National Teams

BERN — Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called for his successor, Gianni Infantino, to be suspended by the global soccer body after criminal proceedings were opened against Infantino in Switzerland.

Swiss authorities said on Thursday that proceedings had been launched against the current FIFA boss by a special prosecutor looking into meetings he had with Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber. Lauber and Infantino have denied wrongdoing.

Criminal proceedings have been opened against FIFA president Gianni Infantino by a special prosecutor looking into dealings between the head of the global soccer body and Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber, Swiss authorities said on Thursday.

CONCACAF has unveiled a new qualification format for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after COVID-19 forced a rejig of the usual system, the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean said on Monday.

The new format, which will feature all 35 of the region's members, has been split into three rounds with the first being played in October and November with teams ranked from No. 6 to No. 35 in CONCACAF as of July 16 drawn into six groups of five.

The NWSL Challenge Cup is coming to a close with the final set between the Houston Dash and Chicago Red Stars on Sunday, July 26 at 12:30 p.m. EST, which raises the question: What next for NWSL players?

The NWSL board is in discussion as to whether or not more games will be added to the 2020 season.

The Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) suffered the loss of its president on Sunday due to complications from COVID-19. Cesar Salinas was 58 years old and had served as president since 2018. He had been hospitalized with the novel coronavirus earlier in July.

The federation, CONMEBOL and Bolivia's president Jeanine Áñez all sent out messages of condolence to Salinas’ family following his passing.

Football's rule-making body IFAB on Wednesday said teams will be allowed to continue to use up to five substitutes next season, in a bid to cope with potential fixture congestion in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak.

IFAB, the International Football Association Board, had agreed to a temporary change to allow teams to use five substitutes, rather than the usual three, in May to "protect player welfare."

FIFA wants VAR video reviews to be applied in the same way across all competitions, as they take over direct responsibility for the system.

Issues concerning VAR have been handled primarily by IFAB, the game's law-making body, during the system's two-year experimental phase and its introduction as part of the laws of the game. Soccer's global governing body FIFA, however, took over the role of supporting competition organizers with the implementation of VAR from July 1.

One of the most commonly Googled phrases right now is “when are sports coming back?” Most pro sports outside of soccer are not scheduled to return for some time in the U.S. Fortunately, soccer leagues around the world have returned or will resume play soon, but the question remains: when is international soccer coming back?

ZURICH — Switzerland named a special prosecutor to review criminal complaints against FIFA chief Gianni Infantino and Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber after the men held undocumented meetings while Lauber's office was investigating suspected graft surrounding the global soccer body.

Lauber last month became the subject of an impeachment process relating to his handling of the soccer inquiry.

CAPE TOWN — Next January's 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon has been postponed by one year and will now take place in 2022, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided on Tuesday.

The COVID-19 health crisis has suspended football across most of the continent since March and left little time to complete the qualification competition, said CAF president Ahmad Ahmad at a news conference.

The Cup of Nations was due to be held from Jan. 9-Feb. 6 next year but will now be scheduled for January 2022.