Ceferin says Champions League is too important a competition to road test VAR
April 18 – UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has re-iterated his concern over video assistant referees being deployed at the World Cup.
Performance
Buffon tops list as Europe’s longest serving single-club player
April 17 – Gianluigi Buffon was playing in Juventus’ first team when English ref Michael Oliver, at the centre of Buffon and Juventus complaints over the award of a penalty that ended their Champions League campaign, was just 16 years old. Wisdom of age berating the stupidity of youth?
Blundering British ref Oliver hung out to dry on Twitter
April 17 – UEFA has condemned the online abuse aimed at referee Michael Oliver and his wife after the English referee awarded a highly contentious stoppage-time penalty to Real Madrid that knocked Juventus out of the Champions League last week.
VAR: Bundesliga ref calls teams back after whistle half time blown to take penalty
April 17 – Those opposed to the formal introduction of video assistant referees have strengthened their case after arguably the most bizarre incident since testing began.
Man City handed Premier League title as Man Utd fall to bottom club West Brom
April 16 – It was only a matter of time but few, even among their own players and fans, expected Manchester City to be crowned English Premier League champions without even playing on Sunday.
Raging Buffon: Juve legend says Oliver is too young but he has ‘great career’ ahead…
April 16 – Italian goalkeeping legend Gianluigi Buffon remains unrepentant following his tirade about English referee Michael Oliver whose decision to award Real Madrid a stoppage-time penalty last week wrecked Juventus’ dreams of Champions League success.
Wenger calls for VAR in Premier League after Arsenal beaten at Newcastle
April 16 – Arsene Wenger, the longest-serving manager in the English Premier League, says the decision not to implement video assistant referees next season is a serious retrograde step that flies in the face of progress.
Premier League clubs vote to delay VAR in favour of more tests
April 13 – Despite football’s lawmakers giving it the thumbs up and the system being used at the World Cup, English Premier League clubs have voted not to use video assistant referees next season.
Juve scream foul play as ref steals their Champions League thunder in Madrid
By Andrew Warshaw
April 12 – What must UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, opposed to introducing video assistant referees in his showpiece club competition, be thinking now?
Stability equals success? Barca and Real Madrid top ranking of player contract lengths
April 11 – Player stability breeds more club success would be conclusion drawn from the latest CIES Football Observatory stats that rank clubs in Europe’s Big 5 leagues by the the longest average contract duration of first team squad members.
Andrew Warshaw: UEFA Champions League ref failures make a decent case for VAR
April 11 – They say goals change games. So do referees’ decisions. The introduction of video assistant referees from the World Cup onwards may have split opinion but if ever there was a case for the system to be used, it was surely in Tuesday night’s Champions league quarter-finals.
Concacaf Champions League: Toronto face Chivas in revamped 2-leg final
April 11 – FIFA’s 2026 evaluation committee had only just left Mexico City and its Azteca stadium when the iconic venue returned to the real business of play in the Conacaf Champions League. Toronto FC endured a far tougher examination in the Azteca than the FIFA bid bods were likely to have given it.
FIFPro issues health warning after study highlights high incidence of knee damage
April 6 – Professional footballers often try to extend their careers as long as possible by dropping into the lower leagues but the international Players union FIFPro has warned that more than one in three former players over the age of 40 are now suffering from knee cartilage damage, “risking their long-term health or are unaware of the lasting effects of serious knee injuries.”
Red carded. British refs fail to pass FIFA quality control for Russia 2019
April 5 – British referees have invariably commanded global respect but none will take part in this year’s World Cup in Russia, the first such absence in 80 years.
Marinakis loses patience and banishes players after draw leaves Olympiakos third
April 3- A group of Olympiakos players have been fined €400,000 and ordered to go on holiday for the rest of the season by club president Evangelos Marinakis following a string of poor results.