Reigning Asian champions Iraq have become the eleventh country in the last five years to be plunged into international isolation by FIFA for political interference but the world body is not seemingly intent on suspending Guinea for similar offences.

FIFA threatens to throw out Asian football champions Iraq after the Iraqi Olympic Committee has taken control of and disbanded the Iraqi FA.

Kosovo’s footballers could have to wait another decade for international recognition. That is the view of the country’s former manager after the Serbian Football Association did not take up an invitation from FIFA for tri-partite talks with the Kosovans in Zurich.

The football associations of Serbia and Kosovo will have their first official meeting in Zurich this Friday in talks hosted by FIFA aimed at dragging the former Yugoslav republic out of sporting limbo.

A football tournament staged by the Italian separatist party, Lega Nord, was played out with the tacit permission of the Italian sporting authorities according to the organizers.

The rumours are no longer rumours. They are facts. This was the message delivered by Declan Hill, one of the world’s leading experts on soccer match fixing. Speaking on the first day of the Play the Game conference, Hill gave a detailed account of his experiences investigating bribery and corruption in soccer over the past ten years.

The Oceania Football Confederation, one of FIFA’s smallest regional confederations, could be weakened by the exit of more members as chaos surrounds the status of Commonwealth of North Mariana Islands (CNMI).

Exclusive: Play the Game has interviewed representatives from a number of national football teams who are struggling to be allowed to play. Since their country is not recognized by the UN, their teams have difficulties entering FIFA and UEFA leagues.