By Paul Nicholson
December 19 – The hunting down of Jack Warner by the US Department of Justice suffered a second setback in six months when a judgement at the Hall of Justice, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, refused the US access to join the legal team making the case for his extradition from the island.
December 19 – Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has renewed telecoms giant Orange as a major sponsor of its competitions for another eight years. The deal has been finalised just a couple of weeks before the start of the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon in January.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – When Aleksander Čeferin was campaigning to replace Michel Platini as UEFA president, he dismissed as “insulting” persistent reports that in exchange for their votes he had made a series of promises to the Nordic federations, not least that he would support a joint Nordic bid for the 2024 Euro finals.
December 16 – FIFA’s new video review system, championed by those who have long argued goalline technology alone does not go far enough, has not got off to the most auspicious of starts.
By David Owen
December 16 – It is a situation that encapsulates the globalisation of top-class football in the 21st century: the sale of Brazilian midfielders to China is promising to have a transformative effect on the financial performance of a West London club controlled by a Russian businessman.
December 16 – Instagram continues to be the social media growth engine for Premier League clubs with new followers up by 376,700 over the past week, a 40% increase on the 273,100 rise the previous week. In contrast week-on-week growth of Twitter followers and Facebook like were down across the league.
December 16 – Fan voting has opened for the CONCACAF annual awards, the fourth time the awards have been held.
December 16 – The MLS ended its 2016 season with a series of record numbers from attendance to bigger and better TV deals. A stark contrast to the second tier NASL that is struggling for survival.
December 16 – As widely anticipated, German football supremo Wolfgang Niersbach, not so long ago touted as a possible UEFA president in succession to Michel Platini, has lost his appeal against a one-year ban in relation to Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid.
By Samindra Kunti
December 16 – One of the regional heartbeats of Indian football, Goa, is becoming alienated from the domestic game, as three clubs from the region have withdrawn from the I-league and the executive committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has axed its Goa
representative.
December 16 – Music streaming platform Deezer is hoovering up the world’s biggest club football brands. Hard on the deals of the announcement of a deal to become Manchester United’s official music partner earlier this week, it has now unveiled FC Barcelona as a partner.
December 16 – Former Saudi Arabia international Mohammed Noor, one of his country’s most successful players, has been handed a four-year ban for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
December 15 – Football Benchmark, the sports analysis and data arm of the accountancy and consultancy specialists KPMG, has expanded its database of club financial information to more than 150 clubs with the addition of the English Football League (EFL) Championship.
December 15 – The Premier League pre-Christmas rush of matches – three games in eight days – has had very little impact on attendance levels, with eight clubs reporting over 93% of their stadiums full.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Potentially vital concessions have been made by UEFA aimed at pacifying Europe’s leagues over their fierce opposition to proposed changes to the Champions League.