Canada 2-0 El Salvador
June 24 – Fresh from emerging from a Concacaf-imposed timeout, Canadian head coach Jesse Marsch returned to the technical area at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, knowing any more misbehaviour would send him back to the naughty room. He needn’t have worried as their opponents El Salvador simply imploded in a red mist.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – The prospect of the first ever winter World Cup being staged in 2022 has been taken a significant step forward by FIFA – much to the annoyance of Europe’s clubs and leagues.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – FIFA’s ban on third-party ownership will start on May 1 next year, ending a practice that has gone on for years despite prompting widespread international anxiety over the way hundreds of transfers are conducted.
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 22 – Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad will receive an additional BGN 1 million (€500,000) from the Razgrad Municipality to continue the renovation of its stadium, the Ludogorets Arena.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – Israel and Palestine have been urged by FIFA to step up their efforts to allow for the free movement of Palestinian players and officials in the West Bank and Gaza.
December 22 – “Soccer-specific” stadiums seem to be spawning all across the US. In the last week D.C. United and Las Vegas both received financial backing from local councils to build their own respective stadiums.
By Samindra Kunti
December 22 – The president of RC Lens, Gervais Martel, has said that majority shareholder Hafiz Mammadov (pictured) from Azerbaijan may be replaced by another Azeri investor if Mammadov doesn’t meet his obligations before December 31.
By David Owen
It was lost – understandably – in the Kafkaesque farce surrounding the Garcia report, but last week’s meeting of the FIFA executive committee in Marrakech has left us business of football types with another financial teaser to savour.
December 22 – The Bahamas will become the first Caribbean nation to host a senior FIFA tournament when it welcomes the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Marrakesh
December 19 – It led to the resignation of its author and involved months and months of chaos and confusion. But FIFA finally agreed today to publish what Sepp Blatter described as the “famous” Michael Garcia report into possible corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process.
By Andrew Warshaw in Marrakesh
December 19 – FIFA will publish the investigative report by its former chief investigator Michael Garcia into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that were awarded to Russia and Qatar. But president Sepp Blatter said there will be no revote.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 19 – Daniel Kretinsky, the owner of Sparta Prague, has unveiled plans to modernise the Czech club’s stadium to boost its retail space and revenue. Under the proposal, the project would begin in the spring of 2016.
December 19 – The 10th edition of the ASEAN Football Championship, known as the 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup, comes to its climax on Saturday as Malaysia meet Thailand in Kuala Lumpur in the second leg of the final, looking to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.
December 19 – Japan will stick with coach Javier Aguirre for next month’s Asian Cup in Australia, despite the Mexican being involved in Spain’s burgeoning match-fixing scandal.
By Andrew Warshaw in Marrakesh
December 19 – FIFA will officially announce later today that it will publish the investigative report by its former chief investigator Michael Garcia into the bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups that were awarded to Russia and Qatar.
By Mark Baber
December 19 – The Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) has given the go-ahead for SAP-founder Dietmar Hopp to take a majority stake in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – the village club he brought from lower league obscurity to Bundesliga glory – with effect from 1 July 2015.