By Samindra Kunti
February 23 – League reform was high on the agenda at a meeting of Belgian’s Pro League following plenty of discontent over the play-offs system, which was introduced in the 2009/10 season. A 14-team league in the current format with play-offs has been mooted as viable future alternative.
February 23 – Manchester United may dominate rival clubs (excluding Barcelona and Real Madrid) on the social media platforms they are on, but they are generally not innovators in the digital arena. They didn’t even have an official YouTube channel – until yesterday.
February 23 – Here we go again. You can count on one hand the countries where instances of racism in European football are still prevelant and Italy is one of them.
February 23 – English Football League clubs have voted in favour of falling into line with the Premier League and shutting the summer transfer window closer to the start of the season so that everyone knows their squads before the big kickoff, a move that has long been debated across the professional game.
February 23 – A police officer has died of a heart attack following violent clashes between rival fans before Athletic Bilbao’s home Europa League match against Spartak Moscow on Thursday.
By David Owen
February 22 – Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter has come out in favour of Morocco’s bid for the 2026 World Cup.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – Amid accusations of double-standards and favouritism, FIFA has staged a rare u-turn by lifting its ban on member federations and regions publicly endorsing one or other of the two candidates bidding to stage the 2026 World Cup – provided both bidders are given the same opportunities to promote their credentials.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – FIFA is reportedly closely monitoring the conduct of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in using football as a political tool against 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar.
By Paul Nicholson
February 22 – The next round of sentencing has begun in the US Department of Justice case against football’s corrupt officials and marketing partners with Panama-based Mimo International Exports and Imports ordered to pay a fine and restitution totalling $1.4 million for bribing Costa Rica’s former FA president Eduardo Li (pictured).
February 22 – Two-time winners Guangzhou Evergrande are still without a victory in the 2018 AFC Champions League following a 0-0 draw with Cerezo Osaka in Group G on Wednesday.
February 22 – Construction delays at the new Samara World Cup Arena have been resolved according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, with test games now rescheduled for end April.
February 22 – Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid campaign team has begun issuing a series of promotional e-magazines in several languages that have been distributed to FIFA members in the hope of generating support ahead of the all-important vote on June 13.
February 22 – Leicester City are paying a price, albeit relatively insubstantial by Premier League standards, for their fairytale title success in 2016 by having to fork out £3.1million to settle a long-running financial fair play dispute.
February 22 – US-based New Balance has expanded its footprint in France’s Ligue 1, becoming the Official Kit Supplier FC Nantes in a deal that will start next season.
February 22 – The Philippines Football League (PFL), which starts its second season in March, has agreed a multi-year data partnership with Sportradar. Included in the deal is a package of integrity and fraud prevention solutions to safeguard the game in the country.