By Duncan Mackay
December 29 – Crisis talks have been held between Diego Maradona (pictured) and Carlos Bilardo to try to prevent a damaging split between Argentina’s team management before next year’s World Cup in South Africa.
December 29 – Two of the four stadiums hosting the 2010 African Cup of Nations, due to open in less than two weeks, have been officially opened.
December 29 – A solution to the employment row threatening to overshadow next season’s Major League Soccer (MLS) season can be reached, Jimmy Conrad (pictured), a leading player involved in negotiations has claimed.
December 29 – Staff at the South African Football Association (SAFA) have been warned that many of them could lose their jobs in the New Year following a staff audit undertaken by new President Kirsten Nematandani (pictured).
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December 28 – Ajax Cape Town will play Santos next month in a friendly to mark the official opening of Cape Town’s new Green Point Stadium, where England are due to play Algeria in next year’s World Cup.
Roberto Mancini’s arrival at Manchester City and Mark Hughes’ departure have produced very predictable responses of outrage that Mancini should have been headhunted in this way.
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December 28 – The annual Joburg Carnival, which will see in the New Year, will be a celebration of the World Cup heading for South Africa in 2010.
By Duncan Mackay
December 28 – Former Liverpool and Leeds United striker Harry Kewell (pictured) has claimed that a World Cup in Australia would be even more successful than when the country hosted the Sydney Olympics.
By Duncan Mackay
December 27 – Nigeria’s coach Shuaibu Amodu (pictured) has called for the African Cup of Nations to be moved in the football calendar so that teams have more time to prepare.
Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1789 that nothing can be certain in this world except death and taxes. One could now propose another certainty. One day, a footballer will be found positive for a performance-enhancing drug in an important match and FIFA will at last have to confront the inadequacy of its disciplinary programme for doping.
By Duncan Mackay
December 26 – Australian Republicans plan to use Prince William’s visit to the country next month to protest about his support for England’s campaign to host the 2018 World Cup ahead of their own bid.
By Duncan Mackay
December 26 – Australian Republicans plan to use Prince William’s visit to the country next month to protest about his support for England’s campaign to host the 2018 World Cup ahead of their own bid.
December 26 – Plymouth Argyle being chosen as a potential venue for the 2018 World Cup if England’s bid is successful will act as the springboard for the club to get into the Premier League within five years, the Board claimed today.
December 26 – A stadium in Melbourne that has been at the centre of a row between Australia’s bid to host the World Cup and rival football codes is to be opened next year with a week-long festival of sport featuring matches in football, rugby league and rugby union.
December 26 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid has been further boosted by the support of the Arab Soccer Federation (ASF) which claimed that the country had the credentials to host sport’s biggest showpiece.