March 21 – SoFi stadium, Inglewood, California is for all intents and purposes a spaceship, and the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) probably wishes they were boarding it with a one-way ticket to Mars after being dumped out of the Concacaf Nations League semifinal by Panama.
March 20 – Mexico weathered a relentless Canadian storm to win 2-0 and set up a Nations League final against Panama, a repeat of the Gold Cup final in 2023 when Concacaf were last in the SoFi Stadium.
March 21 – With a goal in the fourth minute of added time Panama derailed the USA’s expectations of a ‘fourpeat’ Nations league win with a goal by supersub Cecilio Waterman in the fourth minute of added time.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 8 – Brazil’s iconic Maracana is once again facing problems after a warm-up event at the revamped venue was cancelled.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 8 – Manchester United have confirmed rumours that Sir Alex Ferguson, the most successful club manager in the history of world football, will retire after more than 26 years.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 8 – The cloud of doom that has hung over Scottish football all year has finally been lifted with an agreement to restructure the leagues, hopefully in time for next season. Under the deal there would be single merged governing body to oversee the domestic professional game, with improved financial redistribution.
By Mark Baber
May 7 – The German Football Federation (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) have extended the basic treaty regulating their relationship until 30 June 2017.
By Mark Baber
May 7 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general assembly accepted Iran’s Football Federation’s (IFF) request to lift a ban on development projects for Iranian football teams.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 7 – After a difficult week at the Asian Football Confederation Congress in Kuala Lumpur, when its most prominent voice, Hassan Al-Thawadi, lost the chance to bag a place on FIFA’s executive committee, some good news at last for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup campaign.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 7 – For the second time in a few weeks, the Belgian lawyer who helped change the face of European football has warned that UEFA’s Financial Fair Play system may not stand up in court if challenged.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 7 – Special observers could attend matches in future with the specific task of weeding out the racists under strict proposals put forward by FIFA’s new anti-discrimination Task Force.
By Paul Nicholson
May 7 – Bayern Munich president and chairman Uli Hoeness, at the centre of a personal tax evasion scandal in Germany, had his offer to stand down rejected by Bayern’s supervisory board yesterday.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
May 6 – Chuck Blazer, the larger than life American who blew the whistle on the 2011 cash-for-votes scandal that prompted the biggest anti-corruption reform process in the history of FIFA, has now been banned himself.=
By Andrew Warshaw
May 6 – FIFA’s crack new anti-racism body was meeting for the first time today with a view to setting up concrete proposals for stronger sanctions.
As Task Force members gathered at FIFA headquarters, Kick It Out chairman Lord Ouseley urged them to come up with an effective package to put forward to the FIFA Congress in Mauritius later this month.
By Mark Baber
May 6 – Relatives of Ricardo Portillo held a candlelight vigil on Sunday in memory of the 46 year old Salt Lake City referee who died on Saturday night, a week after being punched by a 17-year old to whom he had given a yellow card.
By Mark Baber
May 6 – David O’Leary has won a $5.2m claim before the FIFA Players’ Status Committee, following his dismissal by Dubai club Al Ahli FC in 2011. The sum represents the full amount due under his contract.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 6 – Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner, who resigned as a politician in his native Trinidad following explosive revelations about the way he ran football as head of CONCACAF, is refusing to go without a legal fight.
By Paul Nicholson
May 6 – Scottish Premier League club Heart of Midlothian announced financial results to 30 June 2012 showing an increased turnover to £8.68m but a loss for the full year of £1.65m, mainly due to the settlement of an HMRC tax investigation of £1.56m.