By David Owen
January 26 – Germany’s Bundesliga enjoyed a landmark year for business in 2015-16, with post-tax profits among the 18 top-tier clubs soaring to a record €206.2 million. All but two of the clubs in the competition were profitable. The outcome was described as “far and away the best result” in the league’s history.
January 26 – Bundesliga club Darmstadt have released one of its players over his links with an Islamic charity. Tunisian midfielder Anis Ben-Hatira has left by mutual consent following criticism of his ties with Ansaar International.
January 26 – A video in which fans can be heard singing anti-Semitic insults before last week’s Premier League clash between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur is being investigated by police.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 20 – In a potential landmark ruling that could have far-reaching consequences, a Belgian court has found FIFA and the Belgian FA (KBVB) jointly guilty of obstructing former Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra’s transfer to Charleroi in 2015 and has ordered them to pay him €6 million.
January 19 – More than 1,000 cases relating to child sexual abuse within football in the United Kingdom have now been reported to police with 248 clubs caught up in the scandal according to latest figures.
January 17 – A former English league coach has denied eight child abuse offences in the 1980s in a case that came to light late last year, one of many that rocked the sport when several ex-players came forward to describe their suffering.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 13 – Christopher Steele, the man who it is claimed wrote the explosive raw intelligence dossier on compromising material Russia allegedly collected on US President-elect Donald Trump, worked with the FBI in investigating FIFA as well as England’s 2018 World Cup bid team, according to unconfirmed reports.
January 12 – Different regime, new ‘Watchgate’ probe. FIFA has filed a report with police in Switzerland after six Hublot watches embarrassingly went missing before Monday’s Best Awards gala in Zurich.
By Lefteris Charalampopoulos
January 9 – On 28 December 2016 Giannis Alafouzos, president of Panathinaikos and owner of SKAI TV Station was found guilty by a Greek court, of instigating the journalist Kyriakos Thomaidis to violate Greek legislation regarding the protection of sensitive personal data.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 9 – A Swiss court has rejected a claim by three trade unions from Bangladesh and the Netherlands that FIFA failed to exert its influence to ensure fair treatment for migrant workers after handing Qatar the 2022 World Cup.
January 9 – A default notice seeking nearly $34,000 in arrears has been issued against the Cayman Islands home owned by former FIFA Vice President and CONCACAF boss Jeffrey Webb, according to the Cayman Compass newspaper.
By Paul Nicholson
January 4 – The world players union FIFPro has issued a stark warning to players not to sign contracts with clubs in Serbia during this month’s transfer window. The union points to worsening working conditions in the country where players are rarely paid on time and where they are generally pressured into transfers.
By Paul Nicholson
January 3 – The postponed elections for the presidency of the Spanish football federation (RFEF) now look set to take place in April after reports that controversial current president Angel Maria Villar has found common ground in disputes with the Spanish sports ministry and its new Secretary of State for Sports, Jose Ramon Lete.
By Paul Nicholson
December 30 – Gianni Infantino’s triumphant pre-Christmas claim that FIFA was now close to being an integrity-credible organisation was met with thinly veiled amusement in many quarters – not least the press worldwide who dutifully re-reported the FIFA president’s latest musings. There is of course a far more credible integrity viewpoint. “It has been an awful year of integrity in sports,” says Michael Hershman.
December 30 – Sevilla midfielder Samir Nasri is being investigated by Spanish Anti-Doping authorities over treatment he received at a Los Angeles clinic.