December 30 – FIFA President Gianni Infantino says football has been a vital tool in helping the world deal with the terrible effects of the Covid-19 pandemic but has repeated his stance that a rethink is needed over how competitions are organised in the future.
December 30 – FIFA has cancelled its 2021 U-17 and U-20 men’s World Cups due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
December 23 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has dismissed allegations of criminal mismanagement relating to a museum project launched by Blatter towards the end of his tenure.
December 23 – With two World Club Cups to be hosted in Qatar in 2021, venues for the 7-team format have been chosen for the first edition in February 1-11.
By Paul Nicholson
December 22 – The day after his election to the FIFA presidency in May 2016, Gianni Infantino attended his first official public function in Zurich at the opening of the CHF 140 million ($158 million) FIFA Museum project.
December 21 – Paris St Germain manager Thomas Tuchel (pictured) has questioned the absence of Marquinhos from last week’s FIFA XI Team of the Year, claiming that the Brazilian should have been included.
December 17 – The potential introduction of concussions substitutes took a step nearer with rulemaking body IFAB fast tracking trials of a new rule to begin in January 2021.
December 15 – In a remarkable interview with the online version of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, the disgraced former head of Haiti’s football federation – banned for life for sexual abuse – has launched a passionate defence of his behaviour by accusing FIFA of being corrupt, declaring he is being used as a scapegoat and arguing that he was given only 10 minutes to respond to the sickening accusations against him.
December 15 – Never one to miss out on a photo opportunity to boost his popularity, Gianni Infantino attended the official signing on Monday of a ground-breaking agreement between the football associations of the UAE and Israel.
December 14 – FIFA has appointed a normalisation committee for the Haitian Football Association after it found “strong indications” that the federation’s disgraced former president Yves Jean-Bart is still exerting his influence despite being banned for life last month following multiple accusations of systematic sexual abuse of female players.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 11 – Gianni Infantino’s increasingly bitter war with the Swiss justice authorities over whether he is guilty of corruption has taken another significant twist with a special prosecutor recommending a criminal investigation against the FIFA President for using a private jet in 2017.
December 10 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter was interviewed yesterday by the Swiss Special Prosecutor Stefan Keller who is investigating the criminal charges against FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
December 10 – Belgium have topped the world ranking for a third consecutive year to become the FIFA team of the year, the world governing body said on Thursday.
By Paul Nicholson
December 9 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that the new 24-team format Club World Cup, when it eventually holds its first edition “in China, will be the best club competition in the world.”
