January 7 – An alleged case of racist abuse that led to England’s Professional Footballers’ Association calling for a government inquiry into discrimination has not been proven, prompting concerns that players may refrain from reporting such incidents in the future.
January 6 – Despite all Serie A clubs collectively vowing to combat racism, Brescia striker Mario Balotelli was again targeted at the weekend, this time by Lazio fans during his club’s 2-1 home defeat.
January 2 – An English Championship game was briefly halted on Wednesday as discrimination at football fixtures, which marred much of 2019, occurred again just two days into the new year.
By David Owen
December 30 – Brazilian footballers were more likely to be sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) than those of any other nationality, according to statistics relating to samples collected in 2017 made public this month by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
December 23 – England’s Professional Footballers’ Association has called for a government inquiry into racism in football after a year of shame was marred by yet another disgraceful incident, with Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger allegedly targeted at his club’s 2-0 derby win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
By Samindra Kunti
December 23 – Lazio defeated Juventus 3-1 to win the Italian Super Cup, controversially staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, its second season in the country.
By David Owen
December 22 – If there is a doping crisis in football, it is still not being picked up by the authorities.
Data has become a core function of a football club’s business. Managing and monetising that data efficiently, legally and privately is a focal point. By Bryony Long, Mark Hersey and Lauren Stone at law firm Lewis Silkin
December 20 – Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil who tweeted about China’s detention and persecution of Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang province, has been removed from the Chinese edition of Konami’s PES 2020 video game.
December 18 – Serie A has apologised in the wake of the furore over imagery of monkeys being used in artwork for their anti-racism campaign.
December 17 – Less than three weeks after Serie A clubs in Italy pledged collectively to combat the “serious problem” of racism, further criticism has rained down from anti-discriminatory bodies following a totally ill-judged campaign featuring paintings of apes.
By Paul Nicholson
December 16 – CAF has won the first round of the legal battle over the cancellation of its contract with Lagardère Sports. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Geneva ruled Friday rejected Lagardère’s application for emergency measures that would have allowed the agency to continue as per the contract.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – Quick to point the finger at football-fuelled racism elsewhere in Europe, the English game is going through a period of intense soul-searching following a spate of instances over the weekend from the Premier League to the fourth tier, one of the alleged culprits being as young as 13 years old.
December 9 – Police have arrested a man in connection with alleged racial gestures and chanting in Saturday’s Premier League derby between Manchester City and Manchester United.
December 6 – Chelsea have been cleared to re-enter the transfer market in the January window after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling halved the transfer ban to just one window from the original two-window ban imposed by FIFA.