Brazil and England juniors head for Caribbean showdown
April 30 – Brazil have joined England in sending teams to the Caribbean this August for the second CONCACAF Boys’ Under-15 Championship that now has grown to a 37-nation tournament.
Special report: Greek corruption ‘cancer’ reaches to the heart of ‘The System’
By Matt Scott
April 30 – Greek football has been in the grip of a match-fixing and corruption culture for 20 years, a special Insideworldfootball investigation has found. But, as the stakes have risen with the increasing riches available in football, in recent seasons the system of match manipulation has reached breaking point.
Greek corruption: Grexit averted after Infantino Athens summit
By Matt Scott
April 30 – Greek football has been apparently spared expulsion from all international competitions after a last-ditch trip to Athens by UEFA’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino on Wednesday.
Jail time for former Premier League star turned match-fixing ‘middleman’
April 30 – Former English Premier League footballer Delroy Facey has been jailed for two and a half years after being convicted of conspiring to bribe non-league players.
Blatter keeps it low key but emphasises key role of Asia in FIFA’s future
By Andrew Warshaw in Manama, Bahrain
April 30 – There was no standing ovation and no prolonged clapping, rather warm and respectful applause. But that might have been because the FIFA president was preaching to the converted. In his final appearance before regional bodies ahead of next month’s presidential election, Sepp Blatter produced an uncharacteristically low-key address to the 47-nation Asian Football Confederation congress today, in contrast to some of the vibrant language delivered elsewhere on his travels over the past few weeks.
Mihir Bose: Football’s Janus face
Has there ever been a time when football has been so much in demand, even likely to affect a British general election, yet the people who run the sport are considered so incompetent, if not downright dishonest?
Gold Cup teams to get integrity officers to police match-fixing threat
April 30 – CONCACAF is to assign an integrity officer to each of the teams in this July’s Gold Cup, the confederation’s premier national team tournament. The officers will travel and stay with the teams to discourage approaches from match-fixers.
Infantino threatens ‘Grexit’ unless Greek politicos back down
By Matt Scott
April 29 – Gianni Infantino has hit back at accusations in Greece that UEFA has sat idly by while corruption at the heart of the Hellenic Football Federation destroys the game from within.
Diary notes on the campaign trail: Figo wants more of everything
29 April – FIFA presidential candidate Louis Figo is heading to Bahrain for the Asian Football Confederation Congress, hoping to win votes with his platform promise of increased future World Cup final places for the AFC’s members.
Records tumble as Montreal Impact sell-out for Champions League decider
By Paul Nicholson
April 29 – The second leg of the CONCACAF Scotiabank Champions League final kicks off tonight in Montreal in front of a sell out crowd. Last week the first leg of the final between Club America and Montreal Impact ended even at 1-1 in front of an estimated 80,000+ spectators in Mexico City’s iconic Azteca Stadium.
Kappa adds Benítez’s Napoli in five-year kit deal
By David Owen
April 29 – Kit-maker Kappa have added Napoli to their stable of Italian Serie A clubs.
Greek corruption: Club chiefs beg UEFA for help to break football ‘mafia’
By Matt Scott
April 29 – Some of the most senior figures in Greek club football have begged UEFA and FIFA to assist the Syriza government in tackling the institutional corruption that is defiling the Super League.
Feyenoord fans’ €50,000 slip on inflatable banana skin
By Samindra Kunti
April 29 – Dutch club Feyenoord faces an UEFA-imposed fine of €50,000 and playing its next European match behind closed doors after a “racist incident” during this season’s Europa League tie between Feyenoord and AS Roma.
Real and Atletico to be punished for busting anti-child trafficking rules
By Mark Baber
April 29 – Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, second and third in the Spanish League and last year’s Champions League finalists, are due to be punished by FIFA for breaches of the FIFA regulations on transfers of minors which were designed to prevent child trafficking, according to reports in the Spanish media.
Le Graët says France is ready to profit from Euro 2016
By Samindra Kunti
April 29 – President of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët (pictured), has claimed that EURO 2016 will be “extraordinary”, and that preparations are well advanced.