AFC Champions League heats up as big clubs move into round of 16 battle
April 19 – The last 16 teams in this season’s AFC Champions League were confirmed on Wednesday following the competition’s final group stage fixtures on Wednesday.
Infantino to kill off Confederations Cup in bid to grab expanded piece of club game
April 19 – In a move that is viewed in many league and confederation circles as a money-motivated assault on confederation club competition revenues by the FIFA administration, plans are reportedly afoot to ditch the Confederations Cup, the traditional World Cup warm-up tournament, and expand the Club World Cup.
Premier League comes in from the cold with first Winter break planned for 2020
April 19 – After years of debate and discussion, the Premier League finally looks set to follow much of continental Europe and introduce a winter break from the season after next.
Wolves reach Premier League promised land but are regulators snapping at their heels?
April 19 – With Wolverhampton Wanderers having secured promotion to the English Premier League focus is back on the relationship between the Chinese owners Fosun and super agent Jorge Mendes’ player dealings and his Gestifute agency, which Fosun also owns a chunk of.
FIFA fines clubs for breaches of third party ownership rules
April 19 – In the latest crackdown on third party ownership of players, FIFA have handed out a raft of sanctions to clubs for transfer deals.
Spurs break 80,000 barrier again as Round 33 continues to fill Premier League grounds
April 19 – Spurs packed in more than 80,000 for a Premier League home fixture at Wembley for the fourth time this season, their third highest league attendance of the season.
FIFA Council member and Congo FA chief Omari arrested on corruption allegations
By Paul Nicholson
April 18 – Police in Congo have swooped to arrest DR Congo Football Association (Fecofa) president Constant Omari along with two Fecofa vice presidents, Roger Bondembe (finance director) and Theobad Binamungu (national team manager), Their detention comes as part of a corruption investigation looking at embezzlement of government and football funds.
European Leagues slam 48-team 2022 World Cup idea as ‘not making sense’
By Andrew Warshaw
April 18 – The inevitable backlash over possible plans to turn the 2022 World Cup into a 48-team event has kicked into gear with the body that represents Europe’s top leagues saying it will vehemently oppose such a concept.
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.
Serie A broadcast rights sales stalled as Sky question legality of Mediapro tender
April 18 – The broadcast rights sales process for Italy’s Serie A for the 2018-21 season has again been stalled after Sky Italia went to court in Milan requesting verification of whether Spanish rights broker Mediapro’s tender conformed to Italian law.
Caboclo takes over at CBF promising ‘union and understanding’
By Samindra Kunti
April 18 – Rogerio Caboclo has been elected as the new president of the Brazilian Football Confederation CBF. He succeeds Marco Polo Del Nero, who remains suspended by FIFA and under investigation in the United States.
UEFA cracks disciplinary whip banning Sion and fining Irtysh, FC Vojvodina and KF Tirana
April 18 – Swiss club FC Sion, which has a history of controversy on and off the field, have been a handed a two-season ban from European competition by UEFA over a transfer debt.
ICC unveils 18 European club giants for pre-season clash across three continents
April 18 – The International Champions Cup has unveiled its fixtures and locations for the 2018 pre-season extravaganza that this year will feature 18 European teams across the US, Singapore and Europe.
FIFA 2026 scrutineers land in Morocco as human and animal rights questions raised
By Andrew Warshaw
April 17 – Morocco’s bid to stage the 2026 World Cup has reached its most crucial phase to date with the arrival of FIFA’s evaluation panel for a three-day visit that could make or break the north African country’s chances.
Russian roulette with their own World Cup? FIFA charge hosts for racist monkey chants
April 17 – They can protest all they like about being unfairly singled out, but FIFA has charged World Cup hosts Russia with fan racism less than two months before the tournament begins.