By Paul Nicholson
December 9 – The battle over who controls world football and the looming spectre of continued and deeper intervention into the business of FIFA by the US justice authorities will become a question in the Swiss parliament on Monday.
By David Owen
December 9 – Jack Ma, the Chinese internet entrepreneur behind the Alibaba Group, has come to FIFA’s aid at this time of crisis for world football’s governing body. An Alibaba Group brand – Alibaba E-auto – has agreed an eight-year sponsorship deal for FIFA’s Club World Cup.
By Mark Baber
December 9 – The latest monthly report produced by the CIES looks at the issue of birth date bias finding that “players born in the first months of the year are strongly over-represented” in 30 top divisions in Europe – the exception being England where the bias is towards the period September- December as the age classes are based on September 1 rather than January 1.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 9 – Having lost three presidents in quick succession as a result of the FIFA corruption scandal, CONCACAF is not taking the same risk again and has decided against putting someone else in place until its next congress in May.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 9 – The final verdicts into alleged ethics violations by Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will almost certainly be handed down on December 21 or 22, potentially handing them the worst possible Christmas present.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – The imminent judgement by the Court of Arbitration for Sport into Michel Platini’s suspension will determine whether or not the UEFA president can take centre stage at Saturday’s Euro 2016 draw in Paris.
By Ben Nicholson
December 8 – The MLS Board of Governors made multiple announcements over the weekend looking forward to the 2016 season, in addition to signalling intent to expand to 28 teams and rubber stamping David Beckham’s location of choice for his expansion franchise’s stadium.
By Samindra Kunti
December 9 – The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) wants Brazilian football to become a laboratory for the use of new technologies in the game. Fernando Sarney, who has filled Marco Polo del Nero’s position on FIFA’s executive committee, will seek support from FIFA in the next months to implement CBF’s vision.
December 9 – Greek footballers are to go on strike indefinitely from next week in protest over a compensation deal they claim their employers have failed to meet.
December 8 – Marco Polo del Nero, embattled president of the Brazilian football federation, has begun his leave of absence to prepare his defense against wide-ranging corruption charges.
By Mark Baber
December 8 – Bentley-driving, self-proclaimed ‘selfie-King’, multi-millionaire businessman Phillip Chiyangwa has been elected as the new President of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) after a campaign in which he promised to solve the body’s financial woes.
December 8 – FIFA’s refereeing chief Massimo Busacca (pictured) wants male and female referees to have the same level of expertise and a deeper knowledge of the game.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – The highest court in sport will today consider whether to temporarily uphold Michel Platini’s appeal against the 90-day suspension that bars him from seeking the FIFA presidency.
By Ben Nicholson
December 8 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has had a glowing report card sent home in respect to its progress in gender diversity. The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport delivered the league a solid B for gender diversity, which is a two-footed leap from 2014 when the league was brandished with a must-improve C+.
December 8 – The Amsterdam ArenA is calling for ground breaking “creative thinkers and innovative entrepreneurs” to help the company create the stadium of the future as part of the revamp of the country’s main stadium.