FIFA lands Conotoxia as first local sponsor to U-20 World Cup in Poland
February 28 – Conotoxia has signed as the first local sponsor for the U-20 World Cup Poland 2019.
FIFA
Spain loses Euro U17 hosting and jeopardises UEFA backing for 2030 World Cup bid
February 26 – Spain’s hopes of gaining UEFA support for a 2030 World Cup bid has taken a potential political hit after European football’s governing body stripped them of hosting qualifying games of the Under-17 European Championship for refusing to recognise the national symbols of Kosovo.
Ticket sales open for Poland U-20 World Cup
February 26 – Ticket sales for the U-20 FIFA World Cup began on Monday as Visa cardholders got an exclusive window to apply for matches at the first-ever FIFA competition to be staged in Poland.
FIFA’s big bosses strip Peru of October’s U17 World Cup hosting
February 25 – Yet another country has been stripped of hosting rights but this time it is not a regional competition but, unusually, FIFA’s very own under-17 World Cup due to be staged in just eight months’ time.
FIFA hit Chelsea with transfer ban until Jan 2020 for signing 29 under-age foreign players
By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – Big-spending Chelsea, in the headlines for much of the season for all the wrong reasons, have been slapped with a two-window transfer ban by FIFA and fined CHF600,000 after being found guilty of illegally signing no fewer than 29 under-age foreign players.
IFAB set to clarify ‘handball’ definition next week
February 22 – Football’s rule-making body will clarify rules on handball next week by bringing in new wording to reduce “grey areas”, the body’s technical director David Elleray has confirmed.
FIFA kicks-off bid process for Women’s World Cup 2023 hosting
By Andrew Warshaw
February 20 – FIFA are reverting to the old behind-closed-doors rules to decide on the hosts of the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
European leagues, clubs and UEFA slam Infantino’s $25bn ‘secret’ sell-off
By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – European football stakeholders have aimed their strongest broadside to date at Gianni Infantino’s contentious $25 billion blueprint to change the landscape of global competitions.
With Miami deadline approaching Infantino keeps up drum roll for 48-team 2022
February 18 – Gianni Infantino is repeating the same rhetoric ahead of next month’s decision-making FIFA Council session in Miami saying he is “optimistic” about expanding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams but warned that it would “not be easy”.
Ahmad and Infantino union for MoU on wide-ranging African development
February 13 – Its own president may be subject to continual criticism over the autonomous way he allegedly runs the continent but there is no doubting the growing bond between Confederation of African Football (CAF) boss Ahmad Ahmad and Gianni Infantino
CAS clears Makudi of Thai election forgery and cuts his fine in half
By Andrew Warshaw
February 12 – After years of fighting FIFA’s ethics apparatus, former executive committee member and Thai strongman Worawi Makudi has succeeded in clearing his name and winning his fight against a five-year ban.
Brazil’s video-linked Del Nero pleads innocence to FIFA’s appeals committee
February 8 – In a seven-hour testimony former CBF president Marco Polo Del Nero has pleaded his innocence to FIFA’s Appeals Committee in a bid to avoid an enforced exit from Brazil’s supreme football body. Del Nero was banned for life from football by FIFA in April 2017 for taking bribes.
Asian teams surge up the FIFA rankings with Qatar jumping 38 places
Sobaclieu.com
February 7 – The Asian Cup win for Qatar last Friday in the UAE has pushed the hosts of the 2022 World Cup 38 places up the FIFA Rankings, released today, to 55th position, the highest spot the country has achieved since 1993.
Infantino set to get four more years as FIFA president
By Andrew Warshaw
February 6 – Gianni Infantino will rule FIFA for at least four more years after it was confirmed, as anticipated, that he will stand unopposed in June’s presidential election.
FIFA moves to assert closer control over Qatar 2022 delivery
By David Owen
February 6 – FIFA has moved to assert control over the Qatar 2022 World Cup delivery process. The governing body has announced establishment of a joint venture with the Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC) that will take responsibility for the planning and delivery of operations and services for the tournament, scheduled for the first time for a northern-hemisphere winter.