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.
November 27 – If the Qataris needed a confidence boost from the scrutiny of their credentials for staging the 2022 World Cup in the wake of Michael Garcia’s bid investigation report, they delivered it on the field when their players struck a significant blow for progress.
November 27 – In what has become an almost routine ritual in Russia, Torpedo Moscow have once again been sanctioned for racism by fans, with its stadium ordered to be partly closed for three games.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – A defiant FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke insists that the decision by two top-tier sponsors to end their association with FIFA had nothing to do with making a stand against the corruption allegations that have engulfed world football’s governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – Palestinian and Israeli football officials will meet face-to-face next month in the latest attempt by FIFA to broker some kind of trust between the two sides and create a platform for meaningful dialogue.
November 26 – The reggae beat is pounding out through Jamaican football at the moment. At their home tournament the Reggae Boyz triumphed in the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Cup with a penalty shoot-out win over long-time rivals Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month. In January, the Jamaicans kick off the CONCACAF football year with the hosting of the U20 Championships.
November 26 – Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney (pictured) has apologised after a video of him singing an Irish Republican song in a Dublin bar was broadcast on Youtube. Delaney was part of a group singing a song about Northern Irish man Joe McDonnell who was one of the IRA hunger strikers who died in 1981.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 26 – FIFA vice-president Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein insists he has not yet decided whether to take on Sepp Blatter for the presidency next year as speculation intensifies that the reform-minded Jordanian could contest the election in May.
By Alexander Krassimirov
November 26 – Sports betting company Efbet has continued its sponosrship expansion into the top tier of Bulgarian football with the addition of Levski Sofia to its portfolio. Efbet now has a sponsorship lock on almost all the leading teams in the Bulgarian championship – CSKA Sofia, Lokomotiv Sofia, Slavia, Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Botev Plovdiv.
Next year’s women’s World Cup in Canada will definitely feel a bit artificial. Only the turf though. The football itself will be embraced like never before. You sense the next level is about to be reached for the women’s game – and the evidence was on the real turf of one of the World’s great football stadiums, Wembley.
By Ricardo Setyon
November 24 – They came, they saw, they conquered. And now they can die in peace. Corinthians fans now have their own special resting place – perhaps ironically for a club that has suffered the rollercoaster of life’s highs and lows.
By Mark Baber
November 25 – Following the All India Football Federation (AIFF) organised I-League meeting in Delhi on Monday, it was announced that the start of the I-League will be on January 17 and that a new AIFF U-15 tournament for I-League clubs will be set up. However, there was no mention of the on-going High Court dispute over the “relegation” of the Churchill Brothers – the reason that no fixtures,
November 25 – As they await further developments in the ongoing saga over the investigation into the World Cup bidding process, 2022 hosts Qatar are pressing ahead with developing their infrastructure. Organisers have now unveiled the design for the renovation of the Khalifa International Stadium, the third venue formally proposed for the finals in the Gulf state.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – Sony Corporation will not be renewing its top-tier $280 million FIFA sponsorship which ends December 31, according to Japanese reports. After the loss of Emirates Airlines as a sponsor last month FIFA had said that it was in “ongoing talks with Sony” over renewal of their eight year deal. Now it seems those talks have ended.
November 25 – Top-flight games in Greece will resume this weekend after the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) announced it was lifting the suspension imposed in the wake of a leading official being violently attacked.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 25 – The municipal council of Freiburg has approved the project to build a new stadium for SC Freiburg. The cost is estimated to be about €70 million.