January 20 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in Russia at the weekend for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Cup youth championship in St Petersburg, said that he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin who had assured him that the World Cup was not in jeopardy despite the country’s economic difficulties.
Back in the late 1990s as a passionate Tottenham Hotspur fan – which I still am – I was mesmerised watching David Ginola. He may have played at a number of other clubs, both in England and his native France, but it was at Tottenham where his silky skills were wholeheartedly embraced by the fans who elevated him to near-legendary status.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 19 – A group of US senators has written to FIFA president Sepp Blatter in support of the elite female players who have been protesting against the decision to stage this summer’s women’s World Cup in Canada on artificial turf.
By Mark Baber
January 19 – The threatened occupation of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Glass House HQ by the Chris Giwa faction fighting for leadership of the NFF didn’t take place last week as both Giwa and Amaju Pinnick were appearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne on Friday in attempt to find settlement of the disputed elections into the executive board of the NFF.
By Paul Nicholson
January 19 – The battle for control of Scotland’s Rangers Football Club continued over the weekend with angry fans protesting at Saturday’s match against league leaders Hearts (abandoned after 20 minuted due to heavy snow), and this morning the board announcing to the stock exchange that it is seeking the withdrawal of a notice for a general meeting that would seek to oust four directors.
January 19 – Organisers of the Africa Cup of Nations have sought to play down complaints about sub-standard facilities but have admitted the tournament, which got under way at the weekend, may not be of the highest standard.
January 19 – A senior Qatari government minister has hit back at protests over the mistreatment of migrant workers in his country, saying global pressure on the Gulf state to improve conditions is simply “a dirty game” to discredit the 2022 World Cup hosts.
By Alexander Krassimirov
January 19 – The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) and Football Pro Media have reached an agreement on a new contract for the television rights for Bulgaria’s top division – A group. The contract, which will start at the beginning of 2016 and runs through to the end of 2020, will see the BFU receive a total of BGN 30 million (€15 million).
Ricordate i lamenti alla fine del Mondiale brasiliano? Ricordate i buoni propositi? “Mai più una vergogna di questo genere: ora occorre che tutti lavorino per ricostruire il calcio italiano”. Ebbene, ad appena sei mesi di distanza dalle belle parole (a pensarci bene, assai simili a quelle udite dopo il Mondiale sudafricano del 2010), sembra di leggere un discorso di Giulio Cesare vecchio di ventuno secoli. Tutto, o quasi, dimenticato.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 17 – The municipal authorities of Kielce have decided to bail out troubled football club Korona Kielce with an allocation of PLN7.8 million (€1.9 million) from the city’s budget for 2015. The funds will allow the club to continue competing in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Poland’s professional football league, in the current season.
By David Owen
January 17 – FIFA has revealed that almost €40 million was paid to clubs under its inaugural Club Protection Programme (CPP) running from 1 September 2012 to 31 December 2014. All told, 126 cases were settled and €39.3 million paid out under the scheme, which compensates clubs when their players are injured on international duty.
So why is it that, with just under two weeks to go, it has not been possible to find a candidate who can seriously challenge Sepp Blatter? Jerome Champagne, after a year of campaigning, may now not even get on the ballot, Prince Ali cannot win his own Asian confederation and, as far as the candidacy of David Ginola is concerned that sounds like a nice bookmaker’s wheeze.
January 16 – Teams arriving for the Africa Cup of Nations which starts tomorrow in Equatorial Guinea have reportedly been suffering from a lack of hotel rooms and other facilities.
January 16 – The Asian Football Confederation says every effort is being made to avoid match-fixing at the Asian Cup.
By Mark Baber
January 16 – Ronaldo’s conquest of the Golden Ball, football’s top individual honour, will have added five to ten million euros to the value of his CR7 brand, probably taking his value over the 60 million euro mark, according to Professor Daniel Sá, author of a IPAM School of Marketing study.