August 21 – Free-to-air broadcast matches will not take place routinely when the new English Premier League season begins, giving rise to concerns over how fans – especially season ticket holders – can watch games.
By Paul Nicholson
Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas. FIFA’s ethics folk don’t do much that isn’t in their own interest either.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 19 – FIFA’s ethics body today stood firm behind Gianni Infantino in the wake of the much-publicised Swiss criminal investigation into his conduct, refusing to suspend him by arguing the allegations did not “ justify the adoption of any kind of measure”, yet seriously calling into question its credibility and so-called independence.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 20 – They weren’t at their best and were never going to deliver another eight-goal blitz. But Bayern Munich, 8-2 quarterfinal conquerors of Barcelona, duly booked their place in Sunday’s Champions League final with a hard-fought 3-0 semi-final over Lyon on Wednesday to set up a dream climax against fellow big-hitters Paris St. Germain.
August – UEFA has decided no fans will be able to attend Nations League matches in September, confirming a report by the Scottish FA earlier this week.
August 20 – FIFA has suspended two more Haitian football officials and has extended a 90-day provisional ban meted out to federation (FHF) president Yves Jean-Bart while it investigates allegations of teenage girls being sexually abused at the national training centre, built with a FIFA grant.
August 20 – Concacaf teams learned their pathway to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after the preliminary draw paired 2026 tournament hosts Canada in Group B with Suriname, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Aruba.
August 20 – Switzerland has dropped impeachment proceedings against Michael Lauber after the attorney general agreed to quit office early amid persisting accusations of misconduct during an investigation into FIFA.
August 20 – New England women’s head coach Sarina Wiegmann (pictured) believes she will be working with a “world-class team” when she takes over the role in September next year.
August 20 – Ligue 1’s AS Monaco have signed online bookmaker VBET as a partner in a two-year deal.
By Samindra Kunti
August 19 – In the latest modification to the international match calendar, FIFA has replaced the September fixtures window with a new window at the end of January 2022 for all confederations with the exception of UEFA.
August 19 – Ronald Koeman has quit as boss of the Netherlands to become the new head coach of Barcelona two days after the club sacked Quique Setien following that humiliating 8-2 Champions League drubbing by Bayern Munich that stunned world football.
August 19 – It took them 110 games in the competition stretching back several years to get this far.
By Paul Nicholson
August 18 – German giants Borussia Dortmund have reported a loss of €43.9 million for the 2019/20 financial year ending June 30 on revenues of €486.9 million. The club had reported a €17 million profit in 2018/19.
August 19 – Former Senegal and English Premier League striker Demba Ba has called on football’s stakeholders to condemn China’s treatment of Uighur muslims, whatever the financial cost in terms of broadcast deals and player contracts.