By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – One of the most bizarre cases of alleged foul play has led to Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema being suspended by his national team until an investigation into a blackmail case involving a sex tape has been resolved.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – Without being able to rely on the majority support of his own confederation, FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein has been lobbying intensively in Africa, trying to swing some of its 54 votes his way ahead of the election on February 26.
December 11 – Honduran international Arnold Peralta was tragically shot dead in a parking lot on Thursday by unknown assailants while on holiday in his hometown.
By Paul Nicholson
December 10 – Benchmark Sport’s latest report looks at the UEFA Champions league and the spread of representation of nations and clubs. The findings are that the competition has been increasingly – and perhaps worryingly – centralised around the big leagues and the big clubs.
December 10 – The World Football Forum conference will hold its 2016 event on July 7-8 in Paris, France. The past two years the event has been held in Moscow, Russia, with strong Russian themes.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – Former FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, the official who swept to prominence promising to clean up the organisation but fooled all those who viewed him as the new white knight of transparency and tolerance, has been formally ousted from running football in his native Cayman Islands.
December 10 – El Salvador’s Supreme Court has approved the extradition of the country’s former football federation president Reynaldo Vasquez (pictured), one of those wanted in the United States in connection with the widespread racketeering and bribery scandal.
By Mark Baber
December 9 – The latest monthly report produced by the CIES looks at the issue of birth date bias finding that “players born in the first months of the year are strongly over-represented” in 30 top divisions in Europe – the exception being England where the bias is towards the period September- December as the age classes are based on September 1 rather than January 1.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 9 – Having lost three presidents in quick succession as a result of the FIFA corruption scandal, CONCACAF is not taking the same risk again and has decided against putting someone else in place until its next congress in May.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – The imminent judgement by the Court of Arbitration for Sport into Michel Platini’s suspension will determine whether or not the UEFA president can take centre stage at Saturday’s Euro 2016 draw in Paris.
By Ben Nicholson
December 8 – The MLS Board of Governors made multiple announcements over the weekend looking forward to the 2016 season, in addition to signalling intent to expand to 28 teams and rubber stamping David Beckham’s location of choice for his expansion franchise’s stadium.
By Samindra Kunti
December 9 – The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) wants Brazilian football to become a laboratory for the use of new technologies in the game. Fernando Sarney, who has filled Marco Polo del Nero’s position on FIFA’s executive committee, will seek support from FIFA in the next months to implement CBF’s vision.
December 9 – Greek footballers are to go on strike indefinitely from next week in protest over a compensation deal they claim their employers have failed to meet.
December 8 – Marco Polo del Nero, embattled president of the Brazilian football federation, has begun his leave of absence to prepare his defense against wide-ranging corruption charges.
By Mark Baber
December 8 – Bentley-driving, self-proclaimed ‘selfie-King’, multi-millionaire businessman Phillip Chiyangwa has been elected as the new President of the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) after a campaign in which he promised to solve the body’s financial woes.