By Andrew Warshaw
August 20 – Barcelona have been ordered not to make any more signings after this summer until January, 2016, following a decision by FIFA’s appeal committee to re-impose their double transfer window ban for allegedly hoarding under-age players.
August 20 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes international referees are being forced retire too early under the current rules, especially when there is no age restriction for players or coaches.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 20 – FIFA is to host the first ever conference on ethical sports leadership in conjunction with the Brussels-based World Forum for Ethics in Business.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 18 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has renewed his call for managers to each be allowed two tennis-style challenges against contentious officiating decisions during matches. Blatter first made his surprise suggestion during FIFA’s annual congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in June, raising eyebrows among delegates since he had hitherto been opposed to any video aids other than goal-line technology.
August 15 – Luis Suarez is back in the stadium, can return to training, can carry out promotional commitments with his club and sponsors, but he can’t pull on his new Barcelona shirt and play in official competitive matches until he has served the initial ban handed out by FIFA for “committing an act of assault” in the match against Italy at the FIFA World Cup.
By Mark Baber
August 11 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter called upon his critics to take him on for FIFA’s presidency in next year’s elections. Though almost immediately followed this up by saying he was not officially announcing he would be a candidate, yet.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 7 – The decision to use artificial turf for next year’s Women’s World Cup is developing into a major row with some of the world’s leading players now even suggesting the move violates their human rights.
August 6 – Former England women’s captain Faye White has added her voice to the campaign against playing next year’s women’s World Cup in Canada on artificial pitches.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 5 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter is a past master at wooing his audience depending on where his schedule takes him, so it was little surprise that he caught the imagination of the Canadian media on the eve of the under-20 women’s World Cup that is due to start today.
August 5 – Greece’s World Cup coach Fernando Santos has been handed an eight match international ban by FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee. The Portuguese was sent off after extra time in the World Cup knockout game against Costa Rica.
By David Owen
August 1 – Further details of alleged shortcomings at the Rio de Janeiro doping control laboratory whose accreditation was revoked last year by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), obliging FIFA to send blood and urine samples from the recent World Cup for analysis in Switzerland, have emerged in minutes of a WADA meeting in South Africa now available on the agency’s website.
July 30 – CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, who leads FIFA’s anti-discrimination body, has issued a further hard-hitting rebuke in response to comments made by Italian Football Federation (FIGC) vice-President Carlo Tavecchio who described African players as “banana-eaters”.
July 30 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has re-iterated that any expansion of the World Cup finals beyond the current 32 teams would be impractical and may reduce quality of play.
July 30 – Kevin Sammut, one of the most influential players in Malta’s fledglng footballing history, has had his 10-year ban for match-fixing extended globally by FIFA.
July 27 – FIFA have fined the Argentine Football Association SFr30,000 ($33,000) for displaying a banner that was deemed to qualify as “political action” and “team misconduct”.