June 28 – Mexico made hard work of overcoming Saudi Arabia 2-0 to book their place in the Gold Cup semi-final. Second half goals from Alexis Vega and Santiago Gimenez secured the win against the Gold Cup guests.
May 5 – Nations from four different confederations will compete in the semi-finals of the Beach Soccer World Cup in the Bahamas on Saturday. A pulsating round of quarter-finals saw last gasp wins for Iran and Brazil, while Tahiti flew the flag vigorously for the world’s smallest nations and Italy put on the style for the bigger ones.
May 5 – Manchester City has added power management company Eaton as the club’s Official Home Energy Storage Partner in the UK. No figure was announced for the sponsorship which was described as a multi-year deal (usually three years).
May 5 – Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium reconstruction already looks to be delayed with the club now not expecting to move out of the current stadium until the 2019-20 season – a year later than originally planned.
By Paul Nicholson
May 4 – The former senior FIFA development officer for Africa challenging for a CAF place on the FIFA Council has hit a roadblock with forces at FIFA and CAF hunting for loopholes in the rules to prevent him standing.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 4 – FIFA’s recently established 37-member ruling Council looks set to have its decision making significantly weakened under controversial proposed changes that are only now seeing the light of day.
By Samindra Kunti
May 4 – In what must be one of the most bizarre football threats of all time, newly crowned Indian champions Aizawl FC – who have fallen out with the All India Football Federation over the proposed merger between the Indian Super League (ISL) and the I-League – have threatened to go on a hunger strike.
May 4 – The Czech football federation says it has been raided by police and its chairman Miroslav Pelta detained in the presence of his lawyer.
May 4 – Australian A-League club owners have rejected the annual A$3.25 million per club financial offer from the Football Federation Australia (FFA) saying that they should receive more money from the new A$56 million per season broadcast deal agreed with Fox Sports.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 4 – Two months after football’s lawmakers gave the green light to experiment with a new tennis-style penalty shootout system, UEFA are employing it at the European under-17 championship, which began in Croatia today.
May 5 – The English Football Association has agreed to trial rugby-style ‘sin bins’ in lower part-time leagues from next season.
May 4 – Tottenham Hotspur have released their SPVRS app for iOS and Android devices that takes users on a tour of the club’s currently being constructed new stadium using Virtual and Augmented Reality technology.
May 4 – China’s Guangzhou Evergrande have been fined US$22,500 and handed a suspended two-match stadium ban by the Asian Football Confederation after their fans unfurled a provocative banner in an Asian Champions League match describing Hong Kong’s independence movement as ‘poison’ and carrying the words: ‘Annihilate British Dogs’.
May 4 – No sooner had Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho bemoaned a packed fixture schedule as the club battle to close its season out with a Champions League qualifying place, than the club triumphantly announce a sixth pre-season friendly, against Norway’s Valerenga on July 30.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – Will they be replaced or given another mandate? Amid growing speculation that FIFA’s ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and chief investigator Cornel Borbely may not have their positions renewed at the upcoming FIFA Congress, confirmation has been made that the entire future of FIFA’s judicial bodies is up for discussion by the ruling Council that precedes the full session in Bahrain.
May 3 – With FIFA focus firmly on politics and scandal, you could be forgiven for missing the progress of the Beach Soccer Cup in the Bahamas which has now reached its quarter final stage.