UEFA unveils 2022 Champions League final branding
September 22 – UEFA has unveiled the branding for the 2022 UEFA Champions League final to be played at the Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg.
Europe
Spanish judge orders UEFA to drop Real Madrid, Barca and Juve sanctions
September 21 – A Spanish judge has provocatively handed UEFA a five-day deadline to lift sanctions against Super League rebels Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus – or suffer the consequences.
Lens ordered to play two home game behind closed doors after fan violence
September 21 – French top-flight club Lens have been ordered to play at least two home games behind closed doors as a punishment for last weekend’s pitch invasion during the local derby with northern rivals Lille.
Alonso takes anti-racism stand, but not the knee
September 21 – Marcos Alonso is no longer taking the knee because he believes the gesture is “losing a bit of strength”. Instead, the Chelsea player has opted to point at the anti-racism message on the sleeve of his shirt.
Euro coaches body ‘unconditionally’ backs UEFA in opposition to ‘Wenger plan’
September 20 – Europe’s umbrella coaches association AEFCA (Alliance of European Football Coaches’ Associations) has become the latest football stakeholder to condemn FIFA’s proposal to move the men’s World Cup to a biennial cycle.
Germany and Portugal slam FIFA’s ‘Wenger plan’ as damaging to men’s and women’s game
September 20 – Despite FIFA insisting it has majority support for its controversial idea of a World Cup every two years, the German and Portuguese federations are the latest bodies to condemn the concept.
Sterling’s former agent Aidy Ward accused of tapping up under-age players
September 20 – One of Britain’s leading football agents allegedly broke the rules by signing underage players, according to a BBC television programme.
Grieving Greavsie: Spurs and England mourn death of a football legend
By Andrew Warshaw
September 20 – The football world is paying tribute to former England striker Jimmy Greaves, one of the game’s greatest goal scorers and personalities who has died aged 81.
Barca debt tops €1.35bn driven by out-of-control player wages. Laporta puts focus on youth
September 17 – Barcelona’s president has painted a grim picture of the full extent of the club’s financial crisis, saying its debt had risen to an eye-watering €1.35 billion.
Napoli boss De Laurentiis wants a €10bn Super League built on merit
By Samindra Kunti
September 16 – Controversial Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis tends to dream big. His latest big idea a shake-up of the European game via an alternative ‘Super League’ with entry based on merit and which he believes could generate a €10 billion investment.
Chelsea open Champions League defence. Can Europe’s clubs compete with the English?
By Samindra Kunti
September 14 – Chelsea open their defence of the Champions League tonight at home to Zenit St Petersburg, kicking off the European club season in earnest. The question in Europe is whether Chelsea and their English counterparts will also be kickstarting an age of Premier League dominance in the European Cup?
WCL group draw: Barca meet Arsenal, Lyon get Bayern, Chelsea face Juve, PSG draw Real Madrid
September 14 – European champions Barcelona were grouped with Arsenal, Hoffenheim and HB Køge from Denmark in the draw for the remodelled 16-team Women’s Champions League.
Footballers behaving badly: Boateng fined, Mendy court dates set
September 13 – German 2014 World Cup winner Jerome Boateng has been fined for assaulting a former girlfriend, while Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy will go on trial on for rape and sexual assault on January 24 next year.
PSG and LFP return fire on Tebas after branding club as a ’danger’ to European football
By Samindra Kunti
September 9 – Javier Tebas once more is at the centre of the storm. This time Paris Saint-Germain and French Professional League (LFP) have attacked the boss of Spanish football after he branded the state-funded club “as dangerous as the European Super League”.
Van der Sar warns players will walk-off if governing bodies don’t get tougher on racism
By Andrew Warshaw
September 8 – Ajax chief executive Edwin van der Sar has warned that players will “take matters into their own hands” in the fight against racism if governing bodies don’t do enough to stamp it out.