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.
UEFA integrates new Nations League format into 2020 Euro qualification slots
By Andrew Warshaw
December 5 – UEFA has formally outlined how its new Nations League competition – being brought in to replace meaningless friendlies and featuring promotion and relegation – will work.
Turf war row continues on eve of 2015 Women’s World Cup draw
By Paul Nicholson and Andrew Warshaw
December 5 – With the final preparations taking place for the draw for Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, to be held in Ottawa tomorrow, the lawyer representing the group of players campaigning for matches to be switched from artificial turf to natural grass has accused FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke of reneging on a pledge to discuss the issue with the players.
Argentinian Franco Nieto brutally beaten to death after league match
December 5 – Argentine football has been stunned by another shocking fatal tragedy after a player was brutally attacked. Franco Nieto (pictured), captain of regional club Tiro Federal was struck on the head following a third-tier match against rivals Chacarita Juniors in the town of Aimogasta, in north-west Argentina.
Bundesliga votes to bring in goal-line technology
December 5 – Having backed away from goal-line technology because of the costs involved, Germany’s Bundesliga has decided the time is right to implement its introduction to settle contentious decisions over whether the ball has crossed the line.
UEFA ban Crimean clubs from playing in Russian leagues
By Andrew Warshaw
December 5 – Clearly exasperated that months of talks failed to achieve the hoped-for breakthrough, UEFA have taken the ultimate step of banning clubs in the annexed Crimea region of Ukraine from playing in any Russian-organised football competitions.
$550m China TV deal signals 2022 Winter Olympics will hold its January slot
By David Owen
December 5 – Any last flickering prospect of a re-run of the race for the 2022 Winter Olympics, in a move that could conceivably have sparked the emergence of a southern hemisphere candidate and freed up the January-February time-slot for the FIFA World Cup, has been snuffed out by the announcement of a lucrative new TV deal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
CIES updates player valuation calculator for new transfer window
December 5 – With the European transfer window opening January 1, the CIES Football Observatory has updated its online calculator that gives a transfer value to players in the ‘Big-5’ European leagues; England’s Premier League, France’s Ligue 1, Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and Spain’s Primera.
Huge cut in football staff helps blue side of Manchester reduce red ink
By David Owen
December 4 – A halving in the number of football staff employed by the club has helped Manchester City to report much-reduced annual losses and added to the growing impression that 2013-14 will bring a marked improvement in Premier League club finances.
Belgian clubs fear academy exodus over drop in compensation fees
By Samindra Kunti
December 4 – Belgian top clubs are fearing an exodus of their homegrown talent after FIFA reduced the international training compensation from €75,000 to €10,000 a year for players aged 12 to 15 in the summer.
Celtic to appeal to CAS over Tonev ban for racial abuse
December 4 – Scottish champions Celtic are prepared to go all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in their appeal against Bulgarian Aleksandar Tonev’s racism charge.
Red carded Moldovanov gets 10-match ban for bottle throw
December 4 – A Bulgarian player who tried to strike a referee with a bottle after being sent off has been banned for 10 games by his country’s football association.
Valencia hunt for ‘Messi-bottle’ thrower
December 4 – Valencia have promised to ban for life the fan who threw a plastic bottle that struck Lionel Messi on the head – if the club can ever discover who the culprit was.