September 21 – Having previously been cleared of any wrongdoing, Mark Sampson has been sacked as England women’s head coach following evidence of unidentified “inappropriate and unacceptable” behaviour with female players in a previous job.
By Samindra Kunti
September 21 – Brooklyn federal prosecutors have asked for an anonymous and semi-sequestered jury in the upcoming trial of three former South American football executives, but Jose Maria Marin and his lawyers are challenging that motion. Marin faces trial on November 6.
By Paul Nicholson
September 20 – Champagne corks will be popping in Miami, New York, and Zurich following the decision by the FIFA Ethics adjudicatory chamber to ban Gordon Derrick, the president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and general secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), for six years.
September 20 – The fractious relationship between the North American Soccer League (NASL) and its national governing body, the US Soccer Federation (USSF) has boiled over with the NASL filing a federal antitrust lawsuit against the USSF in Brooklyn federal court.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 18 – Last week’s remarkable testimony to a group of British parliamentarians by former FIFA governance guru Miguel Maduro not only exposed the way FIFA, under Gianni Infantino, tried to exert influence on independent judicial bodies but also highlighted serious misgivings about FIFA’s electoral process.
September 18 – English women’s coach Mark Sampson faces possible further questioning regarding claims that he used racist language to players.
September 18 – Former England captain Wayne Rooney received a two-year driving ban today after pleading guilty in a British court to drink-driving.
By Andrew Warshaw
The FIFA-appointed lawyer was the first to arrive, briefcase and notes in hand, an hour before the hearing.
By Paul Nicholson
September 14 – At FIFA they come like buses, you wait for one and another follows right behind. No sooner had sacked former chairman of FIFA governance committee Miguel Maduro lifted the lid on new FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s manipulations of the ethics system, than another former governance committee member revealed that he had filed a complaint to FIFA Ethics.
September 14 – It seems footballers are following the example of their administrators by being leaders when it comes to a comparison of athletes from different sports who commit crime off the pitch.
September 14 – The new adviser to Israel’s Beitar Jerusalem, the most nationalistic club in the country, has quit a mere 10 days after assuming the post for refusing to apologise for declaring he would never sign a Muslim player.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 13 – Cornel Borbely (pictured), FIFA’s former ethics investigations chief whose work brought down a string of corrupt officials, has been barred from giving evidence to a British parliamentary committee, blatantly calling into question FIFA’s insistence it has nothing to hide and that the dark days of corruption are over.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 12 – As Miguel Maduro, axed as head of FIFA’s governance committee last May during a purge of senior ethics watchdogs, prepares for his appearance before a British parliamentary committee later today, it has come to light that both of FIFA’s former ethics chiefs are also set to go public to discuss their time at the organisation and the controversial circumstances of their removal.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 11 – Will this be the moment that exposes key ethical questions about Gianni Infantino’s conduct as FIFA president amid his claims that he is persuing meaningful reform?
September 11 – South Africa’s Football Association (SAFA) are holding an emergency committee today “to discuss the way forward” following FIFA’s decision to order a replay of the World Cup qualifier against Senegal over “match manipulation” by the referee.