By Paul Nicholson
January 18 – FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan has accused rival candidate Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of trying to engineer a bloc vote for himself in the upcoming FIFA presidential elections with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Asian (AFC) and African (CAF) confederations.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 18 – FIFA presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale’s hopes of gaining the unanimous support of his own African confederation have suffered a further blow with Ghana saying the South African lacks the requisite leadership skills.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – FIFA’s presidential lobbying has been most active in Africa this week with three contenders – Gianni Infantino, Prince bin al-Hussein and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa – all present in Kigali, Rwanda, for the West Africa Football Union meetings.
“Birds of a feather flock together.” Aesop
When Sepp Blatter gave an interview to the Tass news agency recently it made headlines everywhere. The Football Association chairman, Greg Dyke, even took what Blatter had said to the British parliament. The widespread outrage arose from Blatter’s claim that he had intended to stitch up the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding in favour of the US and Russian World Cups.
By Bernd Fisa
January 15 – There was a touching and humbling backstage aside at the Ballon D’Or Awards earlier this week when Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar paid tribute to former Glasgow Rangers captain and Dutch international Fernando Ricksen.
January 15 – The first official Futsal coaching badge in north America has been announced at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) conference in Baltimore this week. The NSCAA Diploma for futsal will be created with the co-operation of U.S. Futsal.
By Mark Baber
January 15 – Oil has dipped below $30 a barrel for third day in a row and, with oversupply likely to be exacerbated as Iran enters the market, low oil prices look here to stay. This will have quite dramatic economic consequences across the globe, from which the business of football is not immune.
By David Owen
January 15 – The wave of Chinese investment in world football has reached Europe’s premier national team competition. Hisense, a white goods and electronics company based in the east-coast city of Qingdao has been unveiled as the 10th global partner of Euro 2016, to be played for the first time as a 24-team tournament in France in June and July.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – Real Madrid and their cross-town rivals Atletico have reacted with shock and dismay after being slapped with transfer bans by FIFA for breaching regulations on the acquisition of non-Spanish minors under the age of 18.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the body that represents Europe’s biggest clubs, has rekindled speculation about a breakaway European Super League.
January 15 – The German Football Association has expressed its interest in testing video replay technology at the highest level domestically if the game’s rulemakers give the idea the thumbs up in March.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – The number of emergency gatherings of football federation chiefs is growing with CONCACAF confirming its own Extraordinary Congress for February 25 in Zurich, the day before its members attend FIFA’s own Extraordinary event to elect a new president.
By Ben Nicholson
January 15 – Louisville FC, which plays in the US third tier USL, is signalling MLS ambition by commissioning planning firm Conventions, Sports & Leisure International to perform a feasibility study for the construction of a football-specific stadium.
By Paul Nicholson
January 14 – This week the first paid Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) games made their Atlantic crossing from the US, debuting in the Italian market. Boston-based gambling firm Mondogoal have launched their football games in partnership with Italian online sports betting platform Intralot.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 14 – Six months after imposing a seven-year ban on Harold Mayne-Nicholls (pictured), the official who led the technical inspection team that evaluated the credentials of all nine candidates for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, FIFA’s ethics judges have finally provided more detail as to exactly why the Chilean was hit so hard.