January 15 – Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp has taken a majority stake in German pay-TV company Sky Deutschland in a calculated gamble that will use football as the core content for the acquisition of new subscribers, increased revenues per subscriber and ultimately profitability in 2013.
By Mark Baber
January 15 – Giancarlo Abete has been re-elected as President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), winning 94.34% of the vote in the FIGC Elective Assembly in an uncontested election yesterday.
By Mark Baber
January 15 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has lifted its decision to ban Mohun Bagan after the team refused to play the second half of an Indian League match against East Bengal following violence last December.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – The Association of Football Agents (AFA) has angrily criticised FIFA’s plans to introduce a new system to reduce the influence of agents, denouncing it as unworkable. The UK-based body represents about 350 agents.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 15 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has given his strongest indication yet that he will definitely stand down at the end of his fourth and final term as head of world football’s governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 15 – All 53 members of UEFA will meet later this month to discuss FIFA’s reform programme which is due to be voted on at the world governing body’s annual congress in Mauritius in May.
By Mark Baber
January 14 – The Russian FA (RFU) and its former president Sergei Fursenko (pictured) have been cleared of criminal wrongdoing by a state Audit Chamber investigation.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 14 – Senior Asian football officials have stepped up their campaign to give women’s football a greater platform in a vast Continent where the game, in certain areas, is treated very much as a male preserve.
By David Owen
January 14 – Three new regional Turkish stadia will host Olympic football matches if Istanbul succeeds in its bid to stage the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
By Mark Baber
January 14 – The central Russian city of Samara awarded the design contract for its new 2018 World Cup stadium to the State Unitary Enterprise of the Samara Region Institute (‘TerrNIIgrazhdanproekt’).
By Mark Baber
January 14 – The president of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has given direct orders for Etihad Airways to operate flights to carry football fans to Bahrain, to support the UAE national football team in tomorrow’s semi-final of the 21st Gulf Cup of Nations against Kuwait.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 14 – Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore is confident the division’s 20 clubs will all be able to meet UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules – and has also addressed the debate over inflated ticket prices.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 14 – FIFA Vice President Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein’s efforts to use football as a tool for change in Asia has been extended to the Syrian refugee crisis in his native Jordan.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 14 – In a move that seems likely raise eyebrows among its critics, Qatar appears to have used its financial muscle to stage a friendly between world and European champions Spain and South American champions Uruguay next month.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent
January 14 – Deportivo La Coruna, who won the league title only 13 years ago, have become the latest Spanish top-flight club to be plunged into financial crisis.