December 8 – The AFC has taken a significant step into eastern Europe’s broadcast market with United Media picking up the rights for Southeast Europe to the Asian confederation’s major national and club competitions.
By Paul Nicholson
December 7 – Somewhat incredibly, perhaps incredulously, the much derided and unloved Club World Cup (at least by Europe’s clubs and more recently by FIFA itself), has survived to see another day, in fact two more days, in its current 7-team format.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 7 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has leapt to the defence of VAR amid the chaos and confusion over marginal offside decisions and penalised accidental handballs that many feel are ruining the game as a spectacle.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – The Club World Cup, which many assumed would be a thing of the past in its current anachronistic guise following its next edition in Qatar in February, is being continued by FIFA with Gianni Infantino declaring the importance of defending the interests of the “global” club game.
December 7 – The National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) Utah Royals FC franchise will relocate to Kansas City, once the sale of the team is finalised, according to US media reports.
December 7 – England’s Football Association have condemned fans of Championship side Millwall for booing as players from their team and opponents Derby County took a knee before their league fixture at the weekend – on the day supporters were allowed back in limited numbers for the first time since March.
December 7 – Concacaf has been given the go-ahead by FIFA to have triple match international windows for its final group of World Cup qualifiers that need 14 match days to complete.
December 4 – After months of negotiations, the Premier League and English Football League, which covers the three division immediately below the top flight, have agreed a £250 million rescue package to help ease the financial burden on lower-league clubs caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
December 4 – Italy have been chosen to host the climax of the Nations League in October next year and will face Spain while Belgium take on France in two mouth-watering ties
December 4 – Fans returning to English Premier League games this weekend will have to wear face masks at all times and have been banned from over-excessive singing or chanting to avoid Covid-19 transmission.
December 4 – UEFA has gone green and it isn’t just about the greenbacks its top clubs and players so voraciously gobble up. Their ‘greenness’ this time is for the greater good.
December 4 – Manchester United boss Ed Woodward (pictured) has said that his club wouldn’t participate in a European Super League. He argued that changes to the European football structure should be “complementary to thriving domestic leagues”.
December 3 – Arsenal vs Rapid Vienna on a cold Thursday evening in the Europa League’s group stage with nothing at stake may not be the most glamorous occasion, but this dead rubber will take on significance for the club’s faithful and the wider English sporting community as Arsenal will host 2,000 fans at the match, the first Premier League club to welcome back fans since the coronavirus shutdown.
December 3 – Flamengo will no longer have to pay an allowance of 10,000 Brazilian Reias (€1,578) to the families of the victims of the Ninho de Urubu training complex tragedy, a Rio de Janeiro court ruled.
December 3 – UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin (pictured) and European Parliament President David Sassoli met by videoconference on Wednesday with an agenda focussed on working together to tackle racism and promote inclusion, and safeguard solidarity in European football.