February 1 – Major League Soccer has announced that 12 new ownership groups submitted official applications by Tuesday’s deadline to land one of the four franchises that will see North America’s elite league expand to 28 clubs.
By Paul Nicholson
January 31 – U.S. Virgin Islands FA president Hillaren Frederick is fighting for survival as head of his federation after rejecting a suspension by his own executive committee, saying that they did not have the authority to suspend him. A delegation from FIFA and CONCACAF is expected in the islands this week to investigate the situation.
January 31 – As global condemnation of Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration intensifies, U.S. Soccer president and FIFA powerbroker Sunil Gulati says his country still hasn’t yet made up its mind whether to bid for the 2026 World Cup.
January 26 – San Diego, which is pitching for a franchise in the expanding MLS, could be getting a 20-30,000 capacity new stadium costing $200 million as part of $1 billion redevelopment of the Qualcomm Stadium property.
By Paul Nicholson
January 24 – Talks of a Caribbean breakaway from regional confederation CONCACAF are premature, and there has been no recommendation tabled for a split, said the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in response to Insideworldfootball’s story on discussion allegedly held at a CFU executive committee meeting at the weekend.
January 24 – CONCACAF has added a new international club competition and revamped its Champions League format to bring it into a single calendar season for clubs, rather than spanning two seasons currently.
By Paul Nicholson
January 23 – FIFA could be facing the request for the formation of a seventh confederation after an executive committee meeting of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in Miami at the weekend agreed to explore the prospects for a breakaway of the 31 Caribbean nations from the 41-member CONCACAF confederation.
January 23 – The dates and venues for the 2017 Caribbean Club Championship have been set for February – March 2017. Five groups of four teams will compete for the final tournament scheduled to be played May 13-21.
January 19 – Third time lucky. After twice being voted second in the CONCACAF Player of the Year, Bryan Ruiz has at last take the top honour of 2016. In the women’s vote Alex Morgan claimed her second title having won in 2014 and coming second in 2015.
January 18 – The two confederations representing the Americas are reportedly studying the idea of creating a brand new competition featuring the leading countries in both regions.
January 17 – He may still be fighting extradition to the United States over corruption charges but banned former FIFA powerbroker Jack Warner shows no sign of staying silent when it comes to domestic footballing affairs.
January 17 – CONCACAF has launched a high level initiative in conjunction with Mexican federation FEMEXFUT to boost the standard of referring and coaching at the top levels of its member federations.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – Lagardère Sports have won the international sales rights to CONCACAF events including this year’s Gold Cup, taking over from last international sales reps IMG who held the contract for a year. No details were given on the deal or the size of the guarantee that Lagardère made.
By Paul Nicholson
January 13 – Major League Soccer has unveiled its 2017 regular season which for the first time will take a break during the CONCACAF Gold Cup group stages July 7-17, a significant move by the league to give the region’s premier international competition a clear window of media profile in the US.
By Paul Nicholson
January 11 – New York Cosmos continued their rollercoaster ride with the announcement of a new majority owner, US cable television entrepreneur Rocco Commisso. The news comes days after the team announced it would participate in the NASL next season alongside after the US Soccer Federation granted the league Division II status.