By Paul Nicholson
August 6 – In the fight against match-fixing CONCACAF has extended its agreements with sports betting monitoring companies Sportradar and FIFA EWS for the 2014-15 competition period.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 6 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in what appeared to be a unilateral stance not sanctioned by US soccer officials, says the MLS is to change its calendar to fall into line with Europe and much of the rest of world football.
By Ben Nicholson
August 6 – The speculation surrounding the future of Chivas USA continued this week as the MLS community was gathered in Portland for the MLS All-Star game activities. Deputy commissioner Mark Abbott stressed that the league wants to keep Chivas USA in Los Angeles, suggesting a possible stadium location in downtown LA.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 5 – The World Cup may be a month old but surprise quarterfinalists Costa Rica, with just 4.3 million inhabitants, are far from resting on their laurels after disproving more than a few myths about being one of the underdogs in Brazil.
By Ben Nicholson
August 5 – This past weekend saw a major breakthrough for soccer in the USA. Average attendance figures for the ten professional soccer matches of the weekend was higher than the average attendance figures for the 15 Major League Baseball games over the same period.
By Ben Nicholson
August 5 – The bidding war for the final expansion team spots in the MLS has intensified further as the previously thought long shot Sacramento has raised eyebrows with a big money investor.
August 4 – A regional club Futsal championship will make its debut in CONCACAF at the end of this month in Guatemala. The draw for the inaugural CONCACAF Futsal Club Championship was held last week with six clubs representing their member associations.
July 31 – Honduras is to host the CONCACAF U17 boys championship in February next year. Meanwhile the confederation has announce that the crucial 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, the regional qualifier for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada next year will be played in four host cities in the United States: Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
July 31 – New York City FC has announced that Hays, a British company providing recruitment and human resources services, will be its official recruitment partner for at least the next three years. According to NYC FC, Hays will help “recruit the off-pitch talent [NYC FC] need”.
July 30 – Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz have turned to crowdfunding to make up the shortfall in their budget as they prepare for the 8-team 2014 CFU Women’s Caribbean Cup finals in Trinidad and Tobago, August 17-27.
By Ben Nicholson
July 30 – ESPN’s pundit Alexi Lalas, ex-US national team player, spilled MLS commissioner Dan Garber’s beans over Miami Beckham United. Lalas shared a conversation he had with Garber, in which Garber said, “MLS will not expand to Miami unless we have a downtown site for the stadium.”
By Ben Nicholson
July 29 – The noise is increasing for change in the USA’s college soccer system from a three-month stint to a year-long calendar season. The proposal recommends splitting the season between the fall and spring semesters. The proposal is for a 25-game season with conference championships being played in May, and the NCAA College Cup happening in June.
July 25 – Jamaica has stepped up to host the CONCACAF U20 championship next January. Before that the Caribbean island is hosting the finals of the CFU Men’s Caribbean Cup this November 9-18.
By Paul Nicholson
July 24 – FIFA executive committee member Sonia Bien-Amie has become one of only two female presidents currently heading their national federations, the other is Sierra Leone’s Isha Johansen. Bien-Aime was elected president at the Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) at the association’s AGM earlier this week. She has been general secretary of the TCIFA for the past eight years.
By Ben Nicholson
July 23 – Since MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced the league’s intentions to add teams until it reaches 24 competitors, various states and cities have put their foot forward in hope of bringing the top US soccer league to their area.