Tunisian players hungry for World Cup fake injuries to break Ramadan fast
June 5 – Tunisia’s World Cup players appear to have discovered an ingenious way of breaking their Ramadan fasts in the build-up to the tournament.
Gold Cup 2025
Stars and stripes edge past resilient Haiti
USA 2-1 Haiti
June 22 – Motivation was never going to be an issue in this Concacaf Gold Cup Group D encounter between Haiti and the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT).
Revenge is sweet? Dominican Republic’s Guzman banned pending political inquiry
June 5 – Osiris Guzman, the Dominican Republic federation president who famously once used a speech to compare Sepp Blatter to Jesus Christ, Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill all rolled into one, has found himself going the same way as FIFA’s former president after being banned by FIFA’s ethics committee from all involvement in the game for 90 days pending a full inquiry.
UEFA suspends Guardiola for Champions League sending off vs Liverpool
June 5 – Manchester City’s Premier League-winning manager Pep Guardiola has been handed a two-game suspension by UEFA for his conduct during the defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Where’s Nainggolan? World Cup sticker album costs hit £800 but Belgian proves elusive
June 5 – For millions of football fans all over the world the World Cup is not the World Cup without the official sticker album, particularly in the UK where a World Cup without the player swaps merry-go-round would be like Christmas without a fat man in a red suit coming down the chimney.
Hammers fly high with Eva Air as first official airline deal
June 6 – West Ham have signed Taiwanese international airline Eva Air as the club’s first official airline partner.
Israel switch of Argentine game to Jerusalem sparks Rajoub to call for burning of Messi shirts
By Andrew Warshaw
June 6 – A bitter war of words row has broken out over Argentina’s upcoming pre-World Cup friendly against Israel with the head of the Palestine Football Association urging Arab fans to burn replica shirts of Lionel Messi if he plays and Israel’s backers countering the rhetoric by angrily protesting to FIFA.
German prosecutors add former FIFA boss Linsi to list of 2006 World Cup tax evaders
June 4 – Eighteen months after the Swiss criminal investigation into corruption allegations over the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany was broadened to include former FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi (pictured), he is now reported to be among four former leading administrators charged by German prosecutors with serious tax evasion.
Ethiopia get their man. Esayas Jira wins presidency after FIFA order second poll
June 4 – Ethiopian football has a new leader, albeit after a protracted election process, in Esayas Jira who takes over Juneidi Basha after polling 87 of 145 votes at the national federation’s General Assembly.
Morocco make it to 2026 vote but with a scorecard that is way behind United bid
By Andrew Warshaw
June 2 – Publicly, they have put on a brave face and sent out a positive message. Privately, as well as being relieved, they must be mightily frustrated to put it mildly.
Social media feeding frenzy over Mastercard goals-for-food gaffe
June 4 – Mastercard and FIFA just don’t seem to get along. No longer the official credit card of the World Cup – that right belongs to Visa – a hijack marketing campaign by Mastercard fell flat on its face at the weekend.
Aston Villa take esports engagement to new level with launch of their own league
June 3 – Championship club Aston Villa that lost in the £160 million play-off game for the Premier League against Fulham, has become first club in EFL to launch its own esports league – AVFC Gaming.
FIFA’s Best Awards to return to London in September. Voting to open July 23
June 3 – FIFA will return to London for the third edition of their Best Awards in September. Nominations will be released July 23, after the World Cup final in Russia, with public voting open until August 10.
Bility kept in place at Liberian FA as FIFA inspectors make report and 2026 vote looms
By Paul Nicholson
June 1 – Outgoing Liberian FA (LFA) president Musa Bility is clearly not as outgoing as people had expected, with FIFA having again recognised the controversial CAF committee member as leader of football in the country, for the time being.
Storm over a tea cup. Swiss court clears Guerrero for Russia 2018 play
June 1 – First he was in, then he was out, he appealed, he lost, he appealed again. And now Peru captain Paolo Guerrero can play after all at the World Cup following a Swiss tribunal’s final verdict.
Abramovich puts Stamford Bridge rebuild on ice as his Chelsea future in doubt
June 1 – Roman Abramovich, Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner, has decided to put on hold a new 60,000-seater stadium following delays over the renewal of his UK visa.