November 18 – Countries don’t normally sack coaches in the middle of competitions but such is the element of pride in Asia that Bahrain are looking for a new coach for the second time in just over four months after Iraqi Adnan Hamad (pictured) was dismissed in the wake of the country’s poor start to the Gulf Cup.
November 14 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has extended the domestic ban on six Vietnamese players from Dong Nai FC to confederation level for their role in the country’s match-fixing scandal.
November 13 – The Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), one of whose main goals is to use football as a tool for social change and improvement across the region, has agreed to host the Soccerex Asian Forum in Jordan for another two years.
November 12 – The Gulf Cup, West Asia’s biennial eight-nation tournament, kicks off Thursday with the usual mixture of excitement and controversy and many seeing it very much as a dress rehearsal for the Asian Cup in January.
November 12 – The Asian Football Confederations (AFC) has announced its nominees for the 2014 AFC Player of the Year. The AFC Annual Awards will be held in Manila, Philippines, on November 30 in conjunction with the AFC’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
By Mark Baber
November 10 – The 2014 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship kicks off on Tuesday in Islamabad featuring eight women’s national teams including hosts Pakistan, arch-rivals India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
November 3 – The greatest night in Australian club football history was marred by intimidation on and off the pitch but none of it could dampen the spirits of Western Sydney Wanderers who became the first Australian champions of Asia on Sunday – not bad for a club making their debut continental campaign and which didn’t even exist three years ago.
By Paul Nicholson
October 29 – When the Qatari national U19 team stepped off their plane to a red carpet and heroes’ welcome it marked a new level of football achievement for the Gulf state that is reinventing itself through sport. It also marked another step on the development path set by the Aspire Academy.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 21 – Yet another Asian country has become embroiled in corruption allegations as the fallout from the Mohamed bin Hammam era continues. Nepal’s football association (ANFA) is implementing “corrective measures”, say FIFA, amid claims by some of its own senior officials regarding embezzlement of funds.
By Mark Baber
October 21 – The executive committee of the 123-year old Mohammedan Sporting Club, a Kolkota club with a glorious history, made the decision on Saturday to disband their football team for an indefinite period after failing to find a sponsor and being unable to pay salaries to players and coaching staff for the last 3 – 4 months.
October 21 – Indian football, which has just launched its much-touted Super League in an attempt to bolster interest, has suffered an untimely blow with a fatal tragedy as a result of a goal celebration in a state-level league game that went tragically wrong.
October 20 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has ordered Myanmar to play its next competitive game behind closed doors, suspended for two years, and has fined the national federation $24,000 as a result of a pitch invasion following last week’s 1-0 AFC under-19 Championship quarter-final win over the United Arab Emirates in Yangon.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 17 – The race in Asia for a place at FIFA’s top table has been stepped up with the announcement that Malaysian FA president Prince Abdullah Shah will contest next year’s election for a position on FIFA’s executive committee.
By Andrew Warshaw
October 16 – Asian football has been rocked by yet another scandal, with the fallout from former AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam’s disgraced legacy snaring another culprit.
By Mark Baber
October 15 – Continental Tires, Official Sponsor of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 wrapped up its Asian Cup Trophy Tour in Shanghai on Monday after bringing the trophy to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu in an event looking forward to next year’s tournament and celebrating the recent signing of a four year collaboration with the Chinese Football Association.