February 3 – The Australian FA has agreed to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting to meet a March 31 deadline to reform itself and become more democratic following talks with FIFA officials in Zurich this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 2 – The names have been revealed, now the campaigning begins. The Asian Football Confederation has announced that eight candidates have put their names forward for the Continent’s four available places available on the FIFA Council, at least one of which must be filled by a woman.
February 2 – Raising money on public stock markets with a float of club shares was a popular financial tool for clubs up until the early 2000s when it went out of fashion. But how far does their on-pitch performance relate to the stock price?
By David Owen
February 1 – The magic of amortisation means that top football clubs have long been used to their transfer dealings mitigating bottom-line losses or, especially in more recent times, augmenting profits. But to register a gain in cash terms, without spreading the cost of new signings over the length of their contracts, is much more unusual.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 2 – With his country under global scrutiny because of the ongoing doping scandal, Alexei Sorokin, the public face of the 2018 World Cup, has come out fighting and taken a swipe at Russia’s mounting number of critics.
February 2 – “You don’t win anything with kids,” is a famous comment by former Scotland and Liverpool player Alan Hansen. But Premier League clubs aren’t even trying to according to data examining the number of debutants in the professional game in the current season in Europe’s Big 5 leagues.
February 2 – The ESSA, the sports betting integrity body whose members are regulated bookmakers, has reported in its 2016 annual report just 130 cases of suspicious betting activity with just 16 in football.
February 2 – Sepp Blatter has not always talked favourably about his successor but has surprisingly come out in partial support of Gianni Infantino’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – Football’s Chung dynasty is pitching to return to the top table of FIFA with the news that South Korean FA chief Chung Mong-gyu is running for a seat on the ruling Council.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – Hillaren Frederick, president of the U.S. Virgin Islands Soccer Federation, has hit back at the four members of his executive committee who tried to suspend him and two other exco members, saying that the allegations of financial negligence are untrue and that it is “merely an attempted coup”.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has become an organisation. The eclectic grouping of consultants and lobby groups to sports organisers, formalised themselves as a Swiss association at a signing ceremony in London yesterday. They will set up permanent offices in the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – Football’s lawmakers are to consider introducing sin-bins in place of yellow cards in what would constitute the most radical step for years to the way the game is played.
February 1 – Major League Soccer has announced that 12 new ownership groups submitted official applications by Tuesday’s deadline to land one of the four franchises that will see North America’s elite league expand to 28 clubs.
February 1 – Dutch brewer Heineken has renewed its sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League for another three years that will take it to the end of the 2021 competition. The deal also includes the UEFA Super Cup 2018, 2019 and 2020.
February 1- Nigeria striker Odion Ighalo has become the latest high-profile export to the Chinese Super League after joining Changchun Yatai for £20 million from English Premier league club Watford.