English stakeholders take ‘small’ step with player-to-coach accelerator for BAME players
June 30 – English football stakeholders have joined forces to help BAME players move into full-time coaching roles in the professional game.
Europe
Out on a Lim. Valencia owner sacks sixth manager in six years
June 30 – Valencia have been plunged into chaos after sacking coach Albert Celades and appointing long-standing club servant Voro until the end of the Spanish La Liga season.
Bayern conclude Bundesliga with title encore and sights set on completing double
June 29 – The German Bundesliga became the first major European league to conclude after the unprecedented coronavirus shutdown in March with serial champions Bayern Munich cruising the victory at Wolfsburg this weekend, Thomas Muller making history and Werder Bremen condemned to the promotion-relegation play-off.
UEFA confident that Lisbon virus outbreak will not derail Champions League’s August finale
June 26 – Is the eagerly awaited revised climax to the Champions League, set for Lisbon in August, suddenly in jeopardy?
German fans petition for fairer competition and reform of TV money distribution
June 25 – German football is widely regarded as the most fan-friendly of any of the major European footballing nations. But more than 1,000 supporters have so far signed a petition to demand a major reform of the sport saying the current model cannot continue.
Slavia Prague make it 20 league titles with three rounds to play
June 25 – Slavia Prague secured a record twentieth league title on Wednesday after a 1-0 victory against Viktoria Plzen, establishing an insurmountable lead at the top of the table.
Serie A gets third VC hunting $bn stake as overseas broadcast deal comes under threat
June 24 – A third private equity firm has expressed an interest in bidding for a stake in Serie A, ironically at a time when the league looks on the verge of losing its biggest international rights buyers.
Dutch poised to allow fans in for new season in September, but no singing or chanting
June 24 – Dutch football is looking at the return of football fans at matches in September with the government expected to give the go ahead to allow spectators into stadia this week.
Russia returns to the bad old days as CSKA Moscow fined token amount for fans racist abuse
June 24 – Russia’s football authorities have meted out a token fine to CSKA Moscow after its fans racially abused Zenit St. Petersburg winger Malcom in the clubs’ first game back since the domestic league restarted.
France’s Ligue 1 to remain at 20 teams after court ordered consultation with FFF
June 24 – French football authorities have defied a court ruling not to relegate Amiens and Toulouse in voting to maintain a 20-team Ligue 1 next season, ending any chance of expanding the league.
Damaged image. Spanish taxman chases Ancelotti for unpaid €1m on hidden income
June 23 – Spain’s crackdown on tax evasion in football has snared yet another alleged culprit – Everton’s much-travelled manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Ligue 1 cancelled but French to allow up to 5,000 fans in for Cup games in July
June 22 – By a supreme irony, France, the only one of Europe’s major leagues to shut down the domestic league season prematurely because of Covid 19, has now become the first country to announce that a limited number of fans can attend when stadiums re-open in July.
Calendar crunch: FIFPro calls for more time between seasons to allow player recovery
June 22 – Football’s world players’ union has expressed its concern that players are suddenly being asked to play too many games and may not have enough time to fully recover between this season’s revised calendar and the start of the next campaign.
Platini celebrates retirement age raking over his past achievements
June 22 – Former UEFA president Michel Platini turned 65 on Sunday – retirement age in Switzerland where he still lives for most of the year.
European Leagues body shows solidarity with UEFA as football’s comeback accelerates
June 19 – If the Covid-19 crisis has had one beneficial effect on European football, it is perhaps that fact that the various stakeholders have pulled together for the common good.