Author: Paul Nicholson
Toure wins top CAF award as Globacom signs to sponsor for further four years
By Mark Baber
January 9 – Mike Adenuga’s mobile phone operator, Globacom Limited, the second biggest telecom operator in Nigeria, signed a new deal with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to sponsor the annual African Player of the Year Awards on Thursday on the eve of the 2014 awards ceremony.
British politicos line up FIFA-bashing forum in Brussels
January 9 – Campaigners pressing for greater reform at FIFA, including at least one of the candidates for FIFA president, are to converge on Brussels later this month to discuss how to bring about significant change. The meeting will take place at the European Parliament.
Investors line up cash for privatisation of Red Star, Partizan Belgrade
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 9 – Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has announced that various investors have expressed interest in the much-awaited privatisation of two of the country’s top football clubs, Red Star and Partizan Belgrade.
Asian chiefs unite behind Blatter giving Prince Ali cold shoulder
By Andrew Warshaw
January 9 – Key Asian football chiefs have staunchly re-iterated their support for FIFA president Sepp Blatter following young pretender Prince Ali’s announcement that he was making a bid for the FIFA throne.
Sports journalists condemn attack on Charlie Hebdo and press freedom
January 9 – The International Sports Press Association, AIPS, has issued a damning statement condemning the terrorist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that killed 12 people including 10 journalists.
Oldham bow to public pressure and pull out of signing Evans
January 9 – English third-tier club Oldham Athletic have pulled out of a deal to sign a convicted rapist in a case that has split public opinion over whether he should be allowed a second chance.
Becks stuck in departures while Lampard and Gerrard still to get to airport
By Ben Nicholson
January 9 – Debate over the eligibility of Frank Lampard to stay playing in England at Manchester City and miss the start of the MLS season for his new club New York City (NYFC) has continued over where NYCFC stands in relation to the contractual ownership of the player. The issue has raised questions on the status and commitment of Steven Gerrard who leaves Liverpool to join LA Galaxy in July.
Brazil clubs row over TV rights cash as the big get rich and the small get hungry
By Samindra Kunti
January 9 – Vasco Da Gama president Eurico Miranda has criticised the TV rights structure in Brazilian football. He opposes what he calls the elitism and ‘Hispanisation’ of the domestic game with unequal shares of TV money widening the gap between clubs.
Bayern top club table of 2014 World Cup appearance payments
By David Owen
January 9 – Details of recipients of a $70 million pot earmarked by FIFA for clubs whose players took part in last year’s World Cup in Brazil have been disclosed, with Germany’s Bayern Munich emerging as comfortably the biggest beneficiary.
Out of the blocks: Prince Ali’s first stop on the campaign trail is AFC congress
By Andrew Warshaw
January 8 – Just days after he announced that he was taking on Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency, Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein has his first opportunity on Friday to gauge how much support he might get from within his own region.
Call of the west lures Gerrard from Liverpool to LA
By Andrew Warshaw
January 8 – Former England captain Steven Gerrard, the latest footballing icon to further his career in the United States, as expected has chosen Los Angeles Galaxy where David Beckham made his name in the country.
John Yan: From Three Stripes to Swoosh 装备赞助，中国足球冲出亚洲
The public attention for Team China’s trip to Australia this January has been very high, even though the topics mostly are not related to the potential achievements of this team in 2015 Asian Cup. Alain Perrin, the French head coach of Team China, selected a reasonably young team, with an average age of 24.5 years old, and laid off quite a few settled international players. However, the stories were all about other issues, like a funny Now We Start departure ceremony held on the sports channel of CCTV,
Football restarts in Liberia as Ebola infection rates fall
By Mark Baber
January 8 – As the numbers of new Ebola patients falls off dramatically in Liberia, with just eight new infections reported in 29 December to January 4 reporting period, the Liberian Football Federation has announced the resumption of competitive matches “with immediate effect,” marking a major milestone in the impoverished country’s struggle against the deadly disease which has killed at least 3,471 people in Liberia.
Matt Scott: Five key events for 2015
“It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look farther than you can see.” Winston Churchill
Last week this column took a look back over what it had predicted for 2014 to see how they had fared in reality. Now, for the first column of 2015, and as one of history’s great men once said, it seems wise to look ahead, at least as far as we can see.