By Florian Pertsch
December 10 – After four heart operations and 16 months of recovery for most athletes sport would be a thing of the past. Not so for third division Stuttgart Kickers forward Daniel Engelbrecht.
December 10 – Italian Serie A strugglers Parma have been handed a one-point deduction for financial irregularities last season.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 10 – A jury composed of members of the Hungarian architects’ association Magyar Epiteszek Hazabanhas have picked the winning design for the planned new stadium for Budapest-based side MTK. The project is estimated to cost about HUF 6.5 billion (€21.3 million).
December 12 – The president of French Ligue 1 side Bastia, Pierre-Marie Geronimi (pictured), has been arrested and placed in police custody as part of an investigation into the club’s finances.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – UEFA president Michel Platini has given another strong hint that moves are going on behind the scenes to find a suitable challenger for Europe to back at next year’s FIFA presidential election.
By Samindra Kunti
December 10 – European football’s governing body UEFA has announced that it will continue to investigate Monaco under the Financial Fair Play Regulations, while Olympique Lyon has been asked to submit additional information.
By Paul Nicholson
December 9 – CONCACAF has announced Scotiabank as the first official partner of its revamped sponsorship programme. In an initial four-year deal, the bank will become the title sponsor of the CONCACAF Champions League, the official bank of the confederation, and a main sponsor of the Gold Cup.
December 9 – Romania’s most famous club Steaua Bucharest, founded in 1947, have been stripped of their name, colours and emblem after losing a long legal battle with the country’s defence ministry over their trademark.
By Paul Nicholson
December 9 – J-League club Vissel Kobe has been bought by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, the club’s shirt sponsor, for an undisclosed amount.
December 9 – One of the world’s great footballing rivalries has turned ugly after Real Madrid banned 17 of their own supporters for abusive chants about Lionel Messi and Barcelona.
December 9 – Malaysia’s minister of youth and sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, has apologised to Vietnam supporters after they were attacked during the semi-final of the Suzuki Cup in at Malaysia’s Shah Alam stadium.
By Mark Baber
December 8 – In the wake of Barrister Okey Ajunwa’s Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Appeals Committee 80-page report which concluded the election of Amaju Pinnick was flawed and should be rerun, and the refusal of the NFF to accept that report, FIFA is now faced with a choice.
December 8 – About 2,000 fans stormed Cairo’s main stadium at the weekend ahead of a rare match that supporters were allowed to attend. Egyptian fans have been barred from attending domestic league matches for the past four seasons after political violence by organised fan groups have led to riots and deaths.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – In another contentious shake-up within its hierarchy, Asian football looks set to scrap its automatic female vice-presidency, held by Australia’s Moya Dodd, a move that is bound to lay the region open to accusations of gender discrimination just when it has been making all manner of noises about inclusion and reform.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 5 – In a bid to boost its position in the European football market, French sports apparel maker Le Coq Sportif is reportedly planning to become the kit supplier of French club AS Saint-Etienne and Italy’s ACF Fiorentina.