December 23 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has extended the terms of its executive committee until the supreme court delivers a ruling on both the framing of a new constitution and election process for the governing body. Current president Praful Patel has said that he will not contest future elections.
December 23 – He was hired as the man to finally turn things around in the post-Arsene Wenger era. Instead they are going from bad to worse.
December 23 – With two World Club Cups to be hosted in Qatar in 2021, venues for the 7-team format have been chosen for the first edition in February 1-11.
December 23 – Lionel Messi has cemented his place as one of the sport’s greatest ever icons by breaking Pele’s goalscoring record for a single club.
By Paul Nicholson
December 22 – The day after his election to the FIFA presidency in May 2016, Gianni Infantino attended his first official public function in Zurich at the opening of the CHF 140 million ($158 million) FIFA Museum project.
By David Owen
December 22 – Football remains anything but a doping blackspot, assuming official statistics offer a reliable guide.
December 22 – Real Madrid president Florentino Perez (pictured) has once again provocatively called for the formation of a European Super League.
December 22 – Reports in the Ivory Coast suggest FIFA is preparing to make public its ruling on the electoral process for the presidency of the country’s football federation (FIF), a move that could have serious consequences for Jacques Anouma’s bid for control of African football.
December 22 – Borussia Mönchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram has been banned for five games for spitting in the face of a Hoffenheim opponent in the Bundesliga.
December 22 – Lionel Messi says his failed attempt to leave Barcelona in the summer has affected his form this season.
December 22 – The EFL has pushed its League Cup final back from February to April in the hope that more fans will be able to attend its Wembley showpiece event in London.
December 22 – The English Premier League has confirmed seven new positive coronavirus tests in its latest round of testing conducted between December 14-20 on 1,569 Premier League players and staff.
December 22 – Australian football has been forced to reshuffle the opening rounds of matches of the new A-League following a Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney, with almost half of the first 35 games to be rescheduled for a later date.
December 21 – South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai defeated Iran’s Persepolis 2-1, coming from behind, to win the Asian Champions League for a second time, wrapping up an edition that was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic before Qatar stepped in to stage matches from the east and west zone as well as the competition’s knockout phase.
December 21 – French football is still counting the cost of the loss of the Mediapro broadcast deal that has plunged a raft of clubs, already hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, into further financial disarray.
