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.
By Samindra Kunti
January 5 – Paris Saint-Germain director of football Patrick Kluivert (pictured) has vowed that the French champions will continue to reinforce before the end of the January transfer window.
January 5 – The more games you give them more they want, would seem to be the evidence of the back-to-back rounds of Premier League fixtures over the past 5 days. Round 20 fixtures delivered an average stadium capacity of 95.87%, the third highest of the season and just beating the Round 19 fixtures. The highest average capacity of the season was recorded for the Round 18 Boxing Day fixtures at 97.22%.
January 5 – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) has released a list of 148 college players for its 2017 NWSL College Draft which will take place at the same time as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention in Los Angeles on January 12.
By Samindra Kunti
January 5 – India have won a fourth consecutive SAFF Women’s Football Championship title with a dominant 3-1 win in the final against neighbors Bangladesh.
By Paul Nicholson
January 4 – The on-off entry of Italian businessman Andrea Radrizzani into the boardroom at English Championship club Leeds United has been concluded with the announcement that Radrizzani has bought a 50% stake in the club from currently banned owner Massimo Cellino for an estimated £25 million.
By Paul Nicholson
January 4 – The world players union FIFPro has issued a stark warning to players not to sign contracts with clubs in Serbia during this month’s transfer window. The union points to worsening working conditions in the country where players are rarely paid on time and where they are generally pressured into transfers.
January 4 – Premier League clubs amassed a total 605,000 new Twitter followers over the two-week Christmas and New Year period. A massive 25% of those followers were for Manchester United.
January 4 – The Indian Super League has unveiled record TV viewing figures for its third season with over 216 million watching the league throughout the season and the viewing audience for the Atletico de Kolkata and Kerala Blasters final drawing 41 million.
January 4 – Hull City became the fourth Premier League club to sack their manager this season and the first in 2017. Mike Phelan, appointed only 12 weeks ago, follows the departures of Francesco Guidolin and Bob Bradley from Swansea City and Alan Pardew from Crystal Palace.