By Paul Nicholson
February 19 – Football corruption at federation level may be grabbing the headlines and attention of the media but a recent audit of one of the world’s leading match-fixing fraud monitoring systems is a brutal reminder that betting related match manipulation by organised crime syndicates is a far bigger threat to the integrity of the game.
February 19 – FIFPro have unveiled their first ever Women’s World XI. While women have award parity with the men in terms of the Ballon d’Or World Player of the Year awards, until now (and unlike the men) a World XI selected by female players worldwide had never been attempted.
By Paul Nicholson
February 18 – Meetings of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member associations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to discuss the FIFA reform proposals led to reiterated support for Shaikh Salman in his bid for the FIFA presidency, and speculation from observers as UEFA’s candidate Gianni Infantino enterprisingly turned up to lobby federations.
February 18 – FIFA’s ethics investigators have requested life bans for two senior South American officials who have already pleaded guilty as part of the FBI probe into widespread bribery and corruption.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – Whilst much of the focus in Asia is on next week’s FIFA presidential election, internal regional spats within the giant and diverse confederation continue to rumble on.
By Mark Baber
February 18 – Australia national team forward Tim Cahill was released by Chinese Super League’s Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC on Wednesday as “surplus to requirements,” with Obafemi Martins confirmed he was joining the Shanghai club whilst Paris St-Germain forward Ezequiel Lavezzi has joined Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – The reputation of Franz Beckenbauer, Germany’s most revered footballing icon, has suffered yet more damage after he was fined and cautioned by the FIFA ethics committee for failing to initially co-operate with the investigation into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – England is the latest country to announce it is backing Gianni Infantino for the FIFA presidency next week, adding its voice to a raft of other European nations officially endorsing the UEFA general secretary.
By Paul Nicholson
February 18 – Premier League giants Liverpool and Manchester City have both announced digital media upgrades with Liverpool relaunching their social portal via Vixlet, and City Football Group (CFG) shifting three of their club brands to web development platform Wix.com who become the clubs’ Official Website Design & Hosting Partner.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – The Jordanian Royal Court has stepped into an increasingly distasteful FIFA presidential spat by denouncing alleged attempts to spread false rumours about the campaign being led by Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, specifically involving his Jewish chief spin doctor.
By Mark Baber
February 17 – Milan’s Internationale and Pirelli are on the verge of signing a new three-year deal to extend their 20 year partnership, according to Italian reports.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 17 – Sepp Blatter will find out later this week whether his appeal hearing to clear his name marked his last ever official visit to FIFA headquarters where he has ruled for the best part of 18 years.
February 17 – Brazilian authorities have frozen assets worth almost $50 million belonging to their Barcelona star Neymar over alleged tax evasion according to local media.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 17 – The international players union FIFPro have laid bare their objections to the current transfer system, revealing that compensation for clubs who develop young talent is woefully inadequate.
By Paul Nicholson
February 17 – A fourth candidate has announced that he will run for the vacant presidency of the regional governing body for the north and central Americas and Caribbean, CONCACAF. Gordon Derrick, president of the Caribbean Football Union since 2012, has thrown his hat into the ring.