By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – Significant strides have been made to bridge the footballing divide in Cyprus following breakthrough talks between Greek and Turkish representatives – the first since early 2008.
By Duncan Mackay
December 4 – A massive infrastructure project has been launched in Russia to ensure that the country is ready to host the 2018 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – A revolutionary blueprint has been agreed to revive Scottish football and make it more meaningful and competitive.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – As many as 18 Eritrean players are understood to be considering seeking asylum in Uganda after disappearing while playing in a regional tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 3 – South Korea’s Park Jong-Woo, whose political protest sparked a diplomatic row with Japan at the London 2012 Olympics, has been banned for two games by FIFA and fined 3,500 Swiss francs (£2,400/$3,800/€2,900), football’s world governing body said today.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 3 – FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke has poured scorn on Michel Platini’s revolutionary plan to stage the UEFA European Championship finals in 2020 across 12 different countries.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 3 – Despite being owned by Qatari investors and performing impressively in the Champions League, Malaga are facing UEFA sanctions for failing to pay millions of euros of players’ wages on time.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 3 – The battle to take control of African football has taken a significant new twist with the announcement that the Ivory Coast is planning to nominate Jacques Anouma to stand against Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Issa Hayatou in next March’s elections in Morocco.
By Duncan Mackay
December 1 – A protest march has been held against the privatisation of Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium, which is currently being redeveloped for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 30 – Considerable work still needs to be done to bring Brazil up to speed for both next summer’s Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup, according to FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 30 – Reformers within Asian football have been left shocked and disappointed after their campaign to heal deep-rooted rifts and crack down on corruption was dismissed by the Continent’s top brass.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 30 – In a rare move, Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg are going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the Russian Football Union (RFU) turned down their appeal against being punished following serious crowd trouble at the recent domestic fixture at Dynamo Moscow.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 30 – Scotland has reiterated its interest in playing a part in the 2020 European Championship finals after representatives attended a UEFA summit in Dublin.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 30 – David Beckham, one of the icons of his generation, has been heavily linked with a career-ending move to French club Monaco as he prepares to round off his time with LA Galaxy in the United States.
It is not often in football you hear many people talk about Roman Abramovich, Florentino Perez and Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Crown Prince of Qatar being “visionary men”, and all in the same breath.
The first two are widely regarded as using football clubs, Chelsea and Real Madrid, as their play things, an impression strengthened in the Russian’s case by the way he got rid of his last manager Roberto Di Matteo.