January 8 – Oman is celebrating only its second ever Gulf cup title but last Friday’s victory over the United Arab Emirates was marred by at least 40 fans being injured after a glass barrier collapsed.
January 8 – Manchester City’s holding company City Football Group (CFG) is exploring further club expansion with India, the world’s second most populous nation, looking like the next market for acquisition.
January 8 – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may be enduring arguably the toughest period of his Arsenal career but he has friends in a number of high places not least Liberia where newly elected George Weah, who has made the remarkable transition from world-famous footballer to president, has invited him to his inauguration later this month.
January 8 – The protracted transfer of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool to Barcelona has finally gone through with the Catalan giants paying what will effectively amount to the third highest fee of all time to land the coveted Brazilian playmaker.
January 8 – Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology makes its long-awaited debut in English football tonight when Brighton face Crystal Palace in the last of the FA Cup third-round fixtures.
By David Owen
January 5 – Another Premier League club has reported strong 2016-17 profits, as a consequence largely of the league’s new TV deal. Everton have clocked up a £30.6 million post-tax profit on turnover of £171.3 million, almost £50 million more than the previous highest recorded.
January 5 – Vitaly Mutko’s humiliating decision to step down as head of Russia’s World Cup organising committee in the wake of the ongoing doping scandal is now official.
By Samindra Kunti
January 5 – The Indian Super league descended into farce after FC Goa’s match against Atletico de Kolkata was forced to kick off at 11pm after the team were stranded when their flight from Goa to Bengal was delayed. Eventually, the game kicked off at 11pm with the visitors salvaging a draw.
January 5 – Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah won the 2017 CAF African Football Player of the Year Award. Egypt’s Hector Cuper was named Coach of the Year and for a third time Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala won the Women’s Player of the Year award.
January 5 – The failure of the Ivory Coast to qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia continues to have a knock-on effect off the field with a raft of clubs calling for an extraordinary general meeting of the national federation and the removal its president Augustin Sidy Diallo.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 5 – Zahir Belounis, the French-Algerian footballer whose tortuous saga of being “trapped” in Qatar against his will made him an international cause celebre, has finally reached a financial settlement in his long-running dispute with Qatar Stars League team El Jaish Sports Club.
January 5 – The Chinese FA (CFA) has moved to further strengthen its domestic football infrastructure repeating its policy of restricting transfer fees during the 2018 winter transfer window and at the time announcing a restructuring of its management and organisation nationally with the recruitment of new middle managers.
January 5 – Former England manager Roy Hodgson has warned that the introduction of video technology in English football will not necessarily be a positive move judging by recent instances of controversy elsewhere.
January 5 – LaLiga has released details of its broadcast income and its club distribution. TV income rose year-on-year to in €1.247 billion from 1.237 billion, with Barcelona being the top club earner with €146.2 million.
January 5 – The first Premier League fixtures of the New Year, round 22 of the season, saw nine clubs report stadiums over 94% full. Only on the South coast where Southampton were having a generally miserable holiday period, did crowds dip below 90%.