By Andrew Warshaw
January 17 – In a hugely significant move that will have major repercussions for domestic leagues, UEFA and the European Clubs’ Association (ECA) are apparently “close to an agreement” to add four more rounds of fixtures to the Champions League each season.
January 17 – The 712 top-flight clubs in Europe’s 55 leagues earned a record €21 billion in the 2018 financial year, up by 20% according to the latest “benchmarking” report from UEFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 16 – A host of European-based African stars look set to miss a crucial part of next season after it was announced that the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations is reverting back to the competition’s traditional January slot.
January 16 – The disharmony within African football’s top brass has suffered another telling blow with South Africa boycotting this year’s Africa Futsal Cup of Nations to be hosted by Morocco.
January 16 – In a ground-breaking move, children under-12 in Scotland could be banned from headers due to links between football and dementia.
January 15 – Liverpool players dominate a fan vote on UEFA.com for the website’s team of the year 2019. While the club are the new face of European football dominance, two old faces, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, both made the final XI.
January 16 – Greek football has been plunged into further controversy following a raid by local police on the headquarters of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF).
January 15 – A rescue package to save the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) from complete collapse has moved a step closer following survival talks between Irish officials and UEFA.
January 15 – Belgium’s RSC Anderlecht have reshuffled their boardroom in a bid to halt the club’s dramatic, recent slide. Earlier this season, the appointment of Vincent Kompany as player-coach backfired.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
January 14 – Fouzi Lekjaa, second Vice-President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has told Insideworldfootball that the organisation has a minimum bank balance of $100 million and is far from broke, as has been alleged in recently months.
January 14 – An analysis of the four leading leagues in South America – Brazil’s Serie A, Argentina’s Superliga, the Chilean Primera División and the Mexican Liga MX – has thrown up a number of differences, most interestingly in the movement and development of playing talent.
January 13 – On a weekend when France’s top two divisions staged a collective protest to mobilise the fight against racism in football stadiums, a second division club went one step further.
January 13 – Club Brugge have said they will build a new 40,000-seater stadium on the site of their current ground, the Jan Breydelstadion, at a cost of €100 million. Stadium construction is to be completed by the 2022-23 season.
January 13 – Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 on penalties to win the Spanish Super Cup after the money-driven revamped tournament, exported to Saudi Arabia, ended in a less than thrilling goalless draw.
February 13 – The Greek football union have joined a chorus of condemnation over the racist abuse of Aris Thessaloniki’s young French midfielder Abou Ba during a top-flight fixture at Larissa on Saturday.