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.
March 17 – Under 22 players across Europe’s top 31 leagues are getting more playing than time in terms of percentage of minutes played, but the number of home grown U22 players breaking through in their countries of origin is in decline, according to the latest research by the CIES Football Observatory.
By Paul Nicholson
March 16 – A survey by Champions League sponsor Nissan has found that football gets Britons (56% of them) more excited than sex; and that they spend more time watching football than participating in sex.
March 16 – Virtually Live teamed up with STATS LLC to test their virtual reality technology for the first time on a European football match in Europe covering the Scottish League Cup final on March 13 at Hampden Park – Ross County beat Hibernian 2-1.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 16 – The full extent of football’s worst ever corruption scandal has been sensationally laid bare by FIFA which is demanding to be paid back “tens of millions of dollars” pocketed illegally by a raft of disgraced powerbrokers who brought the organisation to its knees and have pleaded guilty in the US-led probe into widespread bribery.
By Paul Nicholson
March 16 – ‘Hell hath no fury like a lover scorned’ has a powerful resonance in FIFA’s restitution claim in the governing body’s submission to the US authorities. FIFA’s love affair with former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb ended abruptly with his arrest last May. But the fury was unleashed with full force in the letter released today to the US Attorney General’s office in the Eastern District of New York.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 16 – FIFA has admitted for the first time that the votes for both the 1998 and 2010 World Cups were manipulated, casting further suspicion over whether the joint ballot for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, to be staged respectively by Russia and Qatar, may also have been undermined despite both countries insisting the process was entirely clean and no firm evidence yet to the contrary.
By Samindra Kunti
March 16 – FC Twente is facing expulsion from the Dutch top-flight, the Eredivisie, next season as the institutional and financial crisis continues to grow at the club. The Dutch FA, the KNVB, is threatening to revoke Twente’s professional license.
By Mark Baber
March 16 – In a suit brought by a commercial player agency against the German Football Federation (DFB), the Court of Appeal sitting in Frankfurt has struck down various provisions of the governing bodies regulations on player agents.
March 16 – Despite warning it may withdraw its teams, Iran has been ordered to play its home regional Champions League matches against Saudi Arabian clubs on neutral ground because of the breakdown in political relations between the rivals.
By Mark Baber
Togo’s football federation has said its request to move next week’s African Cup of Nations qualifier out of Tunisia due to security concerns has been turned down by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
By Samindra Kunti
March 15 – The former president of the Brazilian FA (CBF), Ricardo Teixeira, is fighting what appears to be a losing battle against the parliamentary inquiry (CPI) led by senator Romario into corruption in Brazilian football. His request to protect bank secrecy has been denied.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 15 – Two weeks after the South African authorities accused FIFA of not acting decisively enough following a lengthy match-fixing investigation, three officials have been banned over their role in rigging a string of international friendlies in the build-up to the 2010 World Cup which the country hosted.
By Paul Nicholson
March 15 – Having passed their package of reforms at an extraordinary congress the confederation for north and central America and the Caribbean has embarked on the search for a new general secretary and chief legal/compliance officer. This May CONCACAF will also elect a new president.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 15 – FIFA has officially cancelled Kuwait’s two Asian World Cup qualifying matches against Laos and South Korea scheduled for later this month, the inevitable result of the Gulf state’s ongoing suspension but another blow to the region’s football stability on and off the field.
March 15 – Lars-Christer Olsson, who spent four years as general secretary of UEFA, has taken over as chairman of the European Professional Football Leagues.