Egyptian giants Ahly to switch stadiums while they wait for new sports complex
By Osasu Obayiuwana
December 5 – Cairo club Ahly have announced that they will now be staging their matches at the Al Salam stadium.
PAOK’s gun-slinging owner Savvidis in new shoot-out over report he also owns Xanthi
By Paul Nicholson
December 4 – A club ownership storm has broken in Greece linking controversial Russian-Greek oligarch Ivan Savvidis to control of two clubs in the Greek Super League.
Who sets Africa’s agenda? Its elected leaders? Or Europeans?
“We must find an African solution to our problems” – Kwame Nkrumah (Prime Minister of Ghana, 1957-1966)
Anyone with an acute sense of history will remember how, in the late 1980s, the master-servant relationship between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Western financial institutions, on the one hand, and financially troubled African nations on the other, led to the imposition of flawed ‘Structural Adjustment Programmes’ (SAP) that devastated the economies of the countries that borrowed money under these onerous SAP terms and conditions.
Ooredoo connects for local sponsorship of Club World Cup
December 4 – Qatari telecoms company Ooredoo has become a local sponsor of the Club World Cup which kicks off on December 11 in Doha, Qatar.
PSG and beIN chief Al-Khelaifi meets Swiss prosecutors again over World Cup TV deals
December 4 – Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of Paris St. Germain and boss of beIN Sport Media, has been questioned for a second time by Swiss federal prosecutors as he seeks to have a two-year investigation into allegations he bribed the man who was once FIFA’s second most senior official dismissed.
FIFA bans Afghan official for failure to report sexual abuse
December 4 – FIFA has banned a third senior Afghanistan football official implicated in a sexual abuse scandal.
Ceferin says more will be done to fight racism but warns Boris to look closer to home
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has re-iterated his long-held view that more needs to be done to combat racism in European football following an unwelcome resurgence of discrimination across the Continent, from Bulgaria to Italy.
IFAB rule makers want deeper dive on concussion thinking and better VAR communication
December 4 – Concussion substitutes, improving player behaviour and tweaks to VAR were among the topics discussed when the International Football Association Board (IFAB) held its Annual Business Meeting (ABM) in Belfast, Tuesday.
Juve and Socios.com launch $JUV fan token with a song
December 4 – Juventus fans are being given the opportunity to vote on the new goal celebration song that will be played when their team score at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.
Qatar’s Afif and Japan’s Kumagai take top AFC Awards
By Paul Nicholson in Hong Kong
December 2 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) crowned their top players and highest performing member associations at a glittering Hong Kong awards ceremony last night that fused modern and traditional Hong Kong with a celebration of the best of Asian football.
Interview: Former CAF finance boss lifts lid on Africa’s money pit
Life has certainly not been peaches and cream for former CAF finance director Mohamed El Sherei over the last seven months. In a one-hour exclusive conversation, at the Heliopolis Sports Club in Cairo in November, El Sherei, who has been without an income for several months, spoke frankly, to Insideworldfootball’s Osasu Obayiuwana, on what he says has been a tumultuous period, for him and the organisation to which he once belonged.
AFC brings forward bid process for 2027 Asian Cup
By Paul Nicholson in Hong Kong
December 3 – The AFC is bringing forward the award of hosts for its 2027 Asian Cup, opening up a bid process for the confederation’s flagship tournament that will begin early 2020 with the hosts expected to be chosen in early 2021.
Tebas plots route to new 4-year term at LaLiga
December 3 – Javier Tebas has resigned as La Liga president, but the Spanish football administrator will stand for re-election.
Irish positive about joining a five-nation bid for 2030 World Cup
December 3 – The United Kingdom and Ireland may be inching closer towards a joint-bid for the 2030 World Cup after a positive feasibility study.
2020 World Football Cup set for Skopje
By David Owen
December 3 – The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) has announced that the 2020 edition of the World Football Cup will be hosted by Skopje.