January 17 – An investigation into claims by the mayor of Liverpool in the UK that there may have been fraud surrounding England midfielder Ross Barkley’s recent switch from Everton to Chelsea has failed to produce any evidence to that effect.
By Paul Nicholson
January 16 – Almost half of Europe’s champion clubs rely on UEFA competitions for 25% or more of their revenue, but it comes at a cost. For Real Madrid that was a 32% increase in staff costs to €406 million, the highest wage bill in world football and accounting for 61% of the club’s revenues.
January 16 – Has Lionel Messi done it again? The diminutive Argentine keeps scoring and evading his opponents on the field, but off the pitch he may not be as adept at evading tax obligations in Spain, according to various media reports.
January 16 – The extent to which football might have been affected by the Russian doping scandal has finally prompted action by FIFA which has confirmed it has questioned whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov.
January 16 – A French referee who aimed a kick at a Nantes player before sending him off in a high-profile top-flight fixture against Paris St-Germain has been suspended “until further notice” by the French Football Association.
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 – One month after UEFA rejected a request to waive Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules for AC Milan, saying they remained unconvinced about the club’s new Chinese backers, reports have apparently been submitted by Italy’s finance police over potentially suspicious activities relating to the sale.
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.
January 16 – Tributes continue to pour in for Cyrille Regis following the death at 59 of the former England international who blazed a trail for black footballers at a time when racism in the game was rife in England.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 –Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey, banned for life by FIFA for match-fixing, has had his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) turned down. The CAS ruling and their published reasoning mark a significant landmark for FIFA and football’s federations in their battle against match-fixing and their ability to enforce judgements.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – Disgraced former Asian football leader Mohamed Bin Hammam has broken his long silence by confirming he received €6.7 million in a payment that is long suspected to have been linked to the awarding of the 2006 World Cup to Germany.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – The tired claim by Russia’s World Cup organisers that racism is no worse in their country than elsewhere in football and only occasionally rears its ugly head has yet again been called into question by the latest distasteful incident involving Spartak Moscow.
By Samindra Kunti
January 15 – Hosts Morocco opened the fifth edition of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) with a thumping win against neighbours Mauritania, putting forward their credentials as a renewed force in African football both on the pitch and as hosts of major tournaments.