By Paul Nicholson
July 17 – The draw for Round Two of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 was made in Kuala Lumpur earlier today and threw up some intriguing match-ups, as well as a couple of fixtures that will necessitate some smart geo-politics in order to get the matches played.
By Osasu Obayiuwana in Cairo, Egypt
July 17 – The Confederation of African Football, (CAF), will, on Wednesday, have what will be, arguably, its most difficult Executive Committee (Exco) session since Madagascar’s Ahmad was elected CAF President in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in March 2017.
July 17 – Former president Sepp Blatter has blasted the decision to appoint secretary general Fatma Samoura to take over the management of Africa football governance as “colonialist” and says it flouts FIFA rules.
July 17 – Arsenal supporters groups have been rebuked by Josh Kroenke, son of American owner Stan Kroenke, in an open letter declaring that top trophies are out of reach this season for the club.
July 17 – Liverpool has entered into two new game partnerships, one with partnered with the EA Sports’ FIFA video game franchise which will become the club’s Official Football Simulation Game Partner and another with video gaming platform Roblox.
By Osasu Obayiuwana in Cairo
July 16 – CAF President Ahmad has told Insideworldfootball that he is prepared to defend, before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the decision of his organisation’s Executive Committee to order a replay of the second leg of the Champions League final between Tunisia’s Esperance and Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club (WAC).
By Paul Nicholson
July 17 – Hilleran Frederick has won a third term as president of the US Virgin Islands Soccer Association (USVISA) following elections held in St. Croix. The congress also elected a new executive committee. The elections signify a new period of calm after storms that ravaged the islands and their football community.
July 16 – Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, a member of UEFA’s executive committee and one of the most influential figures in world sports administration, is once again back in the news for all the wrong reasons, this time accused of breaching FIFA regulations in the signing of Argentine midfielder Javier Pastore back in 2011.
July 17 – More pressure is mounting on under-fire African football chief Ahmad, this time over an expense bill he is claimed to have taken from his confederation.
July 17 – Clarence Seedorf looks to be on the verge of being dismissed as coach of Cameroon after a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign with the Indomitable Lions ended in the round of 16 against West African rivals Nigeria.
July 17 – British public broadcaster BBC has secured the broadcasting rights for the 2021 UEFA Women’s European Championship, which England will host.
July 17 – Liverpool have expanded their MG Motor sponsorship from a regional focus to seeing the car marque being given the moniker of Official Global Car Partner of Liverpool.
July 17 – UEFA received a mammoth 19.3 million requests for tickets during the opening sales window for Euro 2020 tickets, shattering the previous record of 11m from EURO 2016.
July 15 – Riyad Mahrez’s stunning stoppage-time free kick gave Algeria an unlikely 2-1 win over Nigeria on Sunday and sent his country into their first African Cup of Nations final since 1990 when they won the title for the only time.
July 15 – Major League Soccer and Liga MX will host the final of the inaugural Leagues Cup, the new continental club competition featuring eight teams from North America’s two biggest leagues, in Las Vegas.