Ukraine federation to boycott FIFA Congress in Moscow in June
April 24 – In a major geo-political snub to neighbouring Russia, Ukraine’s football federation (FFU) has announced it is boycotting the FIFA Congress in Moscow in June.
FIFA
FIFA drives deeper in China’s digital heartland with WeChat and manadarin microsite
April 26 – FIFA has expanded its digital media footprint in China with the launch of an official FIFA WeChat account and a microsite in Mandarin, FIFAofficial.cn, in advance of its showpiece World Cup in Russia.
Morocco scorn Infantino’s use of Samoura’s alleged ethics violations to tar 2026 bid
By Andrew Warshaw
April 25 – Fresh suspicions that FIFA president Gianni Infantino may be behind an alleged plot to exclude Morocco from the 2026 World Cup vote have provoked a furious response from the North African underdogs as tensions escalate ahead of the ballot in June.
Infantino calls Confederation bosses to Zurich for emergency session
By Paul Nicholson
April 25 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has summoned the FIFA Bureau to Zurich at short notice to discuss issues arising from the Bogota, Colombia, FIFA Council meeting where he infamously tabled the $25 billion offer for the Club World Cup and Nations League competitions.
FIFA’s global calendar shake-up: Who gets what for $25bn?
By Paul Nicholson
April 24 – Detail is starting to emerge on FIFA’s proposed $25 billion revamp of its global competitions structure. With FIFA Bureau members heading for Zurich for emergency meetings and FIFA saying it will call an unscheduled FIFA Council meeting before its Congress in June, FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s cards, or at least some of them, are slowly being laid out on the table.
FIFA trains video refs for Russia and promises to keep fans in the big picture
By Andrew Warshaw
April 19 – Amid widespread concern about supporters being left in the dark, FIFA have confirmed that giant screens will be used at World Cup matches for replays of incidents decided by the video assistant referee – accompanied by written explanations.
Infantino to kill off Confederations Cup in bid to grab expanded piece of club game
April 19 – In a move that is viewed in many league and confederation circles as a money-motivated assault on confederation club competition revenues by the FIFA administration, plans are reportedly afoot to ditch the Confederations Cup, the traditional World Cup warm-up tournament, and expand the Club World Cup.
FIFA fines clubs for breaches of third party ownership rules
April 19 – In the latest crackdown on third party ownership of players, FIFA have handed out a raft of sanctions to clubs for transfer deals.
European Leagues slam 48-team 2022 World Cup idea as ‘not making sense’
By Andrew Warshaw
April 18 – The inevitable backlash over possible plans to turn the 2022 World Cup into a 48-team event has kicked into gear with the body that represents Europe’s top leagues saying it will vehemently oppose such a concept.
Infantino says it is time for a 24-team Club World Cup, but ducks the $25bn question
April 13 – He is remaining tight-lipped about details of the $25 billion buyout offer for the Club World Cup and a global Nations League, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino was keen to expand on his plans for the Club World Cup.
48 for 2022? Why wait? Conmebol and Infantino want bigger, better, more
By Andrew Warshaw
April 13 – Ever since Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup, the Gulf state has consistently played down the possibility that matches might be shared with its neighbours.
SoftBank named as one of Infantino’s $25bn FIFA buyout backers
By Paul Nicholson
April 12 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino was reluctant to divulge detail of the $25 billion buyout bid for the Club World Cup and a Nations League competition to his own stakeholders at FIFA Council and to European clubs, but it appears the guys with the money have fewer qualms over releasing more of the detail of their proposal.
UEFA wary of Infantino’s $25bn Nations League and Club World Cup buyout plan
By Tim Röhn
April 10 – UEFA has refused to comment on a proposal by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to seek approval for a secret $25 billion donor to buy the new UEFA Nations League and the Club World Cup.
Arkema signs as first national sponsor for France 2019 Women’s World Cup
April 10 – The Women’s World Cup France 2019 has opened its sponsorship account with French chemicals company Arkema becoming the first national sponsor for the tournament.
Samoura tops list of most powerful women in world sport
April 3 – FIFA’s first ever female general secretary Fatma Samoura takes top position in Forbes’ latest ranking of the most important women in sport.