June 28 – Mexico made hard work of overcoming Saudi Arabia 2-0 to book their place in the Gold Cup semi-final. Second half goals from Alexis Vega and Santiago Gimenez secured the win against the Gold Cup guests.
February 3 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a view to exploring future competitions for national teams.
February 3 – FIFA has beefed up its integrity regulations with new editions of its Disciplinary Code and Code of Ethics. Although the new rules were passed by the FIFA Council on December 20, they only came into force on February 1.
February 2 – On the same day that Saudi Arabia were confirmed as hosts of the 2027 Asian Cup, the Arab Kingdom faced criticism over rumours of the country’s tourism body’s sponsorship of the 2023 Women’s World Cup by human rights groups, who called it “a textbook case of sportswashing”.
February 2 – LaLiga boss Javier Tebas (pictured) has again criticised the Premier League, saying the English top flight is “financially doped” after England’s top 20 clubs spent a combined record $1 billion in the recent transfer window, easily outspending Europe’s other big four leagues multiple times.
February 2 – Sports betting monitoring specialists Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) are reporting a slight increase in the number of matches that showed ‘suspicious’ betting activity in 2022.
February 2 – Former New Zealand international Maia Jackman has added her voice to the mounting discontent over the proposed Saudi sponsorship of the Women’s World Cup.
January 31 – The digital focus within football marketing started as being all about web sites and building social media numbers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. But there has been a strategic shift and while the social media platforms are still important it is the new fan engagement platforms that are making the marketing difference.
February 2 – Expedia Group has renewed its partnership with UEFA, signing two new deals that will see the online travel brand become a provider of the Expedia Live travel hub in Europe and a regional partner in the United States.
February 2 – Many clubs have significant debts that are owed to owners and get paid off when the club is sold on.
February 2 – The AFC and Concacaf have signed a four-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focussed on increasing competition between the two regions for men’s and women’s national teams and clubs.
February 2 – In a further expansion of its youth development and commercial footprint, French giants Paris Saint-Germain have opened a new Pro Residency Academy near Evian, France.
February 2 – England’s League Cup final at Wembley between Manchester United and Newcastle on February 26 will feature safe standing areas, marking the first time in 35 years fans are allowed to stand at a domestic final.
Puerto Rico qualified from their Nations League A group with a win and a draw against Trinidad and Tobago, but lost twice to Mexico. Their win over Haiti in the preliminary round play-off was a seismic result.
What to expect
With a team based primarily around US-based college players, and with very little experience of international football, they did well to reach the preliminary round, but their 1-0 win over Haiti who had qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup was as an act of giant killing.
By Paul Nicholson
February 1 – Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa was elected by acclamation for a fourth term as president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) at its 33rd Congress today in Salman’s home country of Bahrain.
February 1 – Saudi Arabia was confirmed as the host for the Asian Cup in 2027 at the 33rd AFC Congress in Qatar.