By Samindra Kunti
January 25 – Ivory Coast’s title defence came to an end at the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon after a 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the final round of Group C games. In a tournament that has thrown up some unpredictable results, the interest and attendance of fans has been low except for Gabon games, but they have also now exited the tournament.
Within an hour of our story being published about the discussion of a CFU breakaway from CONCACAF there was talk on Twitter of how many places the Caribbean could have for the World Cup – anything from 1.5 to 3.5, and why not?
January 25 – A report into the economic impact of the UEFA EURO 2016 championships in France found that despite terror fears and high security levels, fans turning up to watch the tournament injected more than €1.2 billion into the French economy.
January 25 – The Premier League has signed chocolate maker Cadbury to a three-year partnership beginning with the 2017/18 season. No amount was announced for the deal but estimates put it in excess of £7 million per season.
January 25 – Barcelona are the most efficient club in Europe’s Big 5 leagues when it comes to valuing their playing squads. Spurs are the second most efficient. In contrast Man Utd are 95th and PSG are rock bottom in 98th spot.
January 25 – Arsenal’s Swiss international midfielder Granit Xhaka has been interviewed under caution by police following an allegation that he racially abused an airline staff member at Heathrow airport.
January 25 – Serbia’s appeal against Kosovo becoming a member of UEFA has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, finally paving the way for the breakaway state to persue its footballing ambitions without interference from Big Brother.
January 25 – Real Madrid have agreed to redesign their club badge to eliminate the traditional Christian cross as part of a new clothing deal in several Middle Eastern countries.
January 25 – The World Football Forum is heading to the Chinese city of Changsha for its 2017 event from May 18-21.
January 25 – A lower-league English club has taken the rare step of sacking its head groundsman of 27 years – not because of anything to do with team but after a match was postponed because of a frozen pitch.
January 24 – The weekly growth in Twitter followers to Premier League clubs last week matched the typical pattern with yet another bumper increase for Manchester United of 89,000 followed by Arsenal with 71,000.
By Paul Nicholson
January 24 – Talks of a Caribbean breakaway from regional confederation CONCACAF are premature, and there has been no recommendation tabled for a split, said the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in response to Insideworldfootball’s story on discussion allegedly held at a CFU executive committee meeting at the weekend.
By Samindra Kunti
January 24 – The revamped Copa Libertadores kicked off yesterday with qualifying across South America, but question marks remain over the tournament’s expanded new format.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 24 – The head of the European Clubs Association has provided the biggest hint yet that his members will not take World Cup expansion lightly and could end co-operation with FIFA if their needs are not met.
January 24 – FIFA’s much-touted but loss-making museum, which opened only a year ago, is on the verge of losing another raft of employees in a move to save costs.