December 9 – The English Football Association is still reportedly weighing up whether it will officially endorse Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid at this week’s virtual FIFA Congress amid ongoing human rights concerns.
December 9 – Having held the draw for the group stage of the expanded 32-team Club World Cup, FIFA has now released the venues, dates and kick-off times for the 63 matches.
December 9 – Gibraltar FA president and chairman of FIFA’s subcommittee for human rights and social responsibility Michael Llamas has called FIFA’s decision to ignore the Qatar report ‘disappointing”, but denies that the work of his committee has been undermined.
December 6 – In a televised event live from Miami, that featured a pre-recorded address from US president elect Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka drawing the first team, FIFA’s Club World Cup has completed its group draw stage, the first-ever for its 32-team format.
December 6 – The Belgian FA (RBFA) has defended FIFA’s position about compensation (or the lack of it) to migrant workers in Qatar.
December 6 – The Club World Cup draw presentation yesterday in Miami was a very Latin American themed event with a sprinkling of Italians in the audience and Italian legend Alessandro Del Piero acting as master of ceremonies (co-conductor in FIFA-speak) – an elegant ringmaster on the football pitch but one who was a little wooden under this big top.
December 26 – The FIFA Museum will unveil a new exhibition space December 17, titled ‘Football Fever: Play. Compete. Repeat’.
December 5 – On the eve of the draw for the Club World Cup, FIFA at last found a broadcast partner, announcing streaming platform DAZN as the exclusive rights holder for the 32-team tournament in a deal reportedly worth $1 billion.
December 5 – With precision timing, Human Rights Watch has renewed its offensive against FIFA for awarding the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia.
December 5 – In a sign that enthusiasm is starting to build with American sponsors ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, Home Depot has announced that they have become an official tournament sponsor.
December 4 – FIFA has seeded the 32 qualified clubs for the December 5, 2025 Club World Club draw into four pots, with four European and four South American clubs making up the top eight seeds in Pot 1.
December 4 – Having already sparked widespread disbelief at being fast-tracked as the sole candidate to stage the 2034 World Cup – they will officially be rubber-stamped as hosts on December 11 – it is now seems highly likely that Saudi Arabia will become the second country to stage the event in winter, following in the footsteps of Qatar.
December 4 – More than a few eyebrows will have been raised across the global game after FIFA announced it has brought in two-time US women’s World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis to the new position of chief football officer.
December 4 – With the Club World Cup 2025 group draw taking place in Miami this Thursday, FIFA has announced Bank of America as a Club World Cup 2025 sponsor. The bank opened its account with FIFA in August becoming a 2026 World Cup partner.
December 4 – While Club World Cup focus has been on FIFA’s draw this week for the 2025 group stages, Qatari organisers have been methodically preparing for the hosting of the final stages of FIFA’s old version of the Club World Cup, renamed as the Intercontinental Cup that kicks off December 11.