By Paul Nicholson
December 4 – Real Madrid have been the latest of Europe’s big clubs to outline the financial impact of the global pandemic on their finances – in Real’s case a €16 million hit on 2019/20 expected revenue and a drop in profit from €38 million last year to €330,000 this.
December 4 – Italy have been chosen to host the climax of the Nations League in October next year and will face Spain while Belgium take on France in two mouth-watering ties
December 4 – Barcelona’s financial crisis has taken a massive hit with Carlos Tusquets, the club’s interim president, announcing that player salaries in January will be postponed.
December 4 – Fans returning to English Premier League games this weekend will have to wear face masks at all times and have been banned from over-excessive singing or chanting to avoid Covid-19 transmission.
December 4 – Chinese Super League clubs have been ordered to drop the corporate part of their names for the start of next season by the Chinese FA.
December 4 – UEFA has gone green and it isn’t just about the greenbacks its top clubs and players so voraciously gobble up. Their ‘greenness’ this time is for the greater good.
December 4 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has launched its first SIGA Youth Forum that will take take place on January 27-28 next month.
December 4 – Chinese Super League side Guangzhou R&F have parted company after just one season with head coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
December 4 – Manchester United boss Ed Woodward (pictured) has said that his club wouldn’t participate in a European Super League. He argued that changes to the European football structure should be “complementary to thriving domestic leagues”.
December 3 – City Football Group and soft drinks brand Red Bull have blazed a trail in the area of multi-club football ownership, and in the pandemic era of no fans and an uncertain broadcast and sponsorship market, opportunities to buy professional teams have never been greater.
December 3 – Arsenal vs Rapid Vienna on a cold Thursday evening in the Europa League’s group stage with nothing at stake may not be the most glamorous occasion, but this dead rubber will take on significance for the club’s faithful and the wider English sporting community as Arsenal will host 2,000 fans at the match, the first Premier League club to welcome back fans since the coronavirus shutdown.
December 3 – Flamengo will no longer have to pay an allowance of 10,000 Brazilian Reias (€1,578) to the families of the victims of the Ninho de Urubu training complex tragedy, a Rio de Janeiro court ruled.
December 3 – UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin (pictured) and European Parliament President David Sassoli met by videoconference on Wednesday with an agenda focussed on working together to tackle racism and promote inclusion, and safeguard solidarity in European football.
December 3 – Former Wales captain Laura McAllister looks set to become one of the most powerful women in world and European football.
December 3 – Sportswear and boot brand New Balance has expanded its partnerships in Japan with the addition of J-League club FC Tokyo in a multi-year sponsorship.