By Andrew Warshaw in Zurich
December 3 – The timing could not have been more apt. On the day the FIFA corruption scandal escalated dramatically with a second dawn raid in six months and the arrests of two more high-profile footballing figures, so decades of protocol were wiped away with a total overhaul of the way the organisation does business.
December 3 – A report into the social impact of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation on the local community has found that its activities contribute a social cost saving of more than £20 million.
By David Owen
December 3 – Stoke City, the Midlands-based Premier League club controlled by bet365, the online gambling company, has reported a second consecutive annual profit. The club, which has become an established top-tier outfit under first Tony Pulis and now Mark Hughes – and which joins Liverpool, Everton and Manchester City in the semi-finals of this season’s Capital One Cup – posted a pre-tax profit of £5.7 million for the year to May 31,
By Paul Nicholson
December 3 – Lightening does strike twice at FIFA. Police for the second time this year swooped on the Baur au Lac Hotel in Zurich in dawn raids this morning arresting two more FIFA executive committee members.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 3 – Liberian football chief Musa Bility, barred from running for FIFA president, has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to get the judgement overturned.
By David Owen
December 3 – The crisis engulfing FIFA looks to be taking its toll on the football governing body’s finances, with reports emanating from Zurich on Wednesday night to the effect that the 2015 deficit will be worse than budgeted.
By Paul Nicholson
December 2 – The commercial rights for the Copa America Centenario 2016 which sparked the US Department of Justice’s deep dive into the murky world of football marketing on its continent, have been re-awarded.
December 2 – The world’s leading football leagues gathered in Paris yesterday and have agreed to form a permanent new world association to lobby for their interests with the game’s governing bodies.
By Matt Scott
December 2 – The Greek public prosecutors who declined to pursue charges against Olympiacos in the so-called Koriopolis match-fixing scandal have been accused of accepting bribes as they considered the case.
By Mark Baber
December 2 – When it comes to a boring football match, most fans have little option but to grin and bear it. Not so with Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President of Mauritania, who in the 63rd minute of the Supercup match between FC Tevragh-Zeina and ACS Ksar, decided enough was enough and brought the action to an end – ordering the referee to proceed straight to penalties.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – Five front-line sponsors have re-iterated their demands for FIFA’s reform process to have an independent voice – just as proposals for long-lasting change are put to the scandal-plagued organisation’s top brass.
December 2 – Former Brazilian powerbroker Jose Maria Marin, who pleaded not guilty to corruption charges when he was extradited to the United States from Switzerland as one of the infamous ‘Zurich Seven’, has been having trouble meeting the $1 million in cash required as part of his $15 million bail conditions.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 2 – Within days of declaring him a free man after two years in detention, Singapore authorities have re-arrested Dan Tan, one of the world’s most notorious match-fixing kingpins accused of being the mastermind behind a global syndicate.
When Stockport County went on tour to China in 2001, it seemed symptomatic of a breezy optimism that the People’s Republic’s new-found enthusiasm for football might somehow make international brands of even comparatively small European clubs.
December 2 – Chelsea have formally submitted a planning application for the expansion of their Stamford Bridge stadium to a 60,000 capacity stadium.