By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – In the starkest example yet of the European crackdown on Third Party Ownership of players, Dutch top-flight club FC Twente have been banned from European competition for three years by their own federation.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – The French president of the international players union FIFpro says the current transfer system encourages third party ownership which he has described as “a monster”.
December 15 – Manchester United and Manchester City players played more times for their countries than any other players at clubs in the Big-5 European leagues, according to research from the CIES Football Observatory.
By Andrew Warshaw in Amsterdam
December 15 – The head of the international players’ union FIFpro says football is facing its “worst ever crisis” because of the imbalance between rich and poor and has urged his members to stick together to safeguard the sport.
December 14 – UEFA president Michel Platini may have long been opposed to goal-line technology but his organisation now realises it can no longer resist its implementation.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – UEFA’s top brass have given Michel Platini as much time as possible to try and clear his name to run for FIFA president – but could have a new chief in place themselves at the start of May if he is banned from the game.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – One of the most bizarre cases of alleged foul play has led to Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema being suspended by his national team until an investigation into a blackmail case involving a sex tape has been resolved.
By Paul Nicholson
December 10 – Benchmark Sport’s latest report looks at the UEFA Champions league and the spread of representation of nations and clubs. The findings are that the competition has been increasingly – and perhaps worryingly – centralised around the big leagues and the big clubs.
By Mark Baber
December 9 – The latest monthly report produced by the CIES looks at the issue of birth date bias finding that “players born in the first months of the year are strongly over-represented” in 30 top divisions in Europe – the exception being England where the bias is towards the period September- December as the age classes are based on September 1 rather than January 1.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – The imminent judgement by the Court of Arbitration for Sport into Michel Platini’s suspension will determine whether or not the UEFA president can take centre stage at Saturday’s Euro 2016 draw in Paris.
December 9 – Greek footballers are to go on strike indefinitely from next week in protest over a compensation deal they claim their employers have failed to meet.
December 8 – The Amsterdam ArenA is calling for ground breaking “creative thinkers and innovative entrepreneurs” to help the company create the stadium of the future as part of the revamp of the country’s main stadium.
December 7 – The French government has become embroiled in the Karem Benzema sex tape scandal, with prime minister Manuel Valls saying the Real Madrid striker “has no place” in the national team at next summer’s European Championship finals.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – Europe’s leading clubs, having been given no say in FIFA’s reform package, have issued a strongly worded rebuke of the organisation’s attempt to clean itself up.
By Matt Scott
December 2 – The Greek public prosecutors who declined to pursue charges against Olympiacos in the so-called Koriopolis match-fixing scandal have been accused of accepting bribes as they considered the case.