Costa Rica 2 Dominican Republic 1
June 28 – Picture this: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, a gleaming, cavernous, colossus of modern architecture, standing like a metallic monument to American excess. With its 80,000-seat capacity echoing like a vast, empty cathedral, barely 3,000 souls scattered across its bowels at kickoff. It didn’t matter.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 5 – The pay equity issue between men and women’s football could be solved by making the women’s game a much bigger business, said Sunil Gulati, president of the US Soccer Federations (USSF) and a FIFA executive committee member.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 5 – Former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, speaking at the Securing Sport 2015 conference in New York, sent a strong message out on the importance of sport security: securing sport integrity from corruption, securing vulnerable athletes; and securing events from terrorist attack.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 5 – The US Department of Justice assault on FIFA has not been motivated by sour grapes over failing to win the bid for the 2022 World Cup, said former US attorney journal Eric Holder who was part of the initial investigation but left his post in April, before the arrests in Zurich and indictments were announce last May.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 4 – The first formal steps towards the formation of a worldwide anti-corruption body were announced by Michael Hershman (pictured) in his closing remarks at the Securing Sport 2015 conference.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 4 – Having been kicked from pillar to post by FIFA, metaphorically speaking, Palestine football authorities have now been told once and for all that they will not be able to play a forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia on home soil.
By Mark Baber
November 4 – The CIES Football Observatory has released its latest rankings of players in the big-5 European leagues, bringing music to the ears of Arsenal fans who see their players performing particularly strongly – with Santi Cazorla leading in the defensive midfielder category and Mesut Ozil in attacking midfield.
At the head of the tables for the five field positions considered are Nicolas Otamendi (centre backs), Serge Aurier (full backs),
By Andrew Warshaw
November 4 – Pressure is increasing on German Football Association (DFB) chief and FIFA executive committee member Wolfgang Niersbach to stand down following Tuesday’s raid by tax authorities on the DFB’s headquarters as part of an investigation linked to the country’s winning bid for the 2006 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 4 – Like Jeffrey Webb before him, former Brazilian powerbroker Jose Maria Marin pleaded not guilty to corruption charges when he appeared in a federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday following his extradition from Switzerland.
By David Owen
November 3 – Southampton, the south-coast club that has re-emerged in recent times as an established, stylish and widely-admired Premier League outfit, has posted another highly satisfactory set of financial results.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 3 – In his opening remarks at the Securing Sport 2015 conference in New York, ICSS President Mohammed Hanzab (pictured) issued a call to action to organisations around the world to speed up the fight against sport corruption.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 3 – FIFA presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale, speaking in New York at the Securing Sport 2015 conference, said that he felt FIFA’s sponsors had gone too far in issuing an ultimatum that either current president Sepp Blatter must go or they will pull their funding.
By Paul Nicholson in New York
November 3 – The biggest threat to sport globally and football in particular is not corrupt administrators or athletes doping, but the infiltration of organised crime and the fixing of matches, said Chris Eaton, Director of Sport Integrity at the ICSS, speaking at the Securing Sport 2015 conference in New York.
By Paul Nicholson
November 3 – The chair FIFA’s reform committee Francois Carrard says that he does not believe FIFA is systemically corrupt and that he hopes he will have the opportunity to speak to all the presidential candidates before the elections in February.
November 3 – Under-fire Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, the self-styled ‘Special One’ who is suffering the worst spell of his coaching career, has been hit yet with yet another sanction amid reports that he is being sued personally by former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro.
November 3 – First he accused African players of being “banana eaters”, then made disparaging remarks about the sexuality of women footballers. Now the president of Italy’s Football Association Carlo Tevacchio is at it again, this time accused of making anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks.