By Samindra Kunti in Doha
December 13 – Ahead of Argentina’s semi-final clash with Croatia, Lionel Scaloni has defended his players following their controversial behaviour during their quarter-final victory against the Netherlands, saying it is “out of touch with reality.”
By David Owen
December 13 – Atlético Madrid and Sevilla may have disappointed in this season’s Champions League, but their players are doing the business at Qatar 2022.
December 13 – A Spanish court has acquitted Brazilian superstar Neymar and other defendants in a fraud and corruption case relating to his 2013 transfer to Barcelona from Santos after prosecutors had dropped all charges in the high-profile trial.
December 13 – A Belgian judge has charged four people after the seizure of €600,000 in cash and detained members of the European Parliament as part of an international investigation into claims that football World Cup host Qatar sought to buy influence, rocking the heart of the continent’s politics.
December 13 – Qatar will be the centralised host for the Asian Football Confederation’s West region Champions League 2022 final knock-out rounds in February of next year.
December 13 – Manchester City is looking at plans to increase the capacity of the Etihad stadium to 60,000 as well as boost facilities around the stadium footprint.
December 13 – More than 1,800 fans were injured at English Premier League and Football League games last season.
December 13 – LaLiga Tech, the digital development and commercial partnership arm of the Spanish league, is partnering with Sevilla FC to make its ‘Transfer Tracker’ technology available to clubs worldwide.
December 12 – FIFA will debut a new Adidas ball for the final four matches of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, with the ball in action for the first time tonight in the Argentina vs Croatia semi-final.
December 13 – Anthony Di Pietro (pictured) has resigned as a director of the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) amid the continuing fallout over the contentious decision to sell hosting rights for the title-deciding ‘Grand Finals’ to Sydney until 2025.
December 12 – The South American confederation, Conmebol, is stepping up its campaign to host the 2030 World Cup despite a likely counter-bid from Europe.
December 12 – Channelling their inner ‘Rocky’ in eliminating Portugal 1-0 from the World Cup and becoming the first African country to reach the last four of the global finals, coach Walid Regragui believes that his side can win the ultimate prize.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 12 – Referees are invariably lambasted at various stages during major competitions. It goes with the territory.
December 12 – As England lick their wounds after falling just short for the third tournament in a row, manager Gareth Southgate is pondering whether to stay on in the role.
December 12 – The increasingly fast-moving Saudi Arabian Football Association (SAFF) has signed another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with another international federations, this time with the Ghana FA.