USA 1 Saudi Arabia 0
June 19 – American comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to say, “I don’t get no respect.” The same could be said for the United States Men’s Soccer Team as barely 10,000 fans showed up for a supporter friendly 8.15 pm kickoff versus Concacaf Gold Cup, Group D opponents, Saudi Arabia in a 1-0 win that again raised more questions than answers.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 14 – Former FIFA vice-president Alfredo Hawit has pleaded not guilty in a Brooklyn court just hours after being the latest suspect extradited to the United States to face charges relating to FIFA’s multi-million dollar bribery scandal.
January 14 – Kuwait have been fined SFr10,000 (£7,000) by FIFA and ordered to forfeit November’s 2018 World Cup qualifier against Myanmar in a controversial case of world football’s governing body digging the knife in while a country is already down.
January 14 – Evidence that South America is still some way behind when it comes to discrimination has been underlined by FIFA fining Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay for homophobic chanting by their national teams’ fans.
January 14 – England’s national team in 2015 was the youngest in European football, Scotland’s was the oldest, Serbia’s was the tallest and Chile have the shortest players, according to a data study compiled from the profiles of 50 national squads.
By Mark Baber
January 13 – Plans by the Premier League to rebrand their logo by removing the lion, as soon as their lucrative sponsorship deal with Barclays Bank comes to an end, have been compared by fans on Twitter to the death the well-loved Zimbabwean lion Cecil.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 13 – In an unpredecented move, FIFA has fired Jerome Valcke for the second time, finally bringing the curtain down on the career of its general secretary who for years took on the mantle of the organisation’s most senior day-to-day administrator and astute troubleshooter.
January 13 – FIFA will open the doors to its World Football Museum to the general public on February 28, two days after the world governing body has elected a new president.
Sporting traditions are supposed to die hard but not, it seems, when it comes to the FA Cup, football’s oldest – and greatest – domestic knockout competition.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 13 – He may only be standing for FIFA president by default but Gianni Infantino nevertheless believes he is the right man to lead the organisation into a new era of transparency and credibility.
January 13 – Police in Guatemala have arrested a former head of the country’s FA who has been on the run since being caught up in the US probe into football corruption.
January 13 – Supporting Liverpool is clearly an emotional experience as the club agonisingly battles to return to former domestic glories and trophies. In a city that wears its emotions very high on its sleeve, Kopites now can add a LFC emoticon to their Skype communications following a new partnership.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 13 – In a move that could have potential repercussions in the forthcoming FIFA presidential election, Kuwait’s government has announced it is suing a number of top sports executives, among them FIFA executive committee member Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah, accusing them of causing the suspension of the Gulf state from global sporting competition.
By David Owen
January 13 – Further evidence of mounting Chinese interest in football has been published in the shape of analysis of match attendances by the sports practice of KPMG, the global audit, tax and advisory services network.
By Paul Nicholson
January 12 – The daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators have been given permission to continue operations following a decision by a panel of four judges from the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court to grant a further stay while a case against DraftKings and FanDuel is being reviewed.
By Mark Baber
January 12 – Paris Saint-Germain have sent a legal letter demanding Sri Lankan-British rapper MIA takes down the video for her new song ‘Borders’ as it features the singer wearing a PSG shirt modified to read “Fly Pirates” instead of “Fly Emirates”.