By Mark Baber
December 19 – The Deutsche Fussball Liga (DFL) has given the go-ahead for SAP-founder Dietmar Hopp to take a majority stake in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim – the village club he brought from lower league obscurity to Bundesliga glory – with effect from 1 July 2015.
December 19 – The on-going turmoil at Scottish giant Rangers has taken another ownership twist with board member Derek Llambias appointed at the club’s new chief executive.
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 19 – The owner of the Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia Todor Batkov (pictured) has announced that the club’s budget for next year will amount to BGN 8 million (€4 million), BGN 6 million of which will be spent on club salaries – players and officials.
December 19 – Players union FIFPro has taken the unusual step of advising its members not to agree contracts in Serbia as there is a high risk that they would not get paid their salaries. Their warning came out joints with the Serbian professional footballers association Nezavisnost (SPFN).
By Paul Nicholson
December 19 – Russian stadium build for the 2018 World Cup is progressing but not without public assurances from president Vladimir Putin and his officials that money is being well spent and carefully monitored.
There’s good money in ethics, really good money. More than you can get for crawling up the greasy pole to a position on FIFA’s executive committee if you are clever. And when you think you have trousered enough of it, you can time your exit with maximum effect, champion the high ground (doubtless standing on your own wallet stuffed full of other people’s cash/stash/development grants) and leave with a fantastic reputation.
By Mark Baber
December 18 – Barrister Leo Iyke Igbokwe, one of the aggrieved losing candidates in the disputed September 30 elections which saw Amaju Pinnick win the Presidency of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), told journalists Tuesday that if FIFA did not annul the elections within three days, he would take the matter to court.
December 18 – Salaries of foreign players at Russian clubs have escalated dramatically as the Russian ruble has plummeted in exchange rate value. Players, with salaries generally negotiated in euros, are now putting almost 40% more on club wage bills.
By Andrew Warshaw in Marrakesh
December 18 – The fallout from Michael Garcia’s resignation as FIFA’s chief investigator continued apace today as world football’s governing body met to consider their next move amid collective shock and surprise among the organisation’s top brass.
December 18 – Equatorial Guinea’s former African women’s footballer of the year Genoveva Anonma has called for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations to be cancelled to avoid the Ebola virus spreading to her country.
December 17 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has called on Australia to beef up security for next month’s Asian Cup following this week’s fatal hostage siege in Sydney.
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 18 – Bulgarian police investigating the match-fixing scandal in the country have said that their focus is on matches from Bulgaria’s top division – A grupa.
“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” Vladimir Iliych Lenin
The Russian bear was dancing when it held the winter Olympics and won its bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. All the while it was growling a demonstration of its aggressive fighting strength in the Caucasus. But, for the moment at least, one of the world’s most historically important nations is cowed.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – FIFA was plunged into renewed crisis and confusion when its ethics investigator Michael Garcia sensationally resigned today in protest over the handling of his report into possible corruption during the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process.
Covering the murky, newsy, side of football can be an unpleasant business.
Frequently leading you away from what you loved about the game in the first places. Encapsulated in recent years by the scandal surrounding the games governing body.