By David Gold
November 25 – Dutch giants Ajax will choose between two of the most influential men in the club’s history, Louis van Gaal (pictured) and Johan Cruyff, at a shareholders meeting on December 12, in order to end the internal civil war between the two men’s respective supporters.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – Too many footballers are risking their long-term careers by having painkilling injections before matches, FIFA’s medical chief warned today.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – FIFA’s medical chief, Jirí Dvorák (pictured), has called on anti-doping authorities not to take too hard a line against clenbuterol and to be more understanding about how and why the substance gets into the body.
Sepp Blatter may believe the furore he provoked by his comments on racism in football is behind him. He could not be more mistaken. He will have to live with the consequences of his absurd comment that if there is racism on the field of play it can be got rid of by a post-match hand shake.
Worse still, the damage he has done to FIFA, when the organisation is already so beleaguered, cannot be overestimated.
By David Gold
November 24 – Chelsea have appointed Mike Hussey, chief executive of property investment and development company Almacantar, to investigate the possibility of the club constructing a new stadium at Battersea Power Station.
By David Gold
November 24 – The African Olympic football qualifying tournament gets underway in Morocco this weekend, but a row between the hosts and Nigeria is overshadowing the build up to the event.
By David Gold
November 24 – Zhang Jilong (pictured right), the acting President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has claimed that it is “business as normal” after a controversial year for the organisation.
By David Gold
November 24 – The Russian organising committee for the 2018 FIFA World Cup have signed an agreement with the Olympic Games Transport Directorate, who have worked on the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the Kazan 2013 Summer University Games, to develop transport links during the competition.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 24 – A Swiss anti-corruption expert has emerged as the key player in FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s quest to rid the organisation of sleaze and scandal.
Here’s a thought for these turbulent financial times in Europe: Could UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations (FFP) survive a collapse of the Euro?
These are the rules through which the governing body’s boss Michel Platini hopes to save European football from itself by, to oversimplify outrageously, obliging clubs to operate on a break-even basis.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – A European arrest warrant has been issued by Lithuanian prosecutors for the Russian owner of troubled English Championship club Portsmouth.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – FIFA’s youngest Executive Committee member, Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, has been mandated by his Confederation to press for women footballers being allowed to wear the hijab, the Islamic headscarf.
By Andrew Warshaw
November 23 – Danny Jordaan, organiser of last year’s World Cup in South Africa, is targeting the Presidency of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) as he bids to re-enter football administration after a year out of the limelight.
By David Gold
November 23 – Malaysia will host the final stage of the Asian men’s football qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in March next year, following a decision made at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Executive Committee.
By David Gold
November 22 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter (pictured) believes that the American Major League Soccer (MLS) calendar should be aligned with the main European leagues, so that the domestic season is played from autumn to spring.