By Andrew Warshaw
January 19 – The global perception of the United States under Donald Trump could pose a direct threat to the country’s bid to jointly stage the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico according to bid leader Sunil Gulati (pictured).
January 19 – Football’s lawmaking body, the International FA Board, has confirmed that video assistant refereeing will be the main focus of attention at Monday’s interim business meeting in Zurich.
January 19 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS has lifted a five-year ban imposed on Senegalese club US Ouakam. In July 2017 eight people were killed by a stampede at the game US Ouakam – Stade de Mbour during Senegal’s cup final.
January 19 – Manchester United have signed a new three-year deal with Lancashire-based sports nutrition company Science in Sport plc (SiS). Beginning immediatedly the deal will run thorough to end of May 2021.
January 18 – Brazilian FA boss Marco Del Nero, who escaped being put on trial for his alleged role in the FIFAGate scandal since his country has no extradition treaty with the United States, is to contest his FIFA ban on Friday – via video link from Rio de Janeiro .
January 18 – The social media profiles of Europe’s top clubs are spawning a whole new growth area and fan base for Europe’s biggest clubs, but none are getting close to the dominance of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United who between them now connected with a staggering 391 million people on Twitter and Facebook.
January 18 – Portuguese authorities are investigating the circumstances that led to a top-flight league match being abandoned at half-time and spectators evacuated on to the pitch after cracks appeared in a stand.
January 17 – Swaziland is in shock and all football in the country has been suspended after Premier League of Swaziland chairman Victor Gamedze (pictured) was gunned down at a petrol station in a targeted assassination on Sunday evening.
January 17 – After concluding a new sponsorship deal with the DFL (German FA) subsidiary Bundesliga International to the end of season 2020/21, sports betting company Tipico have immediately launched a testosterone-charged advertising campaign under the slogan “Nur wer mitspielt, ist mittendrin!” (Only Those Who Play Are Part Of The Game).
January 17 – Chelsea’s fear that they might not be able to progress with the £1 billion redevelopment of Stamford Bridge after a local resident objected to the development and refused to cut a deal with the club, have now been overcome.
January 17 – Premier League Arsenal, via its newly launched ‘Innovation Lab’ initiative, has linked with six new technology companies to work with the club’s senior management team to identify business opportunities and develop new fan experiences.
January 16 – Football fans around the world remain keen on attending the World Cup, the quadrennial high mass of the global game. In all, 3,141,163 tickets have been requested in the second sales phase, which runs until the end of January.
January 15 – Major League Soccer is entering the esports market via a partnership with EA Sports to launch an esports league based on FIFA 18. The new league, eMLS, will launch with 19 of the 23 MLS teams represented.
January 16 – Nine venues have expressed an interest in hosting the European Super Cup in 2020 between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League.
January 16 – Chelsea’s topping of the weekly attendance capacity chart once again proved their need for a new stadium to maximise their matchday revenue potential at the end of a week when news broke that the earliest they will take possession of a redeveloped Stamford Bridge will be 2024.