By Samindra Kunti
December 16 – One of the regional heartbeats of Indian football, Goa, is becoming alienated from the domestic game, as three clubs from the region have withdrawn from the I-league and the executive committee of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has axed its Goa
representative.
December 16 – Music streaming platform Deezer is hoovering up the world’s biggest club football brands. Hard on the deals of the announcement of a deal to become Manchester United’s official music partner earlier this week, it has now unveiled FC Barcelona as a partner.
December 16 – Former Saudi Arabia international Mohammed Noor, one of his country’s most successful players, has been handed a four-year ban for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
December 15 – Football Benchmark, the sports analysis and data arm of the accountancy and consultancy specialists KPMG, has expanded its database of club financial information to more than 150 clubs with the addition of the English Football League (EFL) Championship.
December 15 – The Premier League pre-Christmas rush of matches – three games in eight days – has had very little impact on attendance levels, with eight clubs reporting over 93% of their stadiums full.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Potentially vital concessions have been made by UEFA aimed at pacifying Europe’s leagues over their fierce opposition to proposed changes to the Champions League.
By Samindra Kunti and Paul Nicholson
December 15 – The news that New York Cosmos owner Seamus O’Brien has cut playing and coaching staff and trimmed operational overhead at the club just days after winning the North American Soccer League (NASL) is a hammer blow to the league that is desperately scrambling to sign up new clubs for the 2017 season.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Any suggestion that Gianni Infantino will get an easy ride over his plans to expand the World Cup has been called into question with Europe’s clubs issuing a hard-hitting statement warning of the consequences.
December 15 – Football history was made Wednesday during the Club World Cup semifinal in Japan as the semi-final became the first official fixture to make use of video technology to award a penalty.
By Samindra Kunti
December 15 – US sportswear brand Nike has strengthened their European foothold extending their partnership with the French Football Federation until 2026. Nike this week also confirmed a £400 million 12 year renewal of their deal with England.
December 15 – Barcelona have disclosed that proceedings brought against the club regarding the signing of Neymar from Santos in 2013 have now been closed.
December 15 – The International Champions Cup (ICC) – the growing pre-season tournament that sees many of Europe’s elite clubs compete in a semi-formal club competition around the world in showcase matches – has signed tourism marketing body Visit Orlando in a multi-year partnership.
By Paul Nicholson
December 12 – Barcelona were sanctioned for the ‘irregular’ movement of players under the age of 18 and questions have been raised over the Real Madrid academy system as regards transfer of minors. But England is by far the most active in the international recruitment of minors.
December 14 – Premier League Twitter activity was up this week across all clubs, to a total of 4,760 tweets compared to 4,290 last week. With three games to market in eight days and the clubs keen to move their Christmas merchandise. the increased level of activity is not surprising.
By Paul Nicholson
December 14 – The timing is interesting, if not ironically amusing. In the week that three former chairman of the English Football Association and two former chief executives wrote to parliament saying the governing body was not fit to govern, Nike confirmed it has extended its partnership with the FA for an additional 12 years through to 2030.