By David Gold
January 16 – The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) women’s qualifying tournament for the London 2012 Games gets underway in Canada on Thursday (January 19), with eight teams vying for two places at this summer’s Olympics.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – The steering group set up to put Caribbean football back on the map after the worst year for public relations in its history has made several fresh appointments.
By David Gold
January 16 – A man has been arrested and is facing charges as the result of an investigation into racist abuse aimed at Rangers players Kyle Bartley (pictured) and Maurice Edu.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – One of FIFA’s most prominent former administrators Jérôme Champagne (pictured) has broken a two-year silence by issuing a hard-hitting assessment of why world football’s governing has become embroiled in such controversy and what steps it should now take to regain global credibility.
By David Gold
January 16 – Championship club West Ham United insist that they have not yet decided whether to bid again to apply to move into the Olympic Stadium after London 2012, and say that they will remain at Upton Park rather than pursue a third option if they do not make the move.
When Brazil came to town in November for a friendly at the newly constructed stadium in Libreville, Gabon, the African Nations Cup organisers were hoping it would serve as a useful preparatory exercise ahead of the start of the tournament in January.
It was just as well.
A tropical downpour prior to kick off left the pitch virtually unplayable, whilst the game was delayed by 20 minutes due to a power failure.
By David Gold
January 15 – FIFA appear set to withdraw funding towards a new stadium being built in Zurich, the home of world football’s governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – Under fire Brazilian powerbroker Ricardo Teixeira (pictured left) will be conspicuous by his absence when FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke flies to Brazil today for his latest bi-monthly series of World Cup 2014 meetings.
By David Gold
January 14 – MATCH Hospitality has appointed Shankai Sports as the exclusive sub-agent in China for selling Club Prestige Hospitality Programmes for the European Championships, which take place later this year in Poland and Ukraine.
By Duncan Mackay
January 13 – FIFA tonight found itself at the centre of more astonishing allegations from former vice-president Jack Warner over the decision to award him World Cup television rights for as little as $1 (£0.65/€0.77), including the Trinidadian claiming he had written evidence that they were given to him in return for votes for Sepp Blatter in his election campaigns.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 13 – Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner (pictured), who resigned over the infamous cash-for-votes scandal, has been plunged into yet more controversy, this time over alleged broken promises to players about World Cup bonuses.
By Duncan Mackay
January 14 – A third person has been arrested in connection with allegations that Premier League Tottenham Hotspur spied on officials last year during their failed bid to take over the Olympic Stadium after London 2012.
By Andrew Warshaw in London
January 13 – FIFA’s newest vice-president, Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan, has fiercely defended his controversial proposal to allow female Muslim footballers to wear the hijab during matches, claiming he has the support of many European experts.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 12 – UEFA are following FIFA’s lead by linking up with Interpol to clamp down both on match fixing and stadium violence.
By Emily Goddard
January 12 – Robin Petersen (pictured), the chief executive of the South African Football Association (SAFA), has revealed that his organisation is partnering with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) to urge the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to adhere with the European footballing calendar.