January 3 – For the first time in history eight stadiums will welcome 24 teams from across the Continent for the upcoming Asian Cup, the world’s second oldest continental competition.
January 3 – It is little surprise that eyebrows are being raised across Europe at the progress of the Istanbul club that are currently six points clear at the top of the Turkish league.
January 3 – Drinking alcohol at the World Cup in 2022 is already a highly sensitive subject and now Qatar are set to introduce a 100% tax on all alcohol sales.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 2 – Brand new year, same old rhetoric from FIFA about an expanded World Cup in 2022.
January 2 – No sooner has the January transfer window opened than cash-rich Chelsea are the first to strike, landing Borussia Dortmund forward Christian Pulisic for €64 million though loaning him back to the German club until the end of the season.
January 2 – Banned Afghan football boss Keramuddin Karim (pictured) has broken his silence over allegations of sexual abuse by totally denying wrongdoing and suggesting his accusers may have invented the claims to help their applications for asylum in Europe.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
January 2 – Out of the 552 players in the Asian Cup 2019, to be staged in the United Arab Emirates from January 5 to February 1, about 75% are taking part in the Asian football showpiece for the first time.
By Paul Nicholson
January 2 – Saudi Arabia’s controversial Turki Al-Sheikh who as president of the General Sports Authority has involved himself in the international football market and its politics, has had his ministerial position re-organised with a move to chairman of the Entertainment Authority.
January 2 – Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has taken control of Spanish lower-league club FC Andorra for an undisclosed sum.
January 2 – FIFA has been hit with a Swiss Supreme Court ruling ordering it to pay $16.8 million plus interest in compensation to US-based ticket broker JB Sports Marketing (JBSM), for World Cup tickets it never received.
January 1 – The search is on again for a new head of the English Premier League after the sudden withdrawal of broadcasting executive Susanna Dinnage before she even started.
January 1 – UEFA and the international players’ union FIFPro have both criticised the match officials for “failing to respect anti-racism protocol” after monkey chants were directed at Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly throughout his team’s 1-0 Serie A loss at Inter Milan on Boxing Day.
December 28 – The pre-match violence and racist chanting at the Inter Milan vs Napoli match at the San Siro in Milan on Boxing Day have immediately resulted in a ban on Inter fans attending the club’s next two home games.
December 28 – The boom in football leagues, federations and clubs entering the esports market is only scratching the surface of the potential of the business if you look at the volumes of prize money paid out in eSports competitions over 2018.
December 28 – With the AFC Asian Cup 2019 about to kick off in the UAE where the politicking off the pitch could be as potentially competitive as some of the play on it, the AFC ethics function appears to have fired a warning shot that it is not impotent and that it will observe its own governance rules and use its powers.