January 26 – Australia’s Hyundai A-League is getting a new look that ties the Football Federation Australia (FFA) competition into a common branded identity with the Westfield W-League and Foxtel Y-League. The rebranding will be launched for the start of the 2017/18 season.
January 26 – Media rights to broadcast England’s national team matches from 2018 until 2022 have been split between subscription and free-to-air channels. No figure has been released for the deal which was done under the new rights selling regime that consolidates all national federation rights into a single UEFA-backed sales agency.
January 26 – San Diego, which is pitching for a franchise in the expanding MLS, could be getting a 20-30,000 capacity new stadium costing $200 million as part of $1 billion redevelopment of the Qualcomm Stadium property.
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 Samindra Kunti
January 25 – Ivory Coast’s title defence came to an end at the 2017 African Cup of Nations in Gabon after a 1-0 defeat to Morocco in the final round of Group C games. In a tournament that has thrown up some unpredictable results, the interest and attendance of fans has been low except for Gabon games, but they have also now exited the tournament.
Within an hour of our story being published about the discussion of a CFU breakaway from CONCACAF there was talk on Twitter of how many places the Caribbean could have for the World Cup – anything from 1.5 to 3.5, and why not?
January 25 – A report into the economic impact of the UEFA EURO 2016 championships in France found that despite terror fears and high security levels, fans turning up to watch the tournament injected more than €1.2 billion into the French economy.
January 25 – The Premier League has signed chocolate maker Cadbury to a three-year partnership beginning with the 2017/18 season. No amount was announced for the deal but estimates put it in excess of £7 million per season.
January 25 – Barcelona are the most efficient club in Europe’s Big 5 leagues when it comes to valuing their playing squads. Spurs are the second most efficient. In contrast Man Utd are 95th and PSG are rock bottom in 98th spot.
January 25 – Arsenal’s Swiss international midfielder Granit Xhaka has been interviewed under caution by police following an allegation that he racially abused an airline staff member at Heathrow airport.
January 25 – Serbia’s appeal against Kosovo becoming a member of UEFA has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, finally paving the way for the breakaway state to persue its footballing ambitions without interference from Big Brother.
January 25 – Real Madrid have agreed to redesign their club badge to eliminate the traditional Christian cross as part of a new clothing deal in several Middle Eastern countries.
January 25 – The World Football Forum is heading to the Chinese city of Changsha for its 2017 event from May 18-21.
January 25 – A lower-league English club has taken the rare step of sacking its head groundsman of 27 years – not because of anything to do with team but after a match was postponed because of a frozen pitch.
January 24 – The weekly growth in Twitter followers to Premier League clubs last week matched the typical pattern with yet another bumper increase for Manchester United of 89,000 followed by Arsenal with 71,000.