By Mark Baber
May 23 – Ukraine’s under-fire Interior Minister, Arsen Avakov, has accused 35 of the nation’s top football clubs of involvement in massive match-fixing operations which involved five criminal gangs, at least 320 people and up to $5 million a year in illegal earnings.
By Paul Nicholson
May 23 – Russian players selected for duty at this summer’s World Cup finals have all been cleared to play. FIFA has confirmed that there are no anti-doping cases being pursued against any players named in Russia’s provisional squad for their home World Cup.
By Paul Nicholson
May 23 – The $25 billion international calendar revamp proposal that FIFA was going to ask its members to vote on at its annual Congress in Moscow has reportedly been postponed. It is now unclear when a decision and vote will be taken, though more detail of the proposal is expected to be shown to FIFA Council members when they meet June 10 prior to the June 13 full member congress.
May 23 – Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will cover all external debts owed by Saudi Professional League clubs, according to an announcement by The General Sports Authority and Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF).
May 23 – The Ivory Coast Football Federation (FIF) has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to review FIFA’s latest decision to audit the football body. The Ivorians are objecting that this is the second time in two months that FIFA has ordered an audit.
May 23 – The quarter-final ties for this season’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League and the fixtures for the next phase of the AFC Cup were all confirmed on Wednesday.
By Paul Nicholson
May 23 – Manchester United is the most valuable club in Europe at €3.255 billion, an increase of 5% on last year. They are followed by Real Madrid who dropped in value by 2% and dipped below the €3 billion mark to €2.92 billion, and Barcelona at €2.735 billion.
May 23 – AC Milan look to have lost their battle to stay within UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations and have been referred to the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) by its investigatory chamber.
By Samindra Kunti
May 22 – More than 2,000 Real Madrid fans have been forced to return their tickets for Saturday’s Champions League final in Kiev over logistics and sky-rocketing expenses. Ticket touts have ramped up ticket prices ahead of the showpiece game of the European club season, asking up to £14,000 for ticket.
May 22 – The winner of Saturday’s Champions League final, the most prestigious club competition in Europe, will walk away with €15.5 million in prize money. The winner of the EFL Championship play-off for the Premier League – that takes place earlier in the afternoon between Aston Villa and Fulham – will win the biggest cash prize in world football with a whopping revenue of boost of at least £160 million over three seasons, rising to more than £280 million if they avoid relegation in their first season in the Premier League.
May 22 – The Champions League final will kick off for the 18th consecutive final using an adidas ball this Saturday. It will continue to do so for the next three years after adidas renewed their sponsorship for another three seasons.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 22 – The all-important publication of the evaluation report into the dossiers of the two contenders bidding to stage the 2026 World Cup looks set to take place later than the May 29 date predicted by the Moroccan underdogs.
May 22 – Vahid Halilhodzic (pictured) is suing the Japanese Football Association (JFA) following his dismissal as Japan coach with just months left to the World Cup. He is seeking an apology and symbolic indemnification.
May 22 – The new Nashville MLS franchise that will start play in the 202 season has named former Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre as its chief executive officer.
May 22 – Arsenal and French legend Thierry Henry is the latest of football’s superstars to benefit from Chinese sponsorship in advance of the Russian World Cup. The World Cup winner in 1998 has been named as the official ambassador of Chinese kitchen appliance manufacturer Vatti.