By Duncan Mackay
January 7 – Sheffied City Council today denied accusations from Sheffield United that they favoured a planning application from local rivals Sheffield Wednesday over them to help them be chosen as venue for the 2018 World Cup if England’s bid to host the tournament.
January 6 – Raymond Hack (pictured) has resigned as chief executive of the South African Football Association (SAFA) less than six months before the World Cup in the continuing fall-out from the battle for power in the domestic game.
By Duncan Mackay
January 6 – Manchester City have reported a loss of £92.6 million up until May 31, 2009, the biggest annual loss in English football history and emphasises the vast amounts of money invested by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan since he bought the Eastlands outfit from Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2008.
By Duncan Mackay
January 5 – Landon Donovan (pictured), the United States best known player and a club-mate of David Beckham’s at Los Angeles Galaxy, tonight warned that Major League Soccer is heading for a lockout when the organisation’s five-year labour contract expires at the end of this month.
By Duncan Mackay
January 5 – Former Renault Formula One boss Flavio Briatore (pictured) will be able to continue to try to guide Queens Park Rangers attempt to get promotion to the Premier League after he overturned a lifetime ban from motor racing.
January 5 – Television entered a new dimension today as United States sports broadcaster ESPN said it will show some matches from this year’s World Cup live from South Africa in 3D.
By Duncan Mackay
January 5- Seattle is currently heading a poll of United Sates cities that should host matches if the country’s bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup is successful, ahead of Atlanta and Houston.
January 4 – The Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final, which last year featured David Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy, will continue to be played at a neutral venue, it was announced today.
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January 4 – Sheffield United have started taking legal action over the controversial decision to choose the stadium of their greatest rivals, Sheffield Wednesday, as a host venue for the 2018 World Cup if England’s bid is successful ahead of their own Bramall Lane (pictured).
January 4 – Academy Award-nominated director Spike Lee (pictured) is the latest eye-catching name to lend their support to the United States bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, taking his place alongside the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Drew Carey and Henry Kissinger on the Board of directors.
By Duncan Mackay
January 4 – Indonesia remains confident of the country’s Government backing its bid to host the 2022 World Cup, officials there claimed today.
By Duncan Mackay
January 4 – Some of South Africa’s former players, led by Shaun Bartlett (pictured), have launched a series of “boot camps” for teenagers as part of a new scheme bankrolled by Nike to try to find new young talent.
Encouraging home grown players is football’s equivalent of motherhood and apple pie. You will find nobody against it. Yet no debate, at least in England, could be more absurdly framed.
January 4 – Demetrio Albertini (pictured), the vice-president of the Italian Football Associaiton (FICG), has warned that the country must modernise its stadiums if its bid to host the 2016 European Championships is to be successful.
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By Duncan Mackay
January 3 – Worawi Makudi (pictured), the President of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), has abandoned plans to try to persuade England to play a friendly in Bangkok during their build-up to this year’s World Cup.