By Andrew Warshaw
January 19 – Not to be outdone by the innovations of his boss Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s new technical director Marco van Basten has come up with arguably the most ground-breaking blueprint ever for the future of football including scrapping offside and introducing sin-bins in place of yellow cards.
By Paul Nicholson
January 19 – Manchester United have emphatically beaten Barcelona and Real Madrid to the top of the Deloitte Football Money League, beating second place Barca by almost €69 million. Eight Premier League clubs were in the top 20 that collectively generated a record €7.4 billion in the 2015/16 period – more than FIFA generates in its four-year cycle.
January 19 – Third time lucky. After twice being voted second in the CONCACAF Player of the Year, Bryan Ruiz has at last take the top honour of 2016. In the women’s vote Alex Morgan claimed her second title having won in 2014 and coming second in 2015.
By Samindra Kunti
January 19 – Brussels MP Arnaud Verstraete from the Green party has subpoenaed the region of Brussels over Belgium’s proposed stadium for EURO2020. The process is the latest hitch in the construction of the venue.
January 19 – One of the most revered footballers in Egypt’s history has been placed on the country’s terrorism list over claims that he was directly involved in funding the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
January 19 – Sporting Lisbon players were confronted by angry fans and had to be protected twice by riot police after the club’s Portuguese Cup defeat by Chaves.
January 19 – More than 1,000 cases relating to child sexual abuse within football in the United Kingdom have now been reported to police with 248 clubs caught up in the scandal according to latest figures.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 18 – Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has resisted the temptation to become the latest big-name international to be lured by China’s riches amid a mixed response to the country’s decision to tighten the rules over the number of overseas players permitted per club.
January 18 – Liverpool expect to discover on Friday whether Joel Matip is eligible to play for them as confusion continues over the defender’s availability.
January 18 – Italian giants Juventus have taken a huge branding step with the unveiling of a radical new logo and a club ‘philosophy’ based around expanding the club’s fanbase, commercial opportunities and deepening fans’ emotional involvement with the club.
January 18 – Money can’t buy you love, sang the Beatles, but turning it down might do just that. Yaya Toure will have endeared himself even more to Manchester City fans for turning down a reported $430,000 a week salary offer from China. Sporting Gijon coach Abelardo Fernandez has taken gone a step further.
January 18 – Italian bank Unicredit will not be renewing its official sponsorship of UEFA club competitions, including the Champions League, when its deal runs out at the end of the 2017/18 season, according to Unicredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier.
January 18 – The two confederations representing the Americas are reportedly studying the idea of creating a brand new competition featuring the leading countries in both regions.
January 18 – The English Football Association is considering introducing retrospective bans on players who dive or feign injury.
By Paul Nicholson
January 17 – KPMG’s Football Benchmark team has released their European Champions Report 2017. The findings might not be revolutionary in terms of new numbers but it is thought-provoking when looking at a Europe-wide view. The analysis, based on hard financial data, do show a huge swing from the days of spending big to win big, to a more sustainable management model.