Covering the murky, newsy, side of football can be an unpleasant business.
Frequently leading you away from what you loved about the game in the first places. Encapsulated in recent years by the scandal surrounding the games governing body.
By Mark Baber
December 17 – Members of Besiktas’ Carsi supporter group, Turkish opposition groups, human rights campaigners and rival supporters gathered outside an Istanbul court chanting “Stand against fascism” as 35 members of the ultra group went on trial for participating in the demonstrations against the redevelopment of Gezi Park, one of Istanbul’s last areas of greenery.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
December 17 – FC Copenhagen has extended its sponsorship contract with Denmark’s leading brewer Carlsberg. The new contract will see the company remain the football side’s sponsor until 2021.
December 17 – Celtic’s Bulgarian on-loan winger Aleksandar Tonev has lost his appeal against a seven-match ban for racially abusing an opponent.
December 17 – Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has vehemently denied being involved in match-fixing after his name was one of those released by Spanish authorities investigating an alleged scandal that took place in La Liga four years ago involving 41 players and officials.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – The two whistleblowers interviewed during Michael Garcia’s World Cup corruption probe have had their complaints that they were unfairly identified rejected by FIFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – The timing could have not have been more apt. Just as their top brass gather in Morocco for what could prove a pivotal executive committee meeting, so FIFA’s appeals committee has made an attempt to close another chapter in the seemingly interminable 2018 and 2022 World Cup corruption probe.
By Paul Nicholson
December 17 – Russia has swiftly dismissed any discussion that the crashing value of the Ruble could in turn lead to a withdrawal from hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup on economic grounds.
December 17 – Hosts USA, Costa Rica and Mexico have all been seeded for the three group stage of the 2015 Gold Cup which will be played across 13 North American cities, including crossing into Canada for the first time.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 16 – Europe’s clubs and leagues have devised a last-ditch strategy for keeping the Qatar 2022 World Cup close to the tournament’s traditional summer time slot in order to avoid an unpredecented and controversial switch to winter.
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.