USA 2 Costa Rica 2 (USA win 4-3 on pens)
June 29 – You’d hate to use the word ‘sterile’ to describe a Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final, but following the drama and passion of Guatemala versus Canada, it all felt a little flat as the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) and Costa Rica kicked off for the right to face Guatemala in St. Louis. After 90 minutes and the drama of penalty kicks,
By Andrew Warshaw
January 24 – Former UEFA president Michel Platini, a largely peripheral figure in the game since his ban for financial wrongdoing, has decided to take one last stand to try and clear his name by going to the European Court of Human Rights, according to reports in France.
January 24 – A former England international who was banned by the Football Association in April last year for breaching betting rules claims 50% of professional players bet on matches and that gambling is “culturally engrained” in the sport.
January 24 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the move towards introducing video technology is premature and could prove counter-productive if problems with the system are not ironed out.
January 24 – After a long wait the Scottish Premier League (SPFL) has officially announced Labrokes will stay as title sponsors for a further two years taking them to at least 2020.
January 24 – UEFA is considering imposing a cap on agents’ fees following a meeting of its Professional Football Strategy Group.
January 24 – Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism has named and shamed a list of hotels that have jacked up their prices by massive amounts for the World Cup.
January 23 – Manchester City have come top of another table. Their latest chart-topping performance is a ranking teams according to the percentage of players signed from foreign clubs.
January 24 – Sports broadcaster Eleven Sports secured exclusive TV rights in Belgium for a host of major international matches, reasserting its market position in the Belgian TV landscape.
January 24 – Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen look to be getting closer to approval for a new £50 million stadium and training complex to be built in the Kingsford area of the city.
By Paul Nicholson
January 23 – The United 2026 World Cup bid heavyweights are on the road, locked and loaded with persuasive arguments and reasoning for why they are the only choice for hosting 2026. Absent were expensive gifts, brown paper bags of cash or even watches (not even Mickey Mouse ones) to shower their voting constituency with. For the faithful, FIFA 2.0 is a serious commitment.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – With precision timing just as their only rivals were holding a media briefing in London, Morocco kickstarted their own 2026 World Cup bid campaign by focusing on legacy and making it clear they would be fighting all the way to the vote in mid-June.
January 23 – Marco Polo del Nero has maintained his total innocence of bribery and corruption laid against him by the United States Justice Department’s FIFAGate inquiry in a cross examination by FIFA’s ethics investigation.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – As anticipated the use of video technology at the World Cup in Russia has moved a step closer though a final decision will not be made until early March.
January 23 – Liberia’s George Weah, the former world footballer of the year who made the remarkable step of switching to politics and going all the way to becoming president of his country, was officially sworn into power on Monday and promised a crackdown on systematic corruption.
January 23 – A ground-breaking agreement between Spanish football and authorities in Saudi Arabia has received a furious rebuke from Spain’s football union which says the arrival of nine Saudi players in La Liga will harm local development and is purely a money-earning exercise.