December 23 – FIFA has set the dates for the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia and the 2018 World Cup. The governing body has agreed that some World cup qualification matches can begin as early as next March.
December 23 – FIFA has announced that it is abolishing age limits for international referees. The previous rule forced match officials to leave its international list before the turn of their 46th birthday.
As we settle back over the holidays and watch the pictures of the numerous annual reviews, memories of a grandiose summer come sweeping back.
For six weeks the country trembled, hoped and feared, until the final whistle on the wonderful evening of July 13 in Rio de Janeiro.
December 23 – MLS expansion team newcomers, New York City FC and Orlando City SC, have secured official local television partners to showcase their inaugural seasons in the league.
As Sepp Blatter strapped in his seatbelt, lay back and sipped his first drink, alcoholic or otherwise, as he flew out of Morocco following one of the most tempestuous weeks of his 16-year FIFA presidency, he probably allowed him a wry smile.
By Mark Baber
December 22 – The UK Twitter account of The Bleacher Report was temporarily suspended by Twitter over the weekend after the Premier League complained the feed was sharing videos of Premier League action to which it did not own the rights.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – The prospect of the first ever winter World Cup being staged in 2022 has been taken a significant step forward by FIFA – much to the annoyance of Europe’s clubs and leagues.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – FIFA’s ban on third-party ownership will start on May 1 next year, ending a practice that has gone on for years despite prompting widespread international anxiety over the way hundreds of transfers are conducted.
By Alexander Krassimirov
December 22 – Bulgaria’s Ludogorets Razgrad will receive an additional BGN 1 million (€500,000) from the Razgrad Municipality to continue the renovation of its stadium, the Ludogorets Arena.
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – Israel and Palestine have been urged by FIFA to step up their efforts to allow for the free movement of Palestinian players and officials in the West Bank and Gaza.
December 22 – “Soccer-specific” stadiums seem to be spawning all across the US. In the last week D.C. United and Las Vegas both received financial backing from local councils to build their own respective stadiums.
By Samindra Kunti
December 22 – The president of RC Lens, Gervais Martel, has said that majority shareholder Hafiz Mammadov (pictured) from Azerbaijan may be replaced by another Azeri investor if Mammadov doesn’t meet his obligations before December 31.
By David Owen
It was lost – understandably – in the Kafkaesque farce surrounding the Garcia report, but last week’s meeting of the FIFA executive committee in Marrakech has left us business of football types with another financial teaser to savour.
December 22 – The Bahamas will become the first Caribbean nation to host a senior FIFA tournament when it welcomes the 2017 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw, chief correspondent, in Marrakesh
December 19 – It led to the resignation of its author and involved months and months of chaos and confusion. But FIFA finally agreed today to publish what Sepp Blatter described as the “famous” Michael Garcia report into possible corruption in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process.