UEFA opens ticket sales for Champions League and Europa League finals
April 20 – UEFA has today opened ticket sales for the Champions League final in Paris and the Europa League final in Sevilla.
World Football
Serie A cancels plan to play its 20 teams in Orlando during Qatar 2022 World Cup
April 20 – Serie A has shelved ambitious plans to organise a tournament in the United States during this year’s World Cup using players not called up by their national sides.
Pique furiously defends €24m ‘fixers’ fee for taking Spanish Super Cup to Saudi
April 20 – Famed Spanish international defender Gerard Pique claims he has done nothing illegal after his sports event company, Kosmos, was reportedly paid a massive €24 million as part of the deal to move the Spanish Super Cup to the Middle East.
Brazil’s CBF reports record revenues of €191m
April 20 – The Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) has reported a record revenue of 971 million reais (€191.7 million) as well as a profit of 68.92 million reais (€13.64 million) for 2021, a year in which the governing body battled a major institutional crisis as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.
US draw Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti in Concacaf W group that doubles as 2023 WC qualifying
April 20 – Women’s World Champions USA have been drawn with 2019 World Cup qualifiers Jamaica and Concacaf’s third-highest ranked nation Mexico in the Concacaf W Championship that kicks off in Monterrey, Mexico, July 4-18.
AFCON 2023 qualifying draw plots national team routes to Ivory Coast finals
April 20 – Record seven-time Nations Cup winners Egypt were handed a difficult draw alongside Guinea, Malawi and Ethiopia in Group D of the qualifiers for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast.
LA’s SoFi Stadium schedules first soccer event with ‘Leagues Cup preview’ doubleheader
April 19 – The SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, one of the candidate venues for hosting matches at the 2026 World Cup, has scheduled its first-ever football (soccer) event for this August.
Malawi’s Mwase makes way for Marinica but later offered U23 role
April 18 – Meck Mwase is to remain a part of the Malawi national team structure despite having been dismissed as head coach of the senior men’s team by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM). He has now been appointed to the role of U23 national team coach.
South Sudan shows loyalty to Infantino; Nigeria’s Pinnick co-opted into FIFA’s power play
By Samindra Kunti
April 14 – South Sudan has once again declared its love for Gianni Infantino, becoming the first African FA to endorse the FIFA president for re-election.
Genius Sports breaks its Russian embargo supplying data to Russian betting site
By Matt Scott
April 14 – Genius Sports, the official data supplier to the Premier League, has continued to offer its services to Russian punters in the weeks after it announced it was withdrawing business from the territory.
Mexico lead qualifying as finalists lined up for inaugural Concacaf W Championship in July
April 14 – Mexico secured qualification to the eight-team 2022 Concacaf W Championship they are hosting in Monterey, Mexico, with a convincing 6-0 win over Puerto Rico in their final game of group qualifying.
Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Wales bid to host UEFA’s 2023 Nations League final four
April 14 – The Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Wales have all bid to stage the 2023 Nations League final four, European governing body UEFA has announced.
Colombian legend Freddy Rincón dies in car crash, aged 55
April 14 – Aged 55, Colombia great Freddy Rincón has died after sustaining severe head injuries in a car crash. Rincón had been driving a car that collided with a bus in Cali.
Atlético win appeal to keep Wanda Metropolitano full for Man City UCL second leg tonight
April 13 – Atlético Madrid will play their second leg Champions League quarter final against Manchester City tonight in front of a full Wanda Metropolitano stadium.