January 18 – Italian giants Juventus have taken a huge branding step with the unveiling of a radical new logo and a club ‘philosophy’ based around expanding the club’s fanbase, commercial opportunities and deepening fans’ emotional involvement with the club.
January 18 – Italian bank Unicredit will not be renewing its official sponsorship of UEFA club competitions, including the Champions League, when its deal runs out at the end of the 2017/18 season, according to Unicredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier.
January 18 – The two confederations representing the Americas are reportedly studying the idea of creating a brand new competition featuring the leading countries in both regions.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 27 – FIFA faces accusations of buck-passing and shirking its responsibility after effectively telling Liverpool to make up their own minds and suffer the consequences over whether to select Cameroon defender Joel Matip after he declined to represent his country in the African Nations Cup.
January 17 – Watford showed the largest percentage growth in Twitter followers in the Premier League this week, as it led the mourning over the sudden death of Graham Taylor, a legendary manager at the club. Hull City, with new manager Marco Silva beginning to hit his stride, led the ranking of clubs tweeting the most.
January 17 – He may still be fighting extradition to the United States over corruption charges but banned former FIFA powerbroker Jack Warner shows no sign of staying silent when it comes to domestic footballing affairs.
By Samindra Kunti
January 17 – The CAF executive committee has withdrawn the hosting right for this year’s U17 African Cup of Nations from Madagascar.
January 17 – CONCACAF has launched a high level initiative in conjunction with Mexican federation FEMEXFUT to boost the standard of referring and coaching at the top levels of its member federations.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – An Israeli-based media watchdog has sent a detailed and highly damning file on Palestine football leader Jibril Rajoub to FIFA in the latest tit-for-tat exchange over the sensitive issue over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian players and officials in the occupied territories.
January 16 – The British sponsorship consultant widely acknowledged as one of the pioneers of modern sports marketing has described as “absurd” FIFA’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams.
January 16 – When is retirement not retirement? FIFA have been asked by Liverpool to make a ruling over the eligibility of Cameroon defender Joel Matip after the club was forced to leave him out in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
The Swiss Prosecutors are investigating the scraps that the US Department of Justice left with them. The DOJ used spooks to identify the bad men at FIFA. They didn’t just do this in the US where super-snitch Blazer was caught in his electric armchair on his way to yet another eatery. They did it throughout Europe, and one would now be permitted to assume also in Russia.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – Lagardère Sports have won the international sales rights to CONCACAF events including this year’s Gold Cup, taking over from last international sales reps IMG who held the contract for a year. No details were given on the deal or the size of the guarantee that Lagardère made.
January 16 – A return to Premier League football after FA Cup fixtures marked a return to sell out crowds at seven Premier League stadia. Swansea, West Ham, Man Utd and Leicester again recorded over 99% of their stadiums full.
By Samindra Kunti
January 13 – Hosts Gabon and debutants Guinea-Bissau will kick off the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations this weekend, the biennial men’s football championship organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).