By Andrew Warshaw
April 2 – Palestinian football is to receive a major injection of support from FIFA as it strives to enhance its development despite continuing conflict and hardship in the war-torn region. FIFA are donating a $4.5m grant which Palestinian officials hope will change the global view of the area and promote football as a tool for change.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 28 – Japanese football chiefs have lodged a formal complaint with FIFA over alleged dirty tricks during their shock World Cup qualifying loss to Jordan earlier this week.
March 27 – Iraq defeated Syria 2-1 on Tuesday at the Shaab stadium in Baghdad in only the second time the stadium had been able to host an international fixture since the invasion in 2003.
By Mark Baber
March 27 – Mohun Bagan beat Pailan Arrows at the Kalyani Stadium on Sunday 3-2, in front of 5,000 spectators, blissfully ignorant of over a dozen poisonous serpents lingering nearby.
Exclusive: by Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
March 26 – The full extent of the alarming state of Indonesian football has been laid bare by the federation’s chief physiotherapist who claims he has not been paid for five months and has written to FIFA pleading with them to intervene.
March 22 – Suspended FIFA executive committee member Vernon Manilal Fernando’s world appears to be closing in on him. The Swiss cement giant he works for, Holcim, has revealed he is being fired following breaches of company rules and regulations.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Doha
March 20 – One of the candidates bidding to become president of the Asian Football Confederation has said for the first time that he might pull out of the race.
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
March 19 – Speaking at the Securing Sport 2013 conference in Doha, Palestine’s leading women’s football pioneer has added her name to those who believe UEFA were fundamentally wrong to award this summer’s European under-21 championship to Israel.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 18 – Under pressure from FIFA to resolve their differences or face severe sanctions, Indonesia’s two rival football associations have struck an 11th hour agreement to merge, ending a long and bitter feud that could have resulted in the country being suspended from international competition.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent
March 14 – The outgoing head of the Asian Football Confederation has called for unity as lobbying intensifies ahead of the AFC presidential election in May.
By Mark Baber
March 14 – The Indian State of Goa is holding a football conference on March 15-16 to further develop the coastal state as the ‘gateway to football’ in India.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 14 – The international players union FIFPro has issued a damning indictment of the dysfunctional nature of Indonesian football, saying nothing had changed since the tragic death in December of Paraguayan player Diego Mendieta.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
March 13 – A three-page newspaper scoop claiming that Qatar is planning to launch a groundbreaking ‘Dream Football League’ next month, featuring the world’s most iconic clubs in a 24-team tournament that could ultimately rival the Champions League, has been dismissed as an elaborate hoax.
Exclusive: by Osasu Obayiuwana
March 13 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has told InsideWorldFootball, in an exclusive interview, that he was “surprised” by the decision of China’s Zhang Zilong, to withdraw from the race for the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
By Mark Baber
March 11 – Influential Australian think-tank, the Lowy Institute, has published a new report examining how football diplomacy around the 2015 Asian Cup will provide opportunities for government, business and community groups to strengthen their engagement with Asia.