USA 1 Saudi Arabia 0
June 19 – American comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to say, “I don’t get no respect.” The same could be said for the United States Men’s Soccer Team as barely 10,000 fans showed up for a supporter friendly 8.15 pm kickoff versus Concacaf Gold Cup, Group D opponents, Saudi Arabia in a 1-0 win that again raised more questions than answers.
December 6 – French prodigy Kylian Mbappé tops the ranking by transfer value of U21 players in the big-5 European leagues. The PSG striker takes over the lead spot from Spurs’ Dele Alli.
December 6 – Unlikely as it may seem, FIFA are reportedly considering the option of pushing back Qatar’s staging of the World Cup to 2026 because of the current impasse in the area – and splitting 2022 between the United States, Canada and Mexico who are bidding for the later tournament.
December 5 – A prominent Brazilian businessman testified on Monday that he participated in a bribery scheme to buy the influence of key FIFA officials in order to win commercial rights to major tournaments, a decision he later regretted.
December 5 – After considerable reflection Sunil Gulati has ruled himself out of contesting the presidential election for the US Soccer Federation (USSF). Gulati is standing aside after the United States’ abject failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and having been head of the USSF for 12 years.
December 5 – For the second time this year, a bronze statue of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has been vandalised in Buenos Aires with the motive unclear.
December 5 – Italian Serie B club Frosinone has launched a mini-bond to raise €1 million to invest in stadium upgrades that will in turn drive commercial revenue for the club. It is the first fund-raising of its kind in Italian club football.
By David Owen
December 5 – Clubs which supply squad members for next year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia can look forward to massively increased payments of around $8,530 per player per day, in recognition of their “contribution to the successful staging” of the tournament.
December 5 – Mid-week evening fixtures are more popular – just – than weekend fixtures, if rounds 14 and 15 of the Premier League schedule are an indicator.
December 5 – Tottenham Hotspur have said that the construction costs for the club’s new stadium on the site of the old White Hart Lane ground are still forecast come in between £750 million and £800 million, and not hit the £1 billion cost reported.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – Brussels looks set to stripped as a host city for Euro 2020 this week with Stockholm likely to be parachuted in as a replacement.
December 4 – The cost of Tottenham Hotspur’s new North London stadium has ballooned to more that £1 billion, making it the most expensive football construction project in the UK, costing even more than West Ham’s Olympic Stadium, built for the 2012 Olympics and remodelled into the London Stadium for the Hammers.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – The joke buzzing around social media after last Friday’s evenly balanced World Cup draw was that there IS actually a Group of Death: Netherlands, Italy, Chile and the United States.
December 4 – West Ham’s tenancy at the London Stadium has been controversial from the start. Accusations that the stadium was a government giveaway to the Premier League club seem to have now been backed up London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s announcement that he is stepping in to take over the running of the stadium that is costing the taxpayer £20 million a year.
December 4 – The conduct of Zimbabwean football boss Philip Chiyangwa (pictured), an ally of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, has been called into question in his own country amid allegations of corruption.
December 4 – The French Football Federation (FFF) have prolonged their commercial partnership with automotive manufacturer Volkswagen until June 2023.