By Lefteris Charalampopoulos
January 9 – On 28 December 2016 Giannis Alafouzos, president of Panathinaikos and owner of SKAI TV Station was found guilty by a Greek court, of instigating the journalist Kyriakos Thomaidis to violate Greek legislation regarding the protection of sensitive personal data.
By Samindra Kunti
January 9 – Next weekend the African Cup of Nations will begin in Gabon, but the tournament’s build-up has been marred by the ever strident complaints from European clubs over African players representing their country at Africa’s flagship tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
January 9 – As FIFA moves closer towards a landmark decision to expand the World Cup finals from 2026, saying the idea has the support of a vast majority of its national federations, the head of one South American association has revealed FIFA president Gianni Infantino is backing an equally ground-breaking and somewhat controversial move to merge the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL qualifiers.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 9 – A Swiss court has rejected a claim by three trade unions from Bangladesh and the Netherlands that FIFA failed to exert its influence to ensure fair treatment for migrant workers after handing Qatar the 2022 World Cup.
January 9 – With FIFA set to announce the winners of the voting at its new ‘BEST’ annual awards event, the CIES Football Observatory has developed a more technical methodology and ranking of the best players in Europe’s big-5 leagues by position. And Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list.
January 9 – A default notice seeking nearly $34,000 in arrears has been issued against the Cayman Islands home owned by former FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF boss Jeffrey Webb, according to the Cayman Compass newspaper.
January 9 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur who have made Australia a key part of their pre-season tour plans over the past two years, has announced a grassroots ‘Soccer Schools’ programme for 2017 across the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 6 – In an unprecedented move that could prove a watershed moment and potentially change the face of football’s global transfer landscape, Chinese authorities have rebuked the country’s leading clubs for “burning money” in the relentless race to enlist top foreign stars to the detriment of local talent.
By Paul Nicholson
January 6 – Everton reported a £121.5 million turnover, £75 million in new revenues going forward and a big ambition for the future at their annual general meeting this week.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 5 – Russia’s staging of the 2018 World Cup has been placed under fresh scrutiny following reports that a Moscow-based non-governmental think tank specialising in monitoring racism and extremism has been blacklisted by the authorities.
January 6 – German FA (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel has re-iterated his country’s opposition to FIFA expanding the number of teams at the World Cup finals, a decision that is expected to be taken in principle at next week’s FIFA Council session in Zurich before ratification by the full FIFA Congress later this year.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 6 – Veteran African football chief Issa Hayatou, who briefly ran FIFA after Sepp Blatter was forced out of office but who is no stranger himself to controversy, is back in the firing line for allegedly abusing his position.
December 6 – Social media reports this week trumpeted the power and popularity of Facebook over other social media platforms – seven times more popular than Twitter and Instagram. But looking at the weekly growth rates in the Premier League, it is clear that the main social action is currently happening on Instagram.
By Samindra Kunti
January 6 – Defending champions Ivory Coast have been given a financial boost ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon.
By Paul Nicholson
January 5 – FIFA’s revolving door has become jammed with staff not sure whether they are entering or exiting. The confusion and discontent has reached levels where the sports governing body has had to parachute in two specialist employment lawyers to mediate a way through escalating staff troubles.