December 6 – German team director Oliver Bierhoff has become the first major casualty of their group stage World Cup humiliation after agreeing to leave his post two years before his contract ends.
December 6 – US investor John Textor and his Eagle Football Holdings group have been given until December 7 to close the deal to French Ligue1 club Olympique Lyonnaise.
December 6 – Brazil danced their way to a 4-1 victory against South Korea and a last-eight encounter with Croatia after a barnstorming first half against the Asian team.
December 6 – Premier League Manchester City is to install an artificial intelligence platform that will provide real-time information on crowd density, traffic and movement of fans.
December 6 – Manchester United have increased the distribution of their broadcast channel making the MUTV app available on Samsung, LG and Android smart and connected TVs.
December 6 – Korean motor lubricant company SK Enmove has expanded is Asian regional sponsorship with FC Barcelona into the Middle East to include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
December 5 – Members of the Trinidad and Tobago FA (TTFA) have called an extraordinary general meeting in a bid to ensure the end of the Normalisation Committee currently running the game in the country.
December 5 – The Asian Cup 2027 now looks certain to be held in Saudi Arabia after India pulled out from their bid to host the AFC’s blue riband men’s national team competition.
By David Owen
December 4 – Table-topping Arsenal have posted a much-needed improvement in annual financial performance, helped by the return of live spectators to Emirates Stadium and a 13% cut in the bill for wages.
By Samindra Kunti in Doha
December 5 – FIFA’s head of global development Arsene Wenger has claimed that teams who avoided political demonstrations have played better at the World Cup, taking a swipe at Germany and Denmark. He also praised the tournament experience as “unique”.
December 5 – Pélé and his doctors have reassured the public after Brazilian media had reported that the football legend was no longer responding to chemotherapy and had been moved to palliative care.
December 4 – A KPMG report commissioned by LaLiga estimates a 55% revenue loss for the Spanish league if a European Super League came to fruition.
By Samindra Kunti in Doha
December 3 – Spearheaded by Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries, the Netherlands breezed past an inexperienced US side 3-1 to reach the last eight of the World Cup where they will meet Argentina.
December 4 – Coinciding with the UN International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) is showcasing over the next five days work done by its members to tackle corruption, money laundering and criminal infiltration in sport.
By David Owen
December 3 – Qatar 2022, a World Cup of upsets? Well, actually yes, as the group stage draws to a close, the opening phase of this massively controversial tournament has indeed, by one objective yardstick, been the most surprising in recent history.