On-line retail giant takes control at J-League’s Vissel Kobe
By Paul Nicholson
December 9 – J-League club Vissel Kobe has been bought by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, the club’s shirt sponsor, for an undisclosed amount.
Real crackdown with stadium ban for anti-Barca chanters
December 9 – One of the world’s great footballing rivalries has turned ugly after Real Madrid banned 17 of their own supporters for abusive chants about Lionel Messi and Barcelona.
HNK Rijeka escape sanctions over Man City racism allegations
December 9 – FIFA have decided to take no disciplinary action against Croatian side HNK Rijeka after dropping Manchester City’s allegation of racism during an under-21 friendly last summer.
Malaysian minister apologies to Vietnamese fans for Suzuki Cup violence
December 9 – Malaysia’s minister of youth and sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, has apologised to Vietnam supporters after they were attacked during the semi-final of the Suzuki Cup in at Malaysia’s Shah Alam stadium.
Blatter, the ‘team player’, opts to go down without a fight
By David Owen in Monte Carlo
December 9 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Monday went along with the Agenda 2020 recommendation that will force him to retire from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the end of 2016, telling Insideworldfootball he was a “team player”.
Women’s 2015 World Cup draw greeted with increased prize money and GLT
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – The artificial turf war may be partially overshadowing next year’s women’s World Cup but the participants cannot complain about discrimination when it comes to goal-line technology.
Nigerian crisis needs application of law, but who’s law?
By Mark Baber
December 8 – In the wake of Barrister Okey Ajunwa’s Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) Appeals Committee 80-page report which concluded the election of Amaju Pinnick was flawed and should be rerun, and the refusal of the NFF to accept that report, FIFA is now faced with a choice.
Al Ahly fans storm stadium but leave to allow team to take CAF Cup win
December 8 – About 2,000 fans stormed Cairo’s main stadium at the weekend ahead of a rare match that supporters were allowed to attend. Egyptian fans have been barred from attending domestic league matches for the past four seasons after political violence by organised fan groups have led to riots and deaths.
Kaliningrad confirmed as final piece in 2018 World Cup puzzle
December 8 – After much on/off deliberation, the site for the new stadium in Kaliningrad for the Russia 2018 World Cup will be on the Oktrabrskij Island, rather than on the site of the existing stadium.
Garcia left out in the cold as FIFA chiefs warm up for Morocco exco meetings
By Tim Röhn
December 8 – When the rulers of world football travel in the week before Christmas to the Moroccan royal city of Marrakesh for the Club World Cup, there will be more than usual to discuss during the pre-Christmas sessions.
Exclusive: Proposed AFC shake-up looks bad for women as power base shifts west
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – In another contentious shake-up within its hierarchy, Asian football looks set to scrap its automatic female vice-presidency, held by Australia’s Moya Dodd, a move that is bound to lay the region open to accusations of gender discrimination just when it has been making all manner of noises about inclusion and reform.
FIFA funnels $1.5m public viewing cash into Football for Hope programme
December 8 – FIFA is to plough the $1.5 million generated from 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil commercial public viewing fees back into its Football for Hope social development programme.
Football confident it is unaffected by Russian sport’s doping culture
December 8 – FIFA says it has “no indications” that football is implicated in the alleged systematic doping culture in Russian sport.
Le Coq Sportif lines up Fiorentina, Saint-Etienne kit deals
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 5 – In a bid to boost its position in the European football market, French sports apparel maker Le Coq Sportif is reportedly planning to become the kit supplier of French club AS Saint-Etienne and Italy’s ACF Fiorentina.
Nigerian chaos as now Pinnick is stripped of presidency but refuses to go
By Mark Baber
December 5 – The day after members of the Nigerian Football Federation Electoral Appeals Committee (NFF) broke ranks with their own chairmen to issue “decisions” purportedly upholding the legitimacy of the disputed September 30 elections which produced the current Amaju Pinnick-led (pictured) executive, the committee chairman, Okechukwu Ajunwa, has ruled that those same elections are nullified and Amaju Pinnick should cease to parade himself as NFF president.