GUATEMALA CITY An audit by a committee appointed by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, has concluded that broadcasting contracts between Guatemala’s soccer federation and Mexican media magnate Angel Gonzalez were awarded below market value, say sources with... More »
BOGOTA More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, President Juan Manuel Santos said on Saturday, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas. Brazil is investigating the potential link between Zi... More »
MUMBAI The rapidly-spreading Zika virus has an unlikely victim – Indian carmaker Tata Motors Ltd (TAMO.NS). The carmaker said on Tuesday it had decided to rename its soon-to-be-launched hatchback Zica, short for Zippy Car, after the mosquito-borne virus was de... More »
LONDON The 19th century courtyards of Britain’s parliament echoed to the strains of Hubert Parry’s “Jerusalem” on Wednesday in one of the loudest public shows of support for a possible new anthem to be played at English sports events. One lawmaker has challeng... More »
MADRID Spanish telecoms group Telefonica said on Tuesday its pay TV division had reached a 2.4 billion-euro ($2.60 billion) deal with rival Mediapro that will allow it to offer clients more La Liga and Champions League soccer matches for several seasons. Telef... More »
MADRID Spain’s Mediapro, which acquired a package of television rights to screen Spanish soccer league matches for the next three seasons in early December, is open to offers for those rights, a source said on Friday. Spain’s La Liga soccer league awarded TV p... More »
ZURICH The Swiss Justice Ministry said it had frozen millions of Swiss francs related to world soccer body FIFA, a spokesman said on Thursday, confirming a media report. “U.S. authorities asked for documents related to 50 accounts at different banks, through w... More »
Abby Wambach, the most prolific goalscorer of all time in international soccer, bowed out of the game in defeat on Wednesday when the United States women’s team lost 1-0 to China to end an unbeaten run of 104 matches on home soil. Despite the best efforts of h... More »
SAN SALVADOR El Salvador’s former soccer federation president, Reynaldo Vasquez, who is wanted in the United States in connection with a probe targeting alleged corruption in the sport, has been detained, police said on Wednesday. Earlier this month El Salvado... More »
The Portland Timbers scored two quick goals then held on to clinch the Major League Soccer Cup final with a 2-1 win over Columbus Crew in Ohio on Sunday. Midfielder Diego Valeri gave Portland the lead after just 27 seconds thanks to a howler from Crew goalkeep... More »
The Portland Timbers qualified for their first Major League Soccer Cup final after edging FC Dallas in the Western Conference championship on Sunday. After winning the first leg 3-1 at home last weekend, Portland drew the second 2-2 to advance 5-3 on aggregate... More »
A sensational, swerving strike from Dairon Asprilla helped Portland to a 3-1 win over Dallas in the first leg of Major League Soccer’s Western Conference final on Sunday, while Columbus beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0 in the East’s title game. With Portland le... More »
LONDONA report by the World Anti-Doping Agency on Monday is set to deepen an athletics scandal that, according to one of the document’s authors, eclipses even the alleged corruption at soccer’s governing body FIFA. According to leaks to a French investigative ... More »
LONDONArsenal’s hopes of leapfrogging Premier League leaders Manchester City were frustrated when they drew 1-1 with London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday after City’s surprising 0-0 draw with bottom club Aston Villa. Tottenham, who moved up to fifth, had ... More »
The Columbus Crew locked up a first-round playoff bye when they hammered D.C. United 5-0 on a dramatic final day of the Major League Soccer regular season on Sunday. Columbus hardly missed prolific striker Kei Kamara, suspended after an accumulation of yellow ... More »
The president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, has formally entered the race to become FIFA president, the Bahrain News Agency reported on Sunday. The agency said Sheikh Salman had submitted his paperw... More »
The Seattle Sounders pulled out a final-minute 1-1 tie with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday as they kept pace in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference playoff race. Chad Barrett scored in the third minute of stoppage time to snatch away a win from the Gala... More »
Steven Gerrard and the Los Angeles Galaxy ended scoring droughts as they defeated FC Dallas 3-2 on Sunday to rise to the top of the Major League Soccer standings. Gerrard delivered his first goal since his MLS debut more than a month ago, a 57th-minute strike ... More »
ZURICH Since the explosive indictments and arrests of international soccer officials in May, FIFA President Sepp Blatter — previously a prolific traveler — had only once left his home base of Switzerland. In the end, he wasn’t even safe in his own office. On F... More »
The New York Red Bulls clinched a berth in the Major League Soccer postseason and climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Portland. Goals from Felipe and Damien Perrinelle in the first half sealed the win for New York, wh... More »
New England Revolution beat Toronto 3-1 on Sunday to claim their fifth straight win, while Orlando’six-game winless streak in Major League Soccer came to an end with victory over Sporting Kansas City. New England, now unbeaten in seven, went ahead through an o... More »
Bradley Wright-Phillips scored two and made the other as New York Red Bulls beat DC United 3-0 on Sunday to close the gap on the stuttering Eastern Conference leaders to two points with three games in hand. Wright-Phillips, who now has seven goals in his last ... More »
VIENNA The European Union might have had a better start, but in the end it was the Balkan countries who brought the game home in this unlikely diplomatic soccer match on Wednesday to kick off the Western Balkan summit in Vienna. Team “FC EU”, made up of Austri... More »
FIFA have dismissed claims by Indonesia that they will visit Jakarta in October with a view to overturning the soccer ban on the Southeast Asian nation for government interference. Indonesian Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said on Friday FIFA would sen... More »
SEOUL South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon will formally launch his bid to become president of world soccer’s scandal-hit governing body FIFA on Aug. 17 in France, the home of rival Michel Platini. Chung, a former FIFA vice president and fierce critic of outgoing pre... More »
KUALA LUMPUR FIFA President Sepp Blatter was relieved of his International Olympic Committee ex officio membership on Monday, seven months before he will be replaced as the head of soccer’s governing body, IOC President Thomas Bach said on Monday. Blatter woul... More »
KUALA LUMPUR As the candidates hoping to succeed FIFA’s outgoing president Sepp Blatter continue to lobby for support, the political kingmaker who could have a big influence on who gets the job says world soccer has more to worry about than picking its next bo... More »
MEXICO CITY Coach Miguel Herrera claims Mexico are the biggest draw at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States but have not been given the treatment he feels they deserve at the tournament. Herrera criticized the conditions under which his team were forced ... More »
SEOUL South Korean tycoon Chung Mong-joon, one of the most influential figures in Asian soccer, said on Tuesday that leaving Sepp Blatter at the helm of FIFA until a new president is elected shows those in power at the scandal-hit governing body “have yet to c... More »
VANCOUVER With the Women’s World Cup party over it was back to reality for many of the players who headed home on Monday to resume 9-to-5 jobs, school studies and raising families. Women’s soccer basked in the spotlight during the month-long tournament, delive... More »
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama called the U.S. women’s soccer team on Monday to congratulate them on winning the World Cup, the White House said in a statement. Obama noted player Carli Lloyd’s hat trick early in the game, which the White House said “set th... More »
EDMONTON England may be being written off by some as rank outsiders for their Women’s World Cup semi-final against defending champions Japan, but their opponents certainly aren’t under-estimating them. The Lionesses beat hosts Canada 2-1 on Saturday to reach t... More »
