Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola returns as Sarri’s assistant
July 19 – Former Chelsea and Italy striker Gianfranco Zola, who made 312 league and cup appearances for the club, has returned as assistant to new manager Maurizio Sarri.
Name drain. £450K and still no sponsor partner for West Ham’s London Stadium
July 19 – Nearly £450,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent trying to find a sponsor for West Ham United’s London Stadium, formerly the capital’s Olympic stadium, according to reports.
MLS’s D.C. United add USL affiliate Loudoun United for 2019 kick-off
July 19 – The USL has announced a seventh and final new club for the 2019 season. Loudoun United, based in Loudoun County, Virginia, will play in the USL’s Eastern Conference and will be a subsidiary of MLS’s D.C. United which has just signed Wayne Rooney on a three-year deal.
Goals Soccer Centres warns investors UK’s extreme weather will impact year end results
July 19 – Goals Soccer Centres has warned that the impact of extreme weather in the UK in first quarter of 2018 will leave full year financial results “materially below market expectations”.
Infantino says joint bids are the World Cup’s future, but ‘desert’ comment looks tactless
By Andrew Warshaw
July 18 – With attention now switched to Qatar 2022 following the World Cup in Russia, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has again provided an indication of where his thinking lies with regard to future bids.
Sierra Leone stakeholders split as FIFA delays keep Johansen in place
July 18 – The bitter in-fighting over who runs the game in Sierra Leone has burst back into the spotlight after several months of relative quiet with the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) saying it will be submitting a draft of its new statutes for FIFA’s approval in the coming days.
Brazil wins Instagram World Cup while Ronaldo is the social media player of the tournament
July 18 – Brazil won the World Cup of Social Media with more than 193 million interactions on Instagram, according to data technology specialists Primetag. Across the whole World Cup there were more than 990 million interactions generated by the content on the platform.
SIGA readies for Sport Integrity Forum at United Nations in Geneva, July 26
July 18 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) has announced His Excellency the Director General, Michael Møller will open its fourth edition of the Sport Integrity Forum next Thursday, July 26, at the United Nations, in Geneva.
Billion dollar Barca. Club hit record revenues but profits edge down
July 19 – Barcelona have posted record revenues for the 2017/18 season and financial year of €914 million ($1.07 million). The club showed operating profit of €32 million, leaving net profit after tax of €13 million.
Nigerian FA crisis deepens as league suspended indefinitely
July 18 – The resumption of Nigeria’s domestic league has been postponed indefinitely amid a leadership crisis that has caused total gridlock with a FIFA ban imminent.
Melwood’s days numbered as Liverpool give go-ahead for new training campus
July 18 – Premier League Liverpool who completed a rebuild of their Main Stand at Anfield two seasons ago, are now focussing their construction attention on the £50 million redevelopment of the club’s Academy site in Kirkby which the club has said will now go-ahead.
American dream. Rooney debuts at DC United
July 18 – Former England captain Wayne Rooney says he decided to further his career in the United States with DC United because he did not want to “hang around and be a dead weight”.
Ceferin warns against 48-teams in Winter 2022, but says VAR is coming, just not yet
By Andrew Warshaw
July 17 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has warned against expanding the World Cup to 48 teams in 2022 for fear of disrupting the mid-season European calendar.
Croatia’s Lovren bemoans loss and questions if anyone really knows the VAR rules
July 17 – Croatia’s Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren has poured out his heart over their World Cup final defeat saying his side “played much better football” than France.
Nigeria on the brink of expulsion as government minister says even FIFA must obey the law
July 17 – Nigerian authorities are digging in their heels over who runs the national FA despite a warning from FIFA president Gianni Infantino that the country risks being thrown out of international competition.