By David Gold
January 4 – Gabon’s football team is capable of following in the footsteps of the Nigerian and Cameroonian teams that won gold at the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000 respectively, and claim glory in London later this year, says a leading sports official in the country.
By David Gold
January 3 – Swaziland have withdrawn from qualifiers for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations ahead of this month’s first round tie with Seychelles, and now risk being thrown out of the 2015 tournament.
By David Gold
January 3 – A quartet of Celtic’s women’s team have been approached to play for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games next year.
By David Gold
December29 – Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, Borys Kolesnikov (pictured), has said that the cultural events and programme which will be held during the European Championships next summer will likely be revealed in March.
By David Gold
December 27 – Olympique Lyonnais President, Jean-Michel Aulas, wants the club’s new stadium to host the opening game of the 2016 European Championships in France.
By David Gold
December 27 – Gabon has completed construction of two new stadiums in Libreville and Franceville for the 2012 African Cup of Nations, which gets underway on January 21, a Gabonese member of the Organising Committee told insideworldfootball.
By David Gold
December 26 – Ahead of next month’s African Nations Cup, Group A rivals Senegal and Equatorial Guinea, who co-host the tournament with Gabon, are in turmoil due to political disputes over their national coaches.
By David Gold
December 23 – Celtic manager Neil Lennon has revealed that Scott Brown, James Forrest and Adam Matthews have been lined up to play for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games and says he will not stand in their way if they are selected and want to go.
By David Gold
December 21 – Japan is releasing a set of stamps to commemorate the country’s victory in the Women’s World Cup during the summer.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 19 – British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan has given his backing to the decision that no players selected for England’s squad for the European Championship finals next summer will double up for Team GB at London 2012.
By David Gold
December 18 – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has indicated that he will not prevent his players from competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games next year, despite having previously stated his opposition to their participation.
By Duncan Mackay
December 16 – Wayne Rooney seems set to miss out on the opportunity of playing in next year’s Olympics after Stuart Pearce confirmed he will not select any player for Team GB at London 2012 if they have been part of the England squad for the European Championships.
By David Gold
December 15 – With a host of Celtic and Rangers players expressing their desire to play in the Great Britain football team at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the managers of the two teams, respectively Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist, are in disagreement over their involvement next summer.
By Duncan Mackay in Tokyo
December 15 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has encouraged Japan to bid for the 2019 Women’s World Cup to help aid the country’s recovery from the devastating earthquake and tsuanmi which devastated it earlier this year.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 14 – Hundreds of professional footballers from across Britain are being invited to state in writing whether or not they would be prepared to take part in Team GB at the London Olympics next year.