December 23 – Manchester United’s centre back Harry Maguire tops a ranking of players who have played the most number of minutes in 2020. Barcelona’s old timer Lionel Messi comes third.
December 23 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has dismissed allegations of criminal mismanagement relating to a museum project launched by Blatter towards the end of his tenure.
December 23 – French Ligue 1 leaders Lille have been sold to a Callisto Sporting, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based investment fund Merlyn Partners.
December 23 – Barcelona presidential candidate Jordi Farre says he plans to try and re-unite Lionel Messi and Neymar if he lands the job in succession to Josep Maria Bartomeu.
December 23 – German giants Bayern Munich – who will go for the treble of national, European and World titles in the same season at the delayed Club World Cup next February – have released financial results for the 2019/20 season showing a revenue drop €52 million.
December 23 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has extended the terms of its executive committee until the supreme court delivers a ruling on both the framing of a new constitution and election process for the governing body. Current president Praful Patel has said that he will not contest future elections.
December 23 – He was hired as the man to finally turn things around in the post-Arsene Wenger era. Instead they are going from bad to worse.
December 23 – With two World Club Cups to be hosted in Qatar in 2021, venues for the 7-team format have been chosen for the first edition in February 1-11.
December 23 – Lionel Messi has cemented his place as one of the sport’s greatest ever icons by breaking Pele’s goalscoring record for a single club.
By Paul Nicholson
December 22 – The day after his election to the FIFA presidency in May 2016, Gianni Infantino attended his first official public function in Zurich at the opening of the CHF 140 million ($158 million) FIFA Museum project.
By David Owen
December 22 – Football remains anything but a doping blackspot, assuming official statistics offer a reliable guide.
December 22 – Real Madrid president Florentino Perez (pictured) has once again provocatively called for the formation of a European Super League.
December 22 – Reports in the Ivory Coast suggest FIFA is preparing to make public its ruling on the electoral process for the presidency of the country’s football federation (FIF), a move that could have serious consequences for Jacques Anouma’s bid for control of African football.
December 22 – Borussia Mönchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram has been banned for five games for spitting in the face of a Hoffenheim opponent in the Bundesliga.
December 22 – Lionel Messi says his failed attempt to leave Barcelona in the summer has affected his form this season.