December 2 – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are, as expected, on the three-man shortlist again for this year’s Ballon d’Or prize as the world’s best player, but the nomination of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is more of a surprise though fully deserved.
December 1 – Wolfgang Niersbach, the German FA president who is being touted as a future president of UEFA or FIFA, has called for a deadline to be placed on 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar to prove it is making progress with reforming its workers’ rights policy.
December 1 – Chelsea is reportedly “edging closer” to a deal with Turkish Airlines. According to unnamed sources the new Chelsea deal will be worth £25 million a year to the South London club, £7 million more than Samsung (whose contract expires at the end of the year) currently pay.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 1 – Asian football’s entire membership has been urged by their president to vote for Sepp Blatter at next year’s FIFA election despite the deepening crisis over the 2018 and 2022 World Cup anti- corruption probe.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 1 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter, has repeated there is no chance of moving the 2022 World Cup from Qatar amidst another swathe of allegations about alleged corruption over the bidding process for both 2022 and the 2018 tournament in Russia.
December 1 – Spanish football is reeling from the death of a Deportivo La Coruna fan after violent clashes ahead of the weekend visit to champions Atletico Madrid.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 1 – The head of Palestinian football has gone back on the offensive against Israel, calling on FIFA to issue sanctions following last week’s raid on the West Bank offices of the Palestinian federation.
Like interplanetary bodies whose orbits momentarily align, two of the Big Beasts of world sport were to be found for a few hours last Friday within the confines of the same building.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 28 – Delegates attending this weekend’s 60th anniversary of the Asian Football Confederation have been banned from any political electioneering at the gala celebrations to which all 47 federations have been invited, along with FIFA president Sepp Blatter and a host of other dignatories.
November 28 – FIFA has banned Alberto Colaco, the former General Secretary of the All India Football Federation, from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for three years.
November 28 – Scottish club giants Rangers are seeking new investment to plug an anticipated £8 million requirement over the next year, but cash is likely to be needed as soon as January. The club said it will seek the funds via a fresh share issue after announcing an operating loss of £8.3 million for the year to 30 June 2014.
November 28 – UEFA seem likely to sanction Tottenham Hotspur for inadequate safety measures after three bizarre one-man pitch invasions interrupted their Europa League match against Partizan Belgrade on Thursday.
By Paul Nicholson
November 28 – More details of infrastructure build and budgeted spends are emerging for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Samara region is planning to spend more than RUB 77 billion (£1.1billion) in its preparations. While it has been announced that training bases will be set up in 20 Russian cities for national teams – World Cup matches will be played in 11 cities,
November 28 – In one of the harshest rulings meted out for an on-the-field offence, Bastia’s Brazilian striker Brandao has been handed a one-month jail sentence in France for headbutting Paris St-Germain midfielder Thiago Motta in the players’ tunnel back in August.
By Samindra Kunti
November 28 – Lille OSC is ending its partnership with Belgian satellite club Mouscron-Péruwelz. The French club will dispense of its 51% share in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League club before Christmas to avoid a conflict of interest for Lille shareholder Marc Coucke.