By Samindra Kunti
January 24 – The revamped Copa Libertadores kicked off yesterday with qualifying across South America, but question marks remain over the tournament’s expanded new format.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 24 – The head of the European Clubs Association has provided the biggest hint yet that his members will not take World Cup expansion lightly and could end co-operation with FIFA if their needs are not met.
January 24 – FIFA’s much-touted but loss-making museum, which opened only a year ago, is on the verge of losing another raft of employees in a move to save costs.
January 24 – CONCACAF has added a new international club competition and revamped its Champions League format to bring it into a single calendar season for clubs, rather than spanning two seasons currently.
January 24 – Manchester City has taken a bigger step into the world of virtual reality with the launch of a match-day 360° VR fan experience. Fans will be able to experience the players arrival in the ‘Blue Carpet’ as well as getting dressing room access.
January 24 – The Confederation of African Football has taken action to protect its website after it was hacked by a Russian group protesting at the African Cup of Nations being staged in Gabon where President Ali Bongo Ondimba retained power in disputed and violent elections last year.
January 23 – Arsene Wenger, the longest serving manager in the English Premier League regarded by many as a role model for aspiring coaches, has been charged with physically pushing the fourth official after being sent off in the closing stages of last Sunday’s last-gasp 2-1 win over Burnley.
By Paul Nicholson
January 23 – FIFA could be facing the request for the formation of a seventh confederation after an executive committee meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in Miami at the weekend agreed to explore the prospects for a breakaway of the 31 Caribbean nations from the 41-member CONCACAF confederation.
January 23 – The dates and venues for the 2017 Caribbean Club Championship have been set for February – March 2017. Five groups of four teams will compete for the final tournament scheduled to be played May 13-21.
January 23 – Jordan, who will host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Jordan 2018, hosted the draw for the qualifying rounds that will be played in four groups in Tajikistan, DPR Korea, Palestine and Vietnam.
January 23 – As part of its reform process to streamline its top-heavy bureaucracy, save costs and respond to the worst crisis in its history, FIFA has slashed the number of standing committees from 26 to nine.
By Samindra Kunti
January 23 – Despite being unbeaten, Gabon became only the fourth hosts in history to exit the Africa Cup of Nations at the group stage – and the first for 23 years – as concerns continue to mount over the state of pitches at Africa’s flagship event.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – Russia’s under-fire senior football powerbroker Vitaly Mutko, allegedly caught up in the country’s damning doping scandal, reportedly ignored a private request from FIFA president Gianni Infantino to withdraw from the spotlight.
January 23 – In emotional scenes, some 20,000 fans, including families of the victims, turned out last Saturday as Brazil’s Chapecoense played their first match since most of their players were killed in that tragic air crash in Colombia in late November.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 23 – Any hopes Gianni Infantino may have that FIFA has buried its toxic past have again been laid bare with yet another former prominent official banned for life by FIFA’s own ethics committee.