By Andrew Warshaw
January 17 – After months of speculation and innumerable column inches, England’s Premier League clubs have lost out on the services of Pep Guardiola, with the much-touted Spanish coach opting for Bayern Munich next season at the end of his year-long self-imposed sabbatical.
By Mark Baber
January 16 – The English Football Association, The FA, launched its 150th year anniversary with a heart-warming display of appreciation to the Football Association and English football by football leaders and legends from around the world, as well as a demonstration by the FA of the great emphasis it places on grassroots football, inclusion and the endeavours of volunteers.
By Andrew Warshaw, Chief Correspondent, in Nicosia, Cyprus
January 16 – After more than half a century of isolation during which they have become international outcasts, football officials of Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus will sit side-by-side with their Greek counterparts on Thursday for landmark talks aimed at unifying the sport on the deeply divided Mediterranean island.
16 January – The League Managers Association (LMA) in the UK and medical provider Perform struck a deal to provide a fitness and wellbeing programme for managers at the new FA training facility at St George’s Park.
The 150th anniversary of the Football Association certainly deserves to be celebrated. Any organisation that has reached such a venerable age has the right to celebrate its birthday and no doubt get a telegram from the Queen, or however Her Majesty marks such occasions these days.
But the tipple for the occasion should not be Krug champagne but a glass of Prosecco. For all the warm words that are now being showered on the FA from far and wide the best thing that can be said about the FA is that it still exists.
January 16 – The (English) Football Association, The FA, launched its 150th year anniversary at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London today.
By Mark Baber
January 16 – The first public ticket sales phase for the FIFA Confederations Cup, which kicks off on the June 15 in Brasilia, has been a great success, according to FIFA, with 399,525 ticket requests received.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – Eighteen months before staging the World Cup, Brazil’s Serie A clubs are introducing a club membership scheme supported by the league’s corporate sponsors.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – Kevin-Prince Boateng’s now famous walkoff in protest at being racially abused was technically against the rules, but the Ghanaian will not be punished, Serie A’s disciplinary commissioner has ruled.
By Mark Baber
January 16 – Manchester United has expanded its commerical its links in China with two three-year sponsorship deals with China Construction Bank (CCB) and soft drinks manufacturer Wahaha.
By Mark Baber
January 16 – Indonesia’s new youth and sports minister Roy Suryo (pictured) has threatened to disband Indonesia’s two rival football factions unless a solution is found their row before a FIFA’s imposed March 16 deadline to settle their differences.
January 15 – Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp has taken a majority stake in German pay-TV company Sky Deutschland in a calculated gamble that will use football as the core content for the acquisition of new subscribers, increased revenues per subscriber and ultimately profitability in 2013.
By Mark Baber
January 15 – Giancarlo Abete has been re-elected as President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), winning 94.34% of the vote in the FIGC Elective Assembly in an uncontested election yesterday.
By Mark Baber
January 15 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has lifted its decision to ban Mohun Bagan after the team refused to play the second half of an Indian League match against East Bengal following violence last December.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – The Association of Football Agents (AFA) has angrily criticised FIFA’s plans to introduce a new system to reduce the influence of agents, denouncing it as unworkable. The UK-based body represents about 350 agents.