Réunion team cause French cup sensation
By David Owen
January 5 – A team from the Indian Ocean island of Réunion has created a French football sensation by knocking second division Chamois Niortais out of the Coupe de France.
Suspicion of Ethics cover-up as Peruvian ticket scheme goes unpunished
By Paul Nicholson
January 3 – Hopes that the FBI investigations and US Justice Department indictments in 2015 had kick started a governance reform and an end to football corruption in South America are foundering after information that FIFA and Conmebol have failed to act on a Word Cup ticket re-sale scandal by former Peruvian FA (FPF) officials.
A Hazardous business? Chelsea singing financial blues but should rebound next year
By David Owen
January 2 – Chelsea, the West London club whose new young team has surprised many this season with the spirit and consistency of their play under former talisman Frank Lampard, has reported a hefty loss for the year to end-June 2019.
Ghana starts 2020 with clear out of all national team coaching staff
January 3 – Ghana’s Football Association (GFA) has dismissed all its national team coaches, from age-group teams through to the full senior sides.
English clubs limp out of holiday fixtures with renewed calls to end fixture congestion
January 3 – English football may at last have adopted a partial winter break but that hasn’t stopped the traditional festive fixture pile-up from resulting in an unprecedented spate of injuries.
Pallotta poised to complete €780m Roma sale to Friedkin Group
January 3 – Serie A’s Roma looks set to change hands between American owners with James Pallotta (pictured) reportedly having agreed a €780 million deal with the Texas-based Friedkin Group run by billionaire Dan Freidkin.
Would 2030 bid backer Boris take a World Cup final Nawff?
January 3 – A 2030 World Cup final in Manchester or Liverpool? It is what senior Tory figures have asked newly elected UK prime minister Boris Johnson to back in a bid to recreate “something like the London Olympics.”
Abu Dhabi-based ESI takes control of Charlton Athletic
January 3 – Belgian Roland Duchatelet’s foray into English club ownership is over with the sale of English Championship side Charlton Athletic to Abu Dhabi-based consortium East Street Investments (ESI) for an undisclosed amount.
Fahmy to challenge Ahmad for African presidency on anti-corruption ticket
By Andrew Warshaw
January 2 – Amr Fahmy (pictured), the Egyptian official sacked last spring as African football’s number two administrator for lifting the lid on the allegedly corrupt activities of his boss, Ahmad, is gunning to unseat him by going for the region’s top job himself.
North Korea boycott women’s Olympic qualifiers as tit-for-tat geopolitics interfere
January 2 – Another political row as hit regional Asian football with North Korea withdrawing its women’s team from the final round of Olympic qualifiers being staged in South Korea in February.
Sectarian chanting halts Championship game as poppy protester receives abuse
January 2 – An English Championship game was briefly halted on Wednesday as discrimination at football fixtures, which marred much of 2019, occurred again just two days into the new year.
Premier League is stumbling over ‘clear and obvious’ VAR rulings, says IFAB chief
By Andrew Warshaw
December 31 – Football’s law-makers have hit back at criticism of VAR by English football experts, saying the problem lies directly at the feet of the Premier League for not applying the rule correctly.
Spanish FA VP Santana accused of siphoning off money earmarked for new pitches
December 31 – The vice-president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has been charged with fraud in the latest corruption scandal to besmirch the federation.
FAI needs more UEFA help as government cash suspended and banks get twitchy
December 31 – The debt-ridden Football Association of Ireland’s (FAI) existence is reported to be under threat because of long-term financial mismanagement.
‘It’s not football any more’: Guardiola joins condemnation of VAR calling it a ‘big mess’
By Andrew Warshaw
December 30 – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola declared the VAR system a “big mess” on Sunday after a weekend that witnessed a plethora of ever more baffling rulings being judged on a series of screens often hundreds of miles away from the action.