Messi and Guardiola donate €1m each to fight coronavirus
March 25 – Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola have each donated €1 million towards the fight against coronavirus.
World Football
Former Wasserman exec Wilson takes over as CEO of US Soccer
March 25 – The US Soccer Federation (USSF) has appointed long time sports executive Will Wilson (pictured) as the organisation’s next CEO and secretary general. His immediate task will be to navigate US Soccer through its legal stand-off with the American women’s national team.
Dani Alves critical of Brazilian president Bolsonaro’s Covid-19 denial
March 25 – Veteran full back and Sao Paulo captain Daniel Alves has criticised Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro over his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Mourinho volunteers at Age UK charity in Enfield to help prepare food parcels
March 25 – With football wiped off the map because of Covid-19, well-known names across the sport are constantly doing their bit for the vulnerable and endangered members of local communities.
Exclusive: Disgraced TTFA board touted half-baked Arima Velodrome plan as debt solution
By Paul Nicholson
March 24 – The board and executive of the disbanded Trinidad and Tobago FA (TTFA) have reacted furiously to their removal saying that the plan they had in place for the development of a velodrome would have netted them the TT$50 million that would have cleared their debt.
UEFA postpone CL and Europa League finals as season looks set to run past June
By Andrew Warshaw
March 24 – UEFA has bowed to the inevitable and postponed the Champions League and Europa League finals, and the women’s Champions League final, due to have been played in May – with no rearranged dates.
Nigerian gunmen kidnap two players on coronavirus leave
March 20 – Two Nigerian footballers have been kidnapped while taking a break because of the coronavirus with their country’s league suspended.
World Football Cup called off
By David Owen
March 24 – With an air of weary inevitability, the 2020 World Football Cup has been called off.
Serie A targets May resumption, Premier League discusses June, LaLiga and RFEF ‘agree’
By Paul Nicholson
March 23 – With Europe’s leagues desperate to find a way of resuming some form of play calendar discussions in Italy are suggesting a resumption in May, while the Premier League is reportedly reviewing plans to resume on June 1.
Colombian club bosses are using Covid-19 as excuse to cut wages, says union
March 23 – Acolfutpro, Colombia’s players union and an arm of FIFPro, has warned that local club presidents are using the outbreak of the coronavirus to pressure players into renegotiating their contracts.
Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz dies, aged 76
March 23 – Former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz, who oversaw two Champions League titles while in charge of the club, has died from Covid-19 at the age of 76.
City of Manchester is United in coronavirus fight; Everton reach out
March 23 – With the UK in the grip of the spread of the Coronavirus, Premier League clubs are launching a series of initiatives to provide support in the their home cities.
CAF critic Bility has CAS hearing pushed back to after elections for his CAF exco position
March 20 – Musa Bility, former president of the Liberian Football Federation suspended for 10 years by FIFA for corruption, has had his hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) postponed due the coronavirus.
Monchengladbach players volunteer to wage cut to support lower paid club employees
March 20 – Players, coaches and directors of German top-flight club Borussia Monchengladbach, who sit fourth in the table, have agreed to defer their wages to help less advantaged employees in football’s latest humanitarian gesture to counter Covid-19 .
FC Sion boss Constantin fires 9 players for refusing part-time contracts
March 20 – Just days after the head of Switzerland’s FA stood up at the UEFA Congress and warned of the dire consequences of Covid-19 on football in his country, Swiss top-flight outfit FC Sion have reportedly terminated the contracts of nine players, including captain Xavier Kouassi, former Swiss international Johan Djourou and ex-Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Alex Song.