Dein overlooked for FA chairman as Bernstein surprise choice
By Andrew Warshaw
December 22 – Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein (pictured) is the surprise nomination to take over at the helm of the Football Association.
Parliamentary support growing for West Ham to take over Olympic Stadium
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
December 22 – Pressure is growing in the House of Commons for West Ham United to be given the opportunity to take over the Olympic Stadium after London 2012 ahead of Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Bale warned by Welsh he will be suspended if he plays at London 2012
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
December 18 – Gareth Bale and any other Welsh players who take part in London 2012 still risk the threat of being suspended, they have been warned.
Support growing for winter World Cup in Qatar
By Andrew Warshaw
December 17 – Several of the most powerful officials in world football have now indicated that the 2022 World Cup could be switched to the winter months to avoid the searing summer heat in Qatar.
Mihir Bose: Gandhi would be amazed at what is happening at Blackburn Rovers
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Sam Allardyce as the saviour of football is a difficult concept to accept. But judging from the media reaction to his sacking, it would seem the new owners of Blackburn have committed a crime that would be beyond Herod.
They have not only sacked a manager, bad enough, but done it after consulting an agent, Jerome Anderson, and a firm based in Switzerland. To make it worse, the owners themselves are foreign, an Indian group whose business is poultry,
Football Federation Australia mourns loss of George Dick
December 16 – Well-known former football administrator George Dick has died, the Football Federation Australia (FFA) has announced.
Exclusive: FA chair timetable slipping
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By David Owen
December 15 – The timetable for appointing a new Chairman of the English Football Association appears likely to slip, insideworldfootball has learnt.
Exclusive: London rivals’ fight over Olympic stadium “should be decided by end of March”
By Andrew Warshaw in London
December 15 – The battle over the future of the Olympic Stadium post-2012 looks set to be decided by the end of March next year.
Exclusive: Me? FA chairman? I haven’t got time, says Mills
By Andrew Warshaw
December 14 – London 2012 deputy chairman Sir Keith Mills today ruled out any chance of becoming the new chairman of the English Football Association as the hunt continues to find a permanent replacement for Lord Triesman who resigned earlier this year after being caught up in a newspaper sting.
Olympic champions lead opposition to Tottenham London 2012 Stadium plan
December 14 – Olympic champions Dame Kelly Holmes, Daley Thompson and Sally Gunnell are among a host of former British athletes who have made a passionate plea in an open letter for the Olympic Stadium to retain an athletics track after the 2012 Games.
David Owen: “Going it alone” could mean the end of England national team
The World Cup is gone. English football now needs some clear thinking about its future relations with the international game.
The disappointment of the Zurich vote that saw the 2018 World Cup awarded instead to Russia brought with it talk of breaking away from FIFA.
Such thoughts, moreover, were not confined to those whom one might easily write off as “extremists” in this context.
Violent clashes involving Spartak Moscow fans leaves one dead
By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
December 11 – Sergei Fursenko, the President of the Russian Football Union (RFU), has claimed that nationalist organisations were behind violent clashes involving Spartak Moscow fans that today claimed the life of one fan and left another 29 injured.
Platini claims victories of Russia and Qatar “beautiful”
By Andrew Warshaw
December 10 – UEFA President Michel Platini says there was nothing wrong with last week’s controversial World Cup ballots which, he said, reflected a clear philosophy to take the tournament to new destinations.
Ex-Qatar confederation chief warns of European boycott over heat
By Andrew Warshaw
December 9 – Qatar’s insistence that hosting the 2022 World Cup in the heat of mid-summer would be negated by their revolutionary cooling plans has been questioned by the former head of their own confederation.
Thompson breaks silence over England World Cup humiliation
By Andrew Warshaw
December 8 – England’s beleaguered 2018 World Cup bid chairman Geoff Thompson (pictured) has broken his silence on his country’s two-vote humiliation by adding his voice to those who believe FIFA should have given clearer guidelines to bidding nations.