By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – Kosovo finally won its long battle for footballing recognition today when it became the 55th member of UEFA and, like Gibraltar, could now be fast-tracked into the 2018 World Cup qualifying programme.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – UEFA finally acknowledged today it is preparing for life after Michel Platini by tabling an emergency meeting of its executive committee later this month with a view to choosing an election date in case its French president loses his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the outcome of which will be announced within a week.
By Mark Baber
May 3 – The Hyundai A-League and Japanese J-League have signed a co-operation agreement which will see the two leagues share technical, marketing and administrative expertise as well as paving the way for more matches at elite youth level between Australian and Japanese clubs and encouraging loan deals between the leagues.
May 3 – The CIES Football Observatory has released more details of its ranking of the best players in the Big 5 European leagues for this season. Dortmund’s Mats Hummels leads the list of best centrebacks while Atlético Madrid’s Filipe Luís tops the full back table.
By David Owen
May 3 – AFC Bournemouth, the English south-coast club that has just secured another year of Premier League football, has reported a hefty loss for its promotion season, due partly to a financial fair play penalty.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – Unthinkable, unimaginable, unprecedented. Headline news across the country and worldwide. Even the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, described it as a fairytale and a “beautiful story” – one which will doubtless be told and retold for decades to come.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 3 – FIFA has been controversially ordered by sport’s highest court to accept Gibraltar as a member, opening the tiny British overseas territory’s path to potentially being added to the 2018 World Cup qualifying programme.
By Samindra Kunti
May 3 – The Brazilian FA, the CBF, has confirmed that Brazil will play their World Cup qualifier against Colombia in September in Manaus.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 – European football looks set to be without an elected leader until September if banned UEFA boss Michel Platini fails to clear his name over alleged ethics violations.
May 2 – China’s leading social media platform Weibo has seen an 18% growth in sports teams, leagues and players using the site – there are now 1,200 official sports organisations on the platform.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 2 – Delegates from UEFA’s 54 member countries are gathering in Budapest for Tuesday’s annual congress with the likehihood of the summit being one of the shortest on record.
By Paul Nicholson
May 2 – Europe’s big teams are once again dominating Europe’s big leagues with Juventus celebrating their fifth consecutive Serie A title with their tenth consecutive league win.
By Samindra Kunti
May 2 – Ajax Amsterdam have moved a step closer to winning a fifth domestic league title in six years after hammering FC Twente 4-0.
May 2 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organisers have come under renewed scrutiny after announcing than an Indian steelworker employed on a World Cup site has died.
May 1 – Liverpool will play in the US in the pre-season International Champions Cup this July, but before then the club’s U-21 team will play two friendly matches in California and Nevada against Sacramento Republic next month.