By Paul Nicholson in Hong Kong
December 2 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) crowned their top players and highest performing member associations at a glittering Hong Kong awards ceremony last night that fused modern and traditional Hong Kong with a celebration of the best of Asian football.
Life has certainly not been peaches and cream for former CAF finance director Mohamed El Sherei over the last seven months. In a one-hour exclusive conversation, at the Heliopolis Sports Club in Cairo in November, El Sherei, who has been without an income for several months, spoke frankly, to Insideworldfootball’s Osasu Obayiuwana, on what he says has been a tumultuous period, for him and the organisation to which he once belonged.
By Paul Nicholson in Hong Kong
December 3 – The AFC is bringing forward the award of hosts for its 2027 Asian Cup, opening up a bid process for the confederation’s flagship tournament that will begin early 2020 with the hosts expected to be chosen in early 2021.
December 3 – Javier Tebas has resigned as La Liga president, but the Spanish football administrator will stand for re-election.
December 3 – The United Kingdom and Ireland may be inching closer towards a joint-bid for the 2030 World Cup after a positive feasibility study.
By David Owen
December 3 – The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) has announced that the 2020 edition of the World Football Cup will be hosted by Skopje.
December 3 – Lionel Messi is football. At least he is when it comes to award ceremonies with the Argentinean last night picking up a record sixth Ballon d’Or, edging Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk by a mere seven points.
December 3 – Lionel Messi heads a table of outfield players who have played the highest percentage of domestic league minutes in the big-5 league team in the 2010s.
City Football Group (CFG)’s business strategy always seemed rather baffling. Yes, OK, assemble a collection of similar businesses – in this case football clubs – inside the same tent and you can shave back-office costs. You might be able to engineer a less wasteful talent development pipeline than one-legged rivals. And if the real aim is soft power, well, the Abu Dhabi flag has been well and truly planted in outposts of the beautiful game from Melbourne to Mumbai.
December 2 – Not before time, all 20 Serie A clubs in Italy have made a united pledge to combat the “serious problem” of racism which, they say, “shames us all”.
December 2 – In an unprecedented move that has drawn football inexorably into the political arena, Chile has cancelled the entire rest of its domestic season following weeks of anti-government protests that have led to a reported 26 deaths and hundreds of serious injuries.
By Paul Nicholson in Hong Kong
December 2 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has agreed qualification criteria for the expanded 24-team Club World Cup in 2021 and the three and a half slots allocated for AFC clubs.
By Paul Nicholson in Hong Kong
December 1 – Japan’s Saki Kumagai, a star player in the Olympique Lyonnais triple winning team and a key member of her national side, said that she welcomed the proposal for a women’s Club World Cup saying that it would be a good challenge for Europe’s clubs but “also for clubs in Asia as well.”
December 2 – The 13th edition of the I-League kicked off this weekend in India, but the fate and future of India’s flagship league remains uncertain.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
December 2 – Players of Zamalek, the 2019 CAF Confederation Cup winners, have been without wages for four months.