By Andrew Warshaw
January 8 – Former England captain Steven Gerrard, the latest footballing icon to further his career in the United States, as expected has chosen Los Angeles Galaxy where David Beckham made his name in the country.
The public attention for Team China’s trip to Australia this January has been very high, even though the topics mostly are not related to the potential achievements of this team in 2015 Asian Cup. Alain Perrin, the French head coach of Team China, selected a reasonably young team, with an average age of 24.5 years old, and laid off quite a few settled international players. However, the stories were all about other issues, like a funny Now We Start departure ceremony held on the sports channel of CCTV,
By Mark Baber
January 8 – As the numbers of new Ebola patients falls off dramatically in Liberia, with just eight new infections reported in 29 December to January 4 reporting period, the Liberian Football Federation has announced the resumption of competitive matches “with immediate effect,” marking a major milestone in the impoverished country’s struggle against the deadly disease which has killed at least 3,471 people in Liberia.
“It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look farther than you can see.” Winston Churchill
Last week this column took a look back over what it had predicted for 2014 to see how they had fared in reality. Now, for the first column of 2015, and as one of history’s great men once said, it seems wise to look ahead, at least as far as we can see.
January 8 – Barcelona have been quick to dispel reports that Lionel Messi is unhappy with the way the club is being run and could be on his way out of the Nou Camp.
January 8 – Despite fierce opposition from fans and the general public and a number of sponsors threatening to pull out in protest, an English lower-league club appears on the verge of offering a contract to a convicted rapist who has served a jail sentence.
By Alexander Krassimirov
January 8 – Grisha Ganchev (pictured), a member of the Bulgarian Football Union executive committee and owner of Bulgaria’s Litex Lovech is facing court charges, one of which names him as the leader of an organised crime syndicate.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 7 – Carlo Tavecchio, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), has continued to promote his plans for a reformed Italian league structure that would see both Serie A and B decrease from 20 to 18 teams.
January 7 – The tickets were quickly snapped up but the game never took place. When tiny Accrington Stanley, dubbed in England as the club that would never die after being saved from extinction, had a chance to play mighty Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup, tickets sold out in 36 hours.
January 7 – Scottish giants Rangers, striving to edge slowly back to the top flight of domestic football after being totally revamped and starting again in the lower leagues because of soaring debts, have assured the authorities and their followers that they are not heading back into the abyss despite ongoing financial troubles.
By Mark Baber
January 7 – Ahead of the African Cup of Nations a sense of optimism prevails in Ghana as Ghana National Bank (GN Bank) confirms a new sponsorship deal with the Ghana Football Association, national team manager Avram Grant professes satisfaction with the squad’s preparations and the players insist rows over bonus payments are in the past, with the team “willing to die” for the cause.
January 7 – In a move that will re-ignite the club versus country debate and be monitored with interest across Europe, Turkish football authorities have radically reduced limits on overseas imports and will soon allow teams to play with entirely foreign line-ups.
January 7 – Mexico will host the 2016 FIFA Congress in a year which is increasingly becoming of huge importance for the country and its regional confederation CONCACAF.
January 7 – Oceania Football Confederation President David Chung says obtaining direct entry into the World Cup instead of his region being forced every time into an intercontinental playoff will be a major priority after he was re-elected unopposed to run FIFA’s smallest regional bloc, in terms of footballing stature at least.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 7 – FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne insists he will not pull out of the contest as a result of Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein’s decision to run – and has called on the Jordanian to reveal the actual changes he wants to implement.