November 30 – The sale of AC Milan by Silvio Berlusconi to Chinese investors looks increasingly certain to take longer than the December 13 completion deadline. Berlusconi is now saying that he would be prepared to allow a 6-week extension, for a further non-refundable down-payment.
By Paul Nicholson
November 30 – Qatar’s showpiece Lusail Stadium for the 2022 World Cup will be built as a Qatar-China joint venture between the China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. and Qatari contractor HBK Contracting Co. The stadium is scheduled for completion in 2020 and will host the opening match and World Cup Final in 2022.
November 30 – The CIES Football Observatory has launched a new version of its free-to-use Digital Atlas that looks at the composition of squads across Europe.
November 29 – A British former coach has been charged with eight historical offences of sexual assault against a boy under the age of 14 in the latest development in the abuse scandal that has shocked the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 29 – The findings of the biggest global survey to date of working conditions in men’s professional football has thrown up a raft of startling conclusions, destroying the myth that most players live in a protective bubble, drive fast cars and lead enviable millionaire lifestyles.
November 29 – Hull City set a season low attendance record in Round 13 of the Premier League filling just 70.69% of their 25,886 capacity stadium. The 7,500 unfilled seats in Hull made up more than half the 14,266 unfilled seats across the whole Premier League.
November 29 – A chartered plane carrying 81 people, including top-flight Brazilian team Chapecoense, has crashed on its approach to the city of Medellin in Colombia, seemingly after an electrical failure.
November 29 – Qatar’s national coach has threatened to resign if a plan being considered by the country’s football authorities to exclude naturalised players from the squad is carried out.
By Samindra Kunti
November 29 – Palmeiras clinched a record ninth Brazilian league title with a week to spare by beating Chapecoense 1-0 at home on Sunday. The 2016 title ends a 22-year drought for the Sao Paulo-based club. But celebrations have been muted by the tragic plane crash over Colombia Monday night. The plane was carrying the team to the Copa Subamerica final in Medellin.
November 29 – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, dismissed for the second time this season last weekend, has now been charged by English football authorities – also for the second time.
November 29 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has picked sports data specialists Genius Sports to supply a new Competition Management system.
November 29 – There are more Brazilian players playing outside their home country in Europe’s top 31 leagues than any other nation. Though there are more French players playing outside of France in the Big Five leagues than there are Brazilians.
By Paul Nicholson
November 28 – German and Chinese governments have signed the equivalent of a football trade deal – the first of its kind between two governments – China’s vice-premier Liu Yandong and German chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel signed the partnership which will run for an initial five years.
By Paul Nicholson
November 28 – Growth in new twitter followers this week across the Premier League is up to 0.42% from 0.37% last week – or in real terms from 166,700 to 187,300. Manchester United still top the weekly table but Chelsea are gently showing a return to form and favour after a halving of weekly gains from 12 months ago, due to a drop in form and the unsavoury antics of former manager Jose Mourinho.
By Paul Nicholson
November 28 – Suning Sports, owners of China Super League club Jiangsu Suning and majority owners of Italy’s Internazionale, opened its flagship retail store in Nanjing’s Olympic Sports Centre. The store sell merchandise from both clubs and offers entertainment based experiences as well as retail.