By Duncan Mackay at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo
December 17 – FIFA has cleared Executive Committee member Worawi Makudi over a controversial land deal where saw the head of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) accused of benefitting from development funds, Sepp Blatter announced here today.
By Duncan Mackay
December 16 – Wayne Rooney seems set to miss out on the opportunity of playing in next year’s Olympics after Stuart Pearce confirmed he will not select any player for Team GB at London 2012 if they have been part of the England squad for the European Championships.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Danny Jordaan, the organiser of last year’s World Cup in South Africa, has hit back at what he claims was a personal attack on him following his withdrawal from the race to take over football in Southern Africa.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Ted Howard (pictured) is to become the new general secretary of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) replacing the outgoing Chuck Blazer, insideworldfootball has learned.
By Duncan Mackay at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo
December 16 – Issa Hayatou is “incorruptible”, a top African football official who worked on England’s bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup has claimed, despite a stain being placed on his character after he was given a reprimand by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
By Duncan Mackay at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo
December 16 – There is no reason to investigate Dinamo Zagreb’s controversial 7-1 defeat against Lyon in the Champions League despite 15 players and referees in Croatia being found guilty for their role in match-fixing, UEFA President Michel Platini claimed here today.
In the last few weeks, readers of the sports pages of British newspapers may have been forgiven for thinking we are facing another American revolution. Having given the distinct impression that they had joined a new order of sporting Trappist monks on crossing the pond, American owners of English clubs have suddenly become as voluble as teenagers let out of school. Or at least two very prominent owners have.
Yet what they have said shows that there is still a vast gulf between the old world and the new when it comes to sport.
By David Gold
December 15 – With a host of Celtic and Rangers players expressing their desire to play in the Great Britain football team at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the managers of the two teams, respectively Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist, are in disagreement over their involvement next summer.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – One of the most significant rulings since the Bosman affair went the way of UEFA today when FC Sion lost their fight to be allowed back into the Europa League.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Dinamo Zagreb’s stunning 7-1 defeat in the final round of Champions League group games has been brought back into sharp focus after a court in the Croatian capital found 15 players and referees guilty of match fixing and sentenced them to jail terms of up to 10 months.
By Declan Warrington
December 15 – The Brazilian Government has launched an initiative to reduce the number of illegal guns in circulation within the country and plans to exchange them with free tickets to the 2014 World Cup.
By Declan Warrington
December 15 – UEFA and Adidas have agreed a six-year extension to their partnership for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, as well as an agreement for the UEFA Super Cup.
By Duncan Mackay in Tokyo
December 15 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has encouraged Japan to bid for the 2019 Women’s World Cup to help aid the country’s recovery from the devastating earthquake and tsuanmi which devastated it earlier this year.
By David Gold
December 14 – The Club World Cup in Japan has literally been rocked following an earthquake near Nagoya and the Toyota Stadium where Copa Libertadores champions Santos face local champions Kashiwa Reysol later today.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 14 – Not for the first time, European Club Association (ECA) boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (pictured) has had a dig at FIFA President Sepp Blatter, this time describing him as being like a slippery “eel” at the head of a “dictatorship”.