By David Owen
April 6 – FIFA has secured adequate supplies of anti-doping sample collection kits for this summer’s World Cup in Russia, in spite of the company which makes them announcing plans to exit the business.
April 6 – Bullets have been sent in the post to three key figures at the Italian Referees’ Association, according to its president, amid fan protests over use of the video assistant referee system.
April 6 – A women’s football match at the Dead Sea this week entered the Guinness Book of Records for having been played at the lowest point on earth, 400 meters below sea level.
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.”
April 6 – The attraction of e-sports has snared another football big name. Former Real Madrid, Liverpool and West Ham star Álvaro Arbeloa is partnering with League of Legends team Origen.
April 5 – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is championing its Women’s Challenge Series 2018 as a “recommitment to female players” in the region. The competition marks a return to locally organised game play in a forgotten region of world football that has been left emaciated, underfunded and excluded by political power plays at CONCACAF and FIFA level.
April 6 – FIFA has set up a Congress Review Working Group (CRWG) for Football Federation Australia (FFA) with the aim to “propose a new composition of the FFA Congress to ensure a broader and more balanced representation of stakeholders in line with the requirements of the FIFA Statutes, in particular art. 15 (j).”
April 6 – Liverpool have been charged by UEFA over the disturbances at their Champions League clash with Manchester City on Wednesday.
April 5 – Manchester City and Tinder have turned their courtship into a multi-year partnership in a deal that will also see the dating platform connect with sister club New York City FC in the MLS.
April 4 – English Premier League clubs paid agents a record £211 million in the past year, an increase of £37 million, latest figures reveal, rekindling the debate over whether they take too much money out of the game.
April 5 – The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has allocated more than £23.7million in total prize money to its 42 member clubs for the 2017/18 season. This is an increase of £800,000 on last season’s prize fund of £22.9million.
April 5 – Liverpool have apologised to Manchester City after bottles were thrown at their team coach when they arrived for the all-English Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
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.
April 4 – Manchester United fans in China will be able to apply for a club branded credit card as part of a new sponsorship agreement with Chinese banking group, PingAn Bank.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 4 – Morocco’s claim of unfair treatment by FIFA in the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup has been strongly rejected by football’s world governing body which has moved swiftly into face-saving overdrive in an effort to maintain credibility.