By Tom Degun
December 10 – The magnificent new 60,000 capacity Arena Grêmio has opened in Porto Alegre in Brazil despite the fact that it was controversially overlooked for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
By Emily Goddard
December 10 – Manchester United will travel to Sydney to play a friendly match against the Australian A-League All Stars as part of its 2013 preseason tour, it was confirmed today.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – UEFA President Michel Platini says the pan-continental 2020 European Championship finals will be a help rather than hindrance for thousands of fans criss-crossing borders.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 9 – Mohamed Bin Hammam, still suspended from world football pending possible fresh sanctions after FIFA-appointed prosecutors completed their inquiry into alleged malpractice by the former head of Asian football, is set to make a rare public appearance in Europe.
Some thoughts on Euro 2020:
● Yes, a 24-team tournament is too unwieldy for most European countries to take on; but it is simplistic to suggest that this alone forced UEFA’s hand, necessitating the adoption of Michel Platini’s Grand Experiment – a competition spread around the great arenas of the European continent.
Turkey, pipped at the post for Euro 2016, could have coped with the expanded format and would, I’m sure,
By Andrew Warshaw
December 7 – John Mikel Obi, the Chelsea midfielder at the centre of the recent case concerning referee Mark Clattenburg who was cleared of racism, has himself been handed a three-match ban and fined £60,000 ($96,000/€74,000) by the English Football Association (FA) for threatening Clattenburg.
By Duncan Mackay at the Palace Hotel in Lausanne
December 7 – A Disciplinary Commission has been set-up by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which could see South Korean footballer Park Jong-woo denied the bronze medal he won at London 2012 for his political protest.
December 7 – UEFA has announced an extension of its long-term marketing partnership with TEAM Marketing.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 7 – Twenty four hours before it was due to expire, the latest 45-day suspension of former FIFA vice-president Mohamed Bin Hammam, who has been out of football for 18 months, was again extended today but left open-ended after FIFA-appointed prosecutors completed their investigation into alleged malpractice by the once most powerful figure in Asian football.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 7 – UEFA President Michel Platini’s revolutionary plan to stage the 2020 European Championship finals in at least 12 cities across the entire Continent was officially approved by his Executive Committee today – though with few additional details.
By Tom Degun
December 7 – Londoners must not be asked to pay any more money for the transformation of the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, especially now West Ham United have been named the preferred bidders, a report from the London Assembly said today.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 6 – FIFA has given rival Indonesian football factions until Monday (December 10) to end their in-fighting or face suspension from the world game, according to local reports.
Did the ball cross the line? It’s a question fans have been asking ever since the 1966 FIFA World Cup final when England striker Geoff Hurst’s extra time goal against Germany was dubiously yet innocently allowed to stand by the Swiss referee on the advice of his Soviet linesman.
The other more pressing question is why nothing has ever been done, in the 46 years since, to avoid countless similar occurrences of the referee getting it wrong,
By Andrew Warshaw
December 6 – FIFA has welcomed the introduction of goal-line technology, being rolled out for the first time in official competition at the Club World Cup in Japan starting today.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 6 – Blighted by an alarming crime rate, Brazil is boosting its 2014 FIFA World Cup security budget to 1.879 billion Brazilian real (£560 million/$900 million/€680 million) to make sure the event is “one of the most protected sports events in history,” the Government has announced.