January 30 – African football chiefs admit that the system of drawing lots in their major competition must be revised after Mali’s quarterfinal dream in the Africa Cup of Nations was unfairly dashed.
January 29 – The respective coaches of Mali and Guinea have criticised the drawing of lots to decide which of them progresses in the Africa Cup of Nations.
January 29 – The Sierra Leone government is backing the country’s present football regime against the threat of a takeover by a rebel group pushing for change.
January 28 – African countries, keen to maintain the level of developments funding they receive, will remain steadfastly behind Sepp Blatter in the forthcoming FIFA presidential election campaign.
January 27 – Senegal striker Diafra Sakho says he is “saddened” and “angered” by criticism of his absence from the Africa Cup of Nations.
By Mark Baber
January 22 – The dispute between the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) and Football Kenya Federation (FKL) over the number of teams in Kenya’s top division and the relationship between the two bodies looks close to resolution with reports of a task force set up to take matters forward.
January 22 – Already buffeted by allegations by some participants of poor organisation, stand-in Africa Cup of Nations hosts Equatorial Guinea have now been rocked by clashes between fans and police.
By Mark Baber
January 19 – The threatened occupation of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Glass House HQ by the Chris Giwa faction fighting for leadership of the NFF didn’t take place last week as both Giwa and Amaju Pinnick were appearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne on Friday in attempt to find settlement of the disputed elections into the executive board of the NFF.
January 19 – Organisers of the Africa Cup of Nations have sought to play down complaints about sub-standard facilities but have admitted the tournament, which got under way at the weekend, may not be of the highest standard.
January 16 – Teams arriving for the Africa Cup of Nations which starts tomorrow in Equatorial Guinea have reportedly been suffering from a lack of hotel rooms and other facilities.
January 16- European clubs look set to count the cost of losing vital players to the 30th African Nations Cup that starts tomorrow.
Figures released by the European Club Association shows that two thirds of the players involved come from European clubs.
By Mark Baber
January 13 – The refusal of the current Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Executive Committee to set up an arbitration panel in order to bring a sense of legitimacy to football governance in the country, following the disputed elections of September 30, has returned Nigerian football to a full-blown crisis – this time with influential opponents of the Warri-elected NFF President Amaju Pinnick promising to take action simultaneously.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 12 – The woman who runs football in Sierra Leone has denounced the “deceit, lack of integrity and indiscipline” plaguing the game in her country as she attempts to fight off an unofficial group of rebel administrators who claim they have unseated her and are now in control.
By Mark Baber
January 9 – Mike Adenuga’s mobile phone operator, Globacom Limited, the second biggest telecom operator in Nigeria, signed a new deal with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to sponsor the annual African Player of the Year Awards on Thursday on the eve of the 2014 awards ceremony.
By Mark Baber
January 8 – As the numbers of new Ebola patients falls off dramatically in Liberia, with just eight new infections reported in 29 December to January 4 reporting period, the Liberian Football Federation has announced the resumption of competitive matches “with immediate effect,” marking a major milestone in the impoverished country’s struggle against the deadly disease which has killed at least 3,471 people in Liberia.