Infantino pledges support to rebuild Sudan’s football culture
February 23 – Gianni Infantino’s African roadshow landed in Sudan on Monday, where the FIFA boss pledged more support for the north African country.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Real Madrid close in on securing €150m Qiddiya sponsorship
February 23 – Real Madrid have reportedly held “advanced talks’” with Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Qiddiya over a potential lucrative ten-year €150 million sponsorship deal.
Mbappé, Kane and Sterling top transfer values, Messi drops €27m, Delle Ali €15m
February 23 – Kylian Mbappé may still be worth €185 million and Harry Kane alongside Raheem Sterling may still be the world’s second most valuable players at €125 million, but overall the values of players have dropped more than 10% during the pandemic, according to the latest data from KPMG Football Benchmark.
Gravina returned as FIGC boss as Italy plans to host Euro 2020 kick-off, with fans
February 23 – Gabriele Gravina was re-elected as president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on Monday and will now lead the federation until 2024, having amassed 73.45% of the votes.
K League launches dual-language OTT channel with eye on global markets
February 23 – Korea’s K League is launching a dedicated OTT platform for its top two leagues ahead of the start of the 2021 season that kicks off February 27.
Legia Warshaw to launch $LEG fan token on Socios.com platform
February 23 – Poland’s Legia Warsaw has become the latest football club to join Socios.com’s blockchain-based fan token platform with the launch of the $LEG Fan Token.
Marseilles line up Sampaoli to take over from Villas-Boas
February 23 – Following the acrimonious departure of Andre Villas-Boas and protests by the fans about the club’s poor form, Olympique Marseille have struck a verbal agreement with Jorge Sampaoli (pictured) to become their new head coach until June 2023, according to local reports.
Dog stops play. Cookie’s pitch invasion crumbles as he feels FC Zurich president’s bite
February 23 – As far as reasons go for a match being stopped in mid-stream, this one surely took the biscuit – so to speak.
Ivory Coast backs Anouma’s bid for CAF presidency with reported €15m
February 22 – Ivorian authorities are stepping up their financial support for Jacques Anouma (pictured) in his bid to become the next Confederation of African Football (CAF) chief by pledging a staggering €15.3 million for his campaign to take over from Ahmad Ahmad, according to local reports.
Infantino keeps up the pace and politics as he criss-crosses Africa
By Samindra Kunti
February 22 – On his pan-African tour, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, addressing the general assembly of the Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), in South Africa, called on African teams to step up and leave a mark on the 2026 World Cup, the first global finals to be staged in a 48-team format.
UK government scotches report it has offered to host Euro2020
February 22 – Britain’ health secretary Matt Hancock has shot down a newspaper report which suggested the UK may be ready to host next summer’s delayed Euro 2020.
UEFA lands Qatar Airways as airline sponsor of Euro 2020
February 22 – UEFA has announced that Qatar Airways as the official airline of this summer’s Euro 2020 tournament.
Female leadership summit, March 8-12, releases agenda and speakers
February 22 – With two weeks to go to the Web Summit on Female Leadership in Sport, SIGA has released details of the programme content and speakers.
Mali and RB Salzburg pair crash after altitude sickness pills land then with a doping ban
February 22 – Two Mali players with Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg have been handed three-month doping suspensions.
FIFA 21 takes a step into mainstream broadcasting with BBC deal
February 22 – Video gaming took a step into the broadcast mainstream in the UK at the weekend with the first broadcast by Britain’s public broadcaster, BBC, of the FIFA 21 Global Series European Regional Qualifiers.