By Mark Baber
December 16 – The multi-billion pound auction for Premier League television rights, which kicked off on Friday, has led to a 4.4% fall in the share price of Sky plc on Monday on fears the company could be outbid by BT on a number of packages, and predictions the total bill could be as high as £5 billion, An Ofcom investigation, initiated by Virgin, has added to the lack of stability in the market.
December 16 – Just a couple of weeks before the start of the mad scramble mid-season transfer window, three of English football’s most iconic clubs – Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest – have been slapped with transfer embargoes for the rest of the season for breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
December 16 – Croatia have been ordered to close a section of their ground for their next Euro 2016 home qualifier as punishment for racist behaviour and crowd trouble in last month’s fixture against group rivals Italy.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Manchester United and Atletico Madrid have been rocked by the revelation that their respective midfield stars Ander Herrera (pictured) and Gabi are among more than 40 people named in an alleged match-fixing scandal that took place in Spanish football four years ago.
By Denis de Haas and Christian Paschwitz
December 16 – In an interview on German sports channel SPORT1’s Doppelpass Talk programme, former playing legend Paul Breitner who is now an advisor to the Bayern Munich board, said that the success of Bayern has much to do with the incompetence of their opponents. His comments have sparked rage and debate in Germany. Click on the video link to watch the excerpt from Doppelpass Talk.
By Paul Nicholson
December 16 – Somalian football took another major symbolic step forward this weekend with a Super Cup final that was packed with passion, historic significance, a penalty shootout, and hope for the future in front of a packed crowd at the recently refurbished Banadir Stadium in Mogadishu.
December 16 – Play-in series dates for the final 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup berth between French Guyana and Honduras have been set for March next year. The series will provide a fist test for new Honduran coach Jorge Luis Pinto who achieved fame in the Summer with his stewardship of Costa Rica at the world Cup.
December 15 – Both of last season’s Spanish Champions League finalists have been drawn against German opposition in the first knockout stage of the competition in February.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 15 – Strict new legislation has been passed in Switzerland aimed at fighting money laundering among sports officials by tightening up the scrutiny of bank accounts held by governing bodies such as Fifa and the International Olympic Committee.
By Mark Baber
December 15 – The quarter finals of the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday saw Kiwi semi-professionals Auckland City go through at the expense of African Champions ES Setif whilst Mexican side Cruz Azul controversially defeated Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers on a waterlogged pitch, thanks largely to some remarkable refereeing.
December 15 – While the hierarchy of Asian football continues to be embroiled in politics, on the ground the not-for-profit Asian Football Development Project is endeavouring to present the region in a more charitable, compassionate light.
December 15 – The Swedish football association has waded into the debate over transparency within FIFA by suggesting world football’s governing body adopt the Nordic way of behaving when it comes to openness.
December 15 – The idea of playing a Premier League match overseas, heavily mooted a few years ago, will not take place in the foreseeable future.
One of the qualities that have underpinned Sepp Blatter’s long career in sports administration/politics is his bouncebackability. This was on display again in Monaco last week.
By Ricardo Setyon
December 15 – The recent illness of Pele that kept the Brazilian nation anxiously watching their news bulletins, was also the opportunity for the football legend to announce his latest image rights deal.