December 23 – FC Barcelona, part of a multi-pronged Spanish football assault force on the commercial opportunities provided by the US market, have said they are looking to set up a professional women’s team in the country and are in discussion with the US Soccer Federation (USSF) to do so.
December 23 – The protracted sale of AC Milan to Chinese group Sino-Europe Sports (SES) took another subtle twist yesterday when SES President Yonghong Li assured media that the sale is going ahead and that if they can’t release the money from China they have an alternative plan.
December 23 – Bundesliga challengers RB Leipzig have announced they have agreed a deal to buy Leipzig’s Zentralstadion – renamed the Red Bull arena – and that they will expand the capacity from its current 42,558 to 57,000 as well as extend hospitality facilities.
December 23 – One of European football’s famous names could disappear entirely from the professional game after Romania’s defence ministry won a court case against Steaua Bucharest on Thursday.
December 23 – Argentina, whose national association is under the control of a FIFA normalisation committee, will at least finish the year as the world’s number one nation on the pitch, according to the final FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking for 2016.
December 22 – In danger of losing its clout at the top table of world football administration, the German Football Association has officially put forward its President, Reinhard Grindel, for a seat on the FIFA Council.
December 23 – An unheralded club in Wales is on the verge of making international football history. Welsh Premier League champions The New Saints have already established a Welsh Premier League record of consecutive wins but now they are close to setting a new world record of consecutive victories in all competitions.
December 23 – In football quality beats quantity every time, is the conclusion of the latest analysis by the CIES Football Observatory of the number of players used in the season to date in teams in 31 top division of UEFA nations.
December 23 – Former England manager Sam Allardyce, who lasted only 67 days in charge before being forced to resign following a newspaper sting, could be back in the spotlight before the end of the year.
2016 was a remarkable year. In football, it saw an entire generation of administrators dragged before the courts. Sorry: before a US court in Brooklyn. After all, the US is the final authority on matters of the law… The woman who set out to become the “Slayer of FIFA” (her own words), suddenly found herself in a bit of a bind when she met with Bill Clinton on a private jet to discuss grandchildren – absolutely not Bill’s wife’s issues with the DOJ,
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – UEFA have confirmed that Russia’s deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko is among the declared candidates for five European vacancies on the FIFA Council but must still pass an eligibility check ahead of next April’s election.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – After keeping a low profile for several weeks in the wake of the potentially highly damaging probe into his alleged role in the 2006 World Cup bid scandal, Franz Beckenbauer (pictured with Wolfgang Niersbach), Germany’s most revered footballing figure, has re-iterated that his country did not buy the tournament.
By Samindra Kunti
December 22 – The Brazilian FA and TV Globo have extended their broadcast partnership for the Brazilian cup, the Copa do Brazil, from 2018 to 2022, the much of he new deal money being used to reinvigorate the competitiveness of the championship. The winner of the competition will earn €14.35 million in prize money.
December 22 – Panathanaikos chairman Giannis Alafouzos, a bitter and vocal opponent of Olympiakos owner Vaggellis Marinakis, has this week been sentenced to a year in jail for violating Greece’s Privacy Act.
December 22 – A report into the practices of Swiss bank Julius Baer by accountancy and financial consultancy specialist Deloitte has found a catalogue of mal-practice and poor governance.