FA Chair Greg Clarke said that the football child sex abuse scandal is "one of the biggest crises in the history" of the FA. More than 20 ex-footballers have "made allegations of child sex abuse, with several police investigations and an FA review started in response." Clarke said that he was "angry" that "1990s society was sleep walking and we were part of that problem." On Monday, MP Damian Collins said that "an inquiry needed to establish if there was a cultural problem in the sport, rather than an internal review looking at football officials and what clubs knew and when" (BBC, 11/29).
Gareth Southgate will "finally be confirmed" as the new England boss -- on a salary of £1.8M ($2.25M) a year. The former U21 coach "was made to wait by the FA" as it searched for Sam Allardyce's permanent successor. But "a number of impressive wins -- as well as an admirable draw against Spain" -- will see Southgate land "one of the most coveted jobs in world football" this week. Southgate’s representatives "have successfully managed to convince the FA to increase their initial offer" to an agreed £1.8M -- in return for "a break clause to be activated if England flop at the 2018 World Cup finals." The deal, however, remains the lowest salary the FA has paid out to a full-time England manager since Kevin Keegan was "in the hot seat" 16 years ago (THE SUN, 11/29).
The Asian Football Confederation has entered into an agreement with Genius Sports, a sports data technology, distribution and commercialization services firm, to develop a Competition Management System that can be rolled out to the AFC's 47 Member Associations by early '17. The CMS will assist MAs to manage both professional and amateur leagues and tournaments in their respective countries (AFC).
