By Andrew Warshaw
December 13 – Gianni Infantino’s plan to expand the World Cup to either 40 or, more likely, 48 teams has encountered its first major obstacle from within one of its own confederations.
December 13 – Qatari authorities say they have finally abolished the antiquated ‘kafala’ system tying foreign workers to their employers and which has caused so much conflict amid preparations for the 2022 World Cup.
By Paul Nicholson
December 13 – Barcelona have added two new Chinese partners while ‘soon-to-end’ shirt sponsor Qatar Airways has confirmed that it is still in discussion with the club over commercial opportunities once Rakuten take over as the new main sponsor next season.
December 13 – Manchester United has unveiled digital music platform Deezer as its exclusive music streaming partner in a global deal.
December 13 – Their rivalry off the field remains just as intense as on it as Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo beat rival Lionel Messi to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or for a fourth time.
December 13 – Germany’s Bundesliga is tweaking its brand look, modifying its distinctive white silhouetted player on the red background to clearly identify three different brand ‘divisions’ within the organisation.
Let’s be clear: the McLaren Investigation Report, the second part of which was unveiled in London last week, poses no threat to Russia’s World Cup.
December 13 – With FIFA looking to expand the number of teams at World Cups and UEFA having already expanded its regional national competition to 24 teams from 16, the pressure on players, and subsequently on the clubs who pay them, is only likely to increase further.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 12 – For the first time, UEFA are to employ a formal bidding process for the venues of the Champions League and Europa League finals following accusations of a purely ad hoc procedure in the past.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 12 – Sepp Blatter has confirmed once and for all that he is calling it a day by deciding not to appeal to the Swiss federal courts to clear his name but has launched a major rebuke over the way he perceives he was treated – and the way his successor Gianni Infantino is now running the show at FIFA.
December 12 – Premier League AFC Bournemouth is looking for a site to build a new stadium that the club could move to as early as the 2020/21 season. Locked into the smallest stadium in the Premier League – Dean Court, named the Vitality Stadium under a sponsorship deal – capacity would raise from the current 11,464 to 25,000, according to local reports.
By Samindra Kunti
December 12 – The Chinese owners of FC Sochaux-Montbéliard have given assurances that the French club is financially secure and will compete in next season’s Ligue 2.
December 12 – Chelsea topped the Premier League and its attendance table this weekend, with just 176 seats unfilled at Stamford Bridge, the club’s second best capacity of the season after opening day when just 156 seats were unfilled in what has been another season of sell-outs.
December 12 – The English Football Association, already buffeted by the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the sport, has come under further attack after five of its most senior former executives wrote a damning letter to Parliament saying the organisation was unfit for purpose, self-serving and consumed by vested interests.
December 12 – The twin bombs that were exploded two hours after the end of the Besiktas vs Bursapor Turkish Super Liga match in Istanbul on Saturday were not targeted at football fans but were aimed at police on match-day security duty.