100 votes in the election, said Ramon Vega, who is putting together a challenge for the top job at the world governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – UEFA has been urged to block the appointment of Paris Saint Germain supremo Nasser Al Khelaifi to its executive committee by outspoken La Liga president Javier Tebas.
February 1 – Game on, all players available. The protest lodged the by United Arab Emirates FA concerning the eligibility of Qataris players Almoez Ali and Bassam Al Rawi has been unanimously dismissed by the AFC disciplinary committee, just four hours before the final between Qatar and the UAE is due to take place.
February 1 – Premier League spending in the mid-season January transfer window fell for the first time since 2012 with a quieter than usual deadline day capping off a distinctly unspectacular window.
February 1 – Concacaf are the latest confederation to come out and formally support Gianni Infantino for re-election as FIFA president in Paris on June 5.
February 1 – The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has signed a deal with Chinese company Kingdomway to promote youth football development over the next 15 years by transferring knowledge and know-how to China.
February 1 – Africa will compete for four berths at the U-20 World Cup in Poland at this month’s U-20 continental championship in Niger. Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal have a strong case to win the tournament as defending champions Zambia failed to qualify for the finals.
By David Owen
February 1 – La Liga has agreed to sponsor the Davis Cup, the reformatted men’s team tennis competition whose first new-look edition will culminate in November in the Spanish capital Madrid.
January 30 – LaLiga has combined with the Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft (GSIC) to launch a global competition for digital start-ups with football related product that are “disruptive solutions”.
February 1 – New MLS franchise Inter Miami CF that will start play in 2020 has picked KIN Partners in London as its exclusive sponsorship sales representation agency.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
February 1 – Qatar is appearing for the first time in the AFC Asian Cup finals and will take on the 4-time Asian Cup champions Japan.
By Samindra Kunti
January 31 – First-time finalists Qatar will seek to make national history on Friday in the final of the Asian Cup by overcoming continental powerhouse Japan. The Samurai Blue will aim for a record fifth continental crown in a final that is predicted to go down the wire.
By Paul Nicholson in Abu Dhabi
January 31 – FIFA’s rush to become involved in the civil extradition case of Australian refugee, Bahraini passport holder and part-time football Al-Araibi has again raised questions over the validity and motivations of FIFA’s human rights policy.
By Paul Nicholson
January 31 – Ramon Vega, the former player and businessman who is challenging for the FIFA presidency, has said that lack of financial transparency would be unacceptable in any corporate boardroom anywhere in the world.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 31 – A highly sensitive spanner has been tossed into the workings of UEFA’s annual congress next week with Paris St-Germain supremo Nasser Al-Khelaifi set to join the organisation’s executive committee despite his club being under financial investigation and he himself being embroiled in a criminal case.