By Mark Baber
October 4 – Head of Iran’s Football Federation (IFF), Ali Kaffashian said on Thursday that the US football federation has welcomed the prospect of a friendly football match between Iranian and US national teams.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 23 – El Salvador’s football federation has imposed life bans on 14 national team members for their roles in a match-fixing scandal. One other player was given an 18-month ban, two were suspended for six months, one was acquitted while four others face further investigation.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 9 – José Manuel ‘Chepo’ de la Torre has been sacked as Mexico coach following last Friday’s shock 2-1 home defeat by Honduras that seriously dented their automatic World Cup qualification hopes.
By Mark Baber
August 12 – Two Mexican league players have escaped punishment, despite testing positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug clenbuterol, after they claimed to have eaten the substance accidentally in contaminated meat, according to the Mexican Football Federation (FMF). In Mexico, the eating of contaminated beef has been accepted as a legitimate excuse for the presence of clenbuterol in an athlete’s sample since 2011, when the Mexican government pledged to address the public health problem of contaminated meat.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 7 – A Jamaican international and one of his country’s team officials have been suspended for 30 days by FIFA after they failed drugs tests following a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Honduras on June 11.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 30 – Sunil Gulati, head of the US Soccer Federation whose country lost out to Qatar in the battle to stage the 2022 World Cup, has questioned the entire bidding process and called for greater transparency in future.
July 26 – Football may not be considered to have a drugs problem but in the same week as track and field was embroiled in a fresh doping scandal, it has been revealed that a Jamaican player failed a test following a World Cup qualifier against Honduras on June 11.
July 22 – Costa Rica head coach Jorge Luis Pinto (pictured) has been fined $5,000 by CONCACAF and warned about his future conduct following remarks he made during the Gold Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 11 – Canadian police are investigating death threats sent on Twitter to the captain of one of the country’s leading clubs, Montreal Impact, which plays in the MLS. Midfielder Davy Arnaud is reported to have received threatening tweets after making a mistake that led to his team losing 4-3 at home to the Colorado Rapids in stoppage time.
By Mark Baber
June 17 – A dispute in French-speaking Quebec over whether to allow male footballers to wear turbans appears to have been resolved after Fifa clarified the rules and the suspension of Quebec from the Canadian Soccer Association was lifted.
By Mark Baber
June 13 – The United States Soccer Federation and Chevrolet announced a three-year sponsorship deal on Monday which makes Chevrolet the Official Partner of U.S. Soccer for the next three years.
By Mark Baber
June 12 – The Quebec Soccer Federation has been suspended by the Canadian Soccer Association after failing to reverse its decision to ban the use of turbans/patkas/keski on the football pitch.
By Mark Baber
June 5 – New York Cosmos and its Honorary President Pelé have signed a kit and sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines. The new deal awakens nostalgia for the 1970s, but the club has some major hurdles to overcome to add to its former glories.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 5 – An unusual and unsavoury row has broken out in the Canadian province of Quebec with the region’s football federation pledging to uphold its ban on young Sikh players wearing turbans and warning that those who don’t obey the rules can “play in their backyards”.
By Paul Nicholson
June 3 – England football icon David Beckham’s love affair with the US continues. He was back in America this weekend visiting Miami and discussing the opportunity for an MLS expansion team in South Florida.