UEFA wants to add Nations League Qatar 2022 qualification route
December 5 – UEFA wants to tweak the qualifying process for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, allowing a pathway via the Nations League to reach the global finals.
World Football
East Africa’s Cecafa Cup reduced to nine teams as nations withdraw
December 5 – East Africa’s flagship competition the Cecafa Cup will kick off with a depleted participants field after South Sudan, DR Congo and Ethiopia all withdrew from the competition.
Expanded 2020 Copa America draw pitches Aussies with Argentina and Qatar with Brazil
December 5 – The draw for the 2020 Copa America, held in the Colombian city of Cartagena, has drawn Argentina with Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and invitees Australia. In the other group reigning champions Brazil and co-hosts Colombia were paired with Peru, Equador, Venezuela and Asian champions Qatar.
Egyptian giants Ahly to switch stadiums while they wait for new sports complex
By Osasu Obayiuwana
December 5 – Cairo club Ahly have announced that they will now be staging their matches at the Al Salam stadium.
PAOK’s gun-slinging owner Savvidis in new shoot-out over report he also owns Xanthi
By Paul Nicholson
December 4 – A club ownership storm has broken in Greece linking controversial Russian-Greek oligarch Ivan Savvidis to control of two clubs in the Greek Super League.
Ceferin says more will be done to fight racism but warns Boris to look closer to home
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has re-iterated his long-held view that more needs to be done to combat racism in European football following an unwelcome resurgence of discrimination across the Continent, from Bulgaria to Italy.
Qatar’s Afif and Japan’s Kumagai take top AFC Awards
By Paul Nicholson in Hong Kong
December 2 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) crowned their top players and highest performing member associations at a glittering Hong Kong awards ceremony last night that fused modern and traditional Hong Kong with a celebration of the best of Asian football.
Interview: Former CAF finance boss lifts lid on Africa’s money pit
Life has certainly not been peaches and cream for former CAF finance director Mohamed El Sherei over the last seven months. In a one-hour exclusive conversation, at the Heliopolis Sports Club in Cairo in November, El Sherei, who has been without an income for several months, spoke frankly, to Insideworldfootball’s Osasu Obayiuwana, on what he says has been a tumultuous period, for him and the organisation to which he once belonged.
Tebas plots route to new 4-year term at LaLiga
December 3 – Javier Tebas has resigned as La Liga president, but the Spanish football administrator will stand for re-election.
2020 World Football Cup set for Skopje
By David Owen
December 3 – The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) has announced that the 2020 edition of the World Football Cup will be hosted by Skopje.
Messi beats Van Dijk for sixth Ballon d’Or. Ronaldo comes third
December 3 – Lionel Messi is football. At least he is when it comes to award ceremonies with the Argentinean last night picking up a record sixth Ballon d’Or, edging Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk by a mere seven points.
Chilean anti-government violence forces cancellation of remainder of league season
December 2 – In an unprecedented move that has drawn football inexorably into the political arena, Chile has cancelled the entire rest of its domestic season following weeks of anti-government protests that have led to a reported 26 deaths and hundreds of serious injuries.
CAF Confed Cup champions Zamalek have not paid players for four months
By Osasu Obayiuwana
December 2 – Players of Zamalek, the 2019 CAF Confederation Cup winners, have been without wages for four months.
Flamengo continue their march to Doha laying waste to Palmeiras on the way
December 2 – Flamengo may have won the double, the domestic title and the Copa Libertadores, but even in the final rounds of the Brazilian league their scalps have severe ramifications. On Sunday, Palmeiras coach Mano Menezes and director of football Alexandre Mattos were dismissed following a 3-1 defeat at home against the newly crowned champions.
Infantino promises Africa £1bn and a new $200m pan-African super league
November 29 – On tour in Africa FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said that he wants to invest more than $1 billion in the African game and found an African league.