Costa Rica 4 Suriname 3
June 15 – With the baking sun of a sweltering San Diego day in Southern California giving way to a cool evening, Costa Rica went from red hot to freezing cold as they threw away their lead and had to battle back to win with 10 men and a penalty more than 10 minutes into added time.
August 25 – FIFA’s ethics watchdog has opened formal proceedings against ex-South Africa football chief Kirsten Nematandani and two other officials over alleged ethics violations related to the fixing of international friendlies in 2010, just weeks before South Africa hosted the World Cup.
August 25 – The AFC Appeal Committee has dismissed appeals lodged by four Nepal players and one official against their life-time bans from any football-related activities for match-fixing offences.
August 25 – Manchester Utd stretched their lead over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League Twitter followers ranking by more than 38,000 followers last week. Their additional 85,700 followers was more than double that of third placed Chelsea, almost triple fourth placed Liverpool, and more than fives times local rivals Man City.
August 25 – Two weeks after being nominated for the position, Greg Clarke has formally taken over as the new chairman of the English Football Association in succession to the outspoken and often controversial Greg Dyke who has stepped down after three years.
August 25 – Bayern Munich have launched their new apps for the 2016/17 season. The German giants have been increasingly embracing digital platforms and recently launched their season on their Facebook platform rather than via a more traditional TV broadcast based media day.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 25 – Hope Solo, the world’s best-known and most decorated women’s goalkeeper and a household name across the sport, has been suspended by US Soccer for six months for describing Olympic opponents Sweden as “a bunch of cowards”.
August 25 – Doctors battled in vain for 35 minutes to save ex-English top-flight footballer Dalian Atkinson after he was tasered by police, the inquest into his death has heard.
By Paul Nicholson
August 24 – Chinese conglomerate Everbright’s offer for Premier League Liverpool is real and in discussion, sources close to the firm have told Insideworldfootball. Reports earlier to day in the Asian business press that Everbright knew nothing of the proposal are wrong, and the proposed £800 million acquisition is very much alive.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – UEFA presidential candidate Alexander Ceferin has laid down the gauntlet to Europe’s major clubs by warning that any move to form a breakaway league would lead to “war” with the governing body.
By Paul Nicholson
August 24 – One step forward, one step back? China’s march into Premier League football club ownership seems to have faltered in the case of Liverpool but looks to be progressing with Hull City.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – Three weeks before the eagerly awaited UEFA presidential election to replace Michel Platini, Spanish football boss Angel Maria Villar has become the last of the three candidates to unveil his manifesto, promising democracy and transparency if he clinches victory on September 14.
August 24 – While the world’s most populous nation, China, is taking the football world by storm with a series of high profile club acquisitions and internal development initiatives, the world’s second most populous nation is without doubt waking up to football, but a little more slowly.
August 24 – With global match-fixing and results manipulation showing little sign of easing, the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has joined forces with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to release a new resource guide which both organisations hope will help law enforcement and sports organisations better detect cases of wrongdoing.
August 24 – Premier League West Ham United have extended their main sponsorship with online bookmaker Betway for a further three years in what the club says is the largest sponsorship in its history.
August 24 – It was always going to be a tall order and as expected Dundalk’s attempt to become the first Irish side to make the Champions League group stages fell just short as they lost 3-1 to Legia Warsaw on aggregate after a creditable 1-1 draw in Poland.