NWSL fixes dates for Challenge Cup covid-secure openers and regular season
January 28 – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US has released dates for the start of its season that will open April 9 with the NWSL Challenge Cup.
Concacaf
MLS sets new season dates but still has to agree wage deal with players
January 26 – The 26th season of the Major League Soccer (MLS) will kick off on April 3 and conclude in November, though player wage negotiations still hang as a cloud over the competition.
Beckham backs old pal Neville asserting he is in Miami on merit
January 25 – David Beckham insists that his former England and Manchester United teammate Phil Neville was appointed as Inter Miami head coach since he is “the right man for the job” rather than anything to do with their friendship.
Montreal says its new French club name will have more impact
January 20 – Canada’s MLS franchise based in Montreal will start the 2021 season with a new name, changing its 28-year moniker from Montreal Impact Club de Foot Montréal (CF Montréal).
Neville confirms move to Inter Miami to join Beckham’s MLS project
January 19 – Twenty-four hours after his contract as manager of England’s women was prematurely ended in anticipation of a move to the United States, Phil Neville has duly been named head coach of Inter Miami, the Major League Soccer club part-owned by David Beckham.
Concacaf to hold Men’s Olympic qualifiers in Guadalajara in March
January 15 – Guadalajara in Mexico will host the Concacaf men’s qualifiers for the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. The eight U-23 teams will play March 18-30 to qualify two teams for Japan.
Hope Solo says more action needed to close gender wage gap
January 14 – Former US women’s international goalkeeper Hope Solo says the current national team are not doing nearly enough in their quest for equal pay.
US to host 4-team SheBelieves Cup in Florida in February
January 13 – Orlando, Florida, has rapidly become the go-to destination for centralised tournaments in north America. Having hosted MLS and Concacaf competition during the pandemic, the next visitor will U.S. Soccer in February for the SheBelieves Cup women’s national team competition.
MLS takes over sale of Real Salt Lake franchise with $350m+ price tag
January 13 – The sale of MLS side Real Salt Lake has been taken over by the league itself after current owner after owner Dell Loy Hansen failed to complete a deal by a January 8 deadline.
TTFA could turn to much-abused House of Football to dig itself out of debt hole
January 11 – The beleaguered Trinidad and Tobago FA (TTFA), under the control of a FIFA normalisation committee but still unashamedly refusing to meet its debts, in particular to former employees and coaches sacked under the ousted regime of William Wallace, could turn to the House of Football as the solution to its deepening money problems.
MLS seeks to keep current player wage deal in place for further two seasons
January 6 – Major League Soccer is proposing no more pay cuts to its players for the 2021 season but in exchange is asking for a two-year extension to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) as the organisation seeks to navigate the economic impact of the global health pandemic.
Covid fears and travel uncertainty forces Concacaf to cancel U-17 and U-20 men’s
January 5 – Concacaf has cancelled its U-20 men’s championship, which would have qualified teams for the U-20 World Cup, and its U17 men’s World Cup qualification competition scheduled for 2021.
Tigres UANL overcome LAFC to keep Concacaf Champions League title in Mexico
December 23 – Tigres UANL cemented Mexico’s domination of the Concacaf Champions League after rallying to defeat Los Angeles FC 2-1 in the tournament’s final, extending Liga MX’s winning streak in the competition to 15 years.
LAFC seek to break Mexican grip on Concacaf Champions League against Tigres UANL
December 21 – Tigres UANL and Los Angeles FC will close off Concacaf’s disrupted 2020 competition season with the final of 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League on Tuesday (December 22).
Trinidad’s John-Williams exposes lies of Panama accounts and culture of fabrication
By Paul Nicholson
December 17 – Former Trinidad and Tobago FA president David John-Williams (pictured), the target of a vitriolic character assassination in local media and from the TTFA management that ousted him (before they were removed by FIFA), has issued a powerful statement and evidence rebutting accusations that he stole FIFA funds as “fabrication”.