By Samindra Kunti
December 23 – Top-flight football in both Germany and Belgium will return to being played behind closed doors to combat a spike in coronavirus infections because of the Omicron variant.
December 23 – The Scottish Professional Football League has confirmed its top flight will bring forward its winter break in the wake of new restrictions on capacity crowds caused by the surge in the Omicron variant.
December 23 – Belgium will be top of the men’s FIFA rankings for a fourth successive Christmas and New Year, while the US women remain top of their rankings, a position they have held since 2017.
December 23 – Manchester City’s £50 million defender Benjamin Mendy has been charged with a fresh rape count on top of the six he is already facing.
December 23 – Russian oligarch and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has settled his libel case over publication of claims that he bought the club on the orders of Vladimir Putin.
December 23 – The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Brunei Football Federation (FABD) to strengthen the ties between the two associations.
December 23 – Egypt’s Al Ahly claimed the African Super Cup on penalties against Morocco’s Raja Casablanca to reaffirm their dominance of the continental club game.
December 23 – Germany’s Bundesliga International has extended its agreement with Sportradar for a further five years.
December 23 – Christmas has brought a timely boost for English Championship club Huddersfield Town, with BK8 signing on as the club’s Global Betting Partner for the remainder of the 2021/22 season.
December 23 – Manchester City Women’s team will warm up their new year campaign with a training camp in CostaDaurada, whose tourist authority has become the team’s latest sponsor.
By Paul Nicholson
December 22 – Talk of a biennial World Cup has overshadowed some of the crucial decision making to be made around the 2026 World Cup, and event that in itself will be groundbreaking, both for FIFA and football.
December 22 – With Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe all but ending speculation over the fate of the Africa Cup of Nations, he has reiterated that fans will need to provide a negative PCR test to attend matches and allow the competition to be organised in a bio-secure way.
December 22 – A decision on whether or not the Scottish Premiership winter break will be brought forward is expected in the next 48 hours after a 500-capacity cap was placed on all spectators over what is traditionally a heavily attended Christmas and New Year programme.
December 22 – Recently promoted Salernitana will be kicked out of Serie A if they do not find a new owner by December 31, according to Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Gabriele Gravina.
December 22 – The UK’s advertising watchdog has rebuked Premier League Arsenal over two promotions for ‘fan tokens’, a type of cryptocurrency that has exploded in popularity.