By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – It was always possible that a left-field candidate would put his name forward for FIFA president but few expected it to be a former left-sided international midfielder with little or no experience in football administration.
January 16 – FC Schalke 04 have agreed a partnership with South Korean tyre manufacturer Kumho Tyres until the end of the season 2016/2017 including an option for further cooperation.
January 16 – Italy’s Serie B and the Estonian Football Association (EJL) have moved to improve their betting fraud protection, signing up Sportradar to deliver packages of education and match monitoring.
January 16 – UEFA president Michel Platini’s idea of referees using white cards for sinbins has been supported by the organisation’s refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina (pictured) who says it will help prevent diving.
“He who seeks to regulate everything by law is more likely to arouse vices than to reform them.” Baruch Spinoza
Baruch Spinoza, the 17th Century Dutch-Portuguese philosopher, was certainly ahead of his time. His inchoate views that there is no such thing as a providential God, only nature, which one day would form the basis of his far-sighted Theologico-Political Treatise (published anonymously) were so controversial he was formally excommunicated by the Portuguese-Jewish community in Amsterdam that had brought him up.
By Samindra Kunti
January 16 – Brazilian club Santos is facing a mutiny in its ranks after four players took the club to court over arrears for outstanding salaries and fees. The judicial trouble is hampering Santos’s preparations for the new domestic season which begins with the state leagues this month – Santos play in the Paulista.
By Alexander Krassimirov
January 15 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia have opted to sign a kit deal with Italian firm Lotto instead of switching to US giant Nike. The new three-year contract with the Italian supplier starts next season and replacing another Italian company, Legea.
Not many people had expected that Team China would qualify for the second stage of the Asian Cup held in Australia, after just two group matches. On the contrary, before the tournament started, quite a few journalists who have covered the national team for a long period, were joking about coming back home after those two matches.
January 15 – Next week’s inaugural summit at the European Parliament by the so-called New Fifa Now campaign has added new speakers to the line-up.
By Mark Baber
January 15 – Murat Ülker, the chairman of Yıldız Holding, the major sponsor of the Turkish national team, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce has written to the Turkish Football Federation saying his company, which has ploughed $215 million into football in the last nine years, will no longer be supporting Turkish football.
January 15 – Italian football is to introduce goalline technology from next season in Serie A after a task force appointed by the Italian Football Association (FIGC) ratified plans for its implementation.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – Rocked by embarrassing allegations of negligence at the most prestigious event in its calendar, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has hit back at claims by Jordan that they botched a doping test on striker Ahmad Hayel during the Asian Cup in Australia.
It’s just not the way the Premier League is expected to work is it? What on earth are Southampton doing up in the Champions League qualifying places?
January 15 – The pitfalls of professional footballers using social media for the wrong purposes have again been underlined after an English Premier League defender was charged with “aggravated misconduct”.
January 15 – Widely publicised allegations of spot-fixing involving 13 English-based footballers has been dropped due to “insufficient evidence”.