By Paul Nicholson in Manama, Bahrain
May 7 – Following a meeting of its executive committee The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has agreed a broadcast and commercial rights strategy for its new rights cycle that would begin in 2020 at the end of its current deal with Lagardere Sports.
May 7- Manchester City, one of the richest clubs in world football courtesy of Middle East funding, have been banned from signing academy players for an initial 12 months and fined £300,000 for breaching rules governing youth transfers – colloquially known as “tapping up.”
By Samindra Kunti
May 8 – Argentina legend Diego Maradona has signed a one-year contract at UAE second tier club Fujairah in a surprise return to coaching.
May 7 – Sulley Muntari has had his controversial one-match ban for protesting against racist abuse overturned by Italy’s football authorities but says he was “treated like a criminal” for complaining.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 5 – The pressure on FIFA to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian impasse at next week’s Congress is being racked up – with factions supporting both sides calling for an end to the festering dispute.
By David Owen
May 5 – Relegated Sunderland have reported a loss as they prepare for life in the second tier of English football. The Wearside club reported an after-tax loss of £33 million for the year to 31 July 2016. This is down from a loss of £26.6 million the previous year.
By Samindra Kunti
May 5 – Neymar and his father will stand trial over alleged fraud and corruption in the player’s transfer from Santos to FC Barcelona in 2013. The other defendants will be the current and former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, FC Barcelona, Santos and NN Consultoria. All have denied the charges.
May 5 – The English Football Association is mulling over ending its commercial ties with betting and alcohol firms at the end of the season, says chairman Greg Clarke.
May 5 – Tianjin Quanjian have denied Chelsea striker Diego Costa has agreed to move to the Chinese Super League after reports in Spain claimed the Brazilian-born striker would move in the summer for an Asian record-breaking $100 million fee.
By Samindra Kunti
May 5 – Telenet and VOO have retained the TV rights to broadcast the Belgian top flight league for the next three seasons. The Belgian clubs will net €75 million per season.
May 5 – Italian football’s reputation around the world has been damaged by the Sulley Muntari affair, the Italian Football Federation’s anti-racism advisor has charged.
May 5 – Nations from four different confederations will compete in the semi-finals of the Beach Soccer World Cup in the Bahamas on Saturday. A pulsating round of quarter-finals saw last gasp wins for Iran and Brazil, while Tahiti flew the flag vigorously for the world’s smallest nations and Italy put on the style for the bigger ones.
May 5 – Manchester City has added power management company Eaton as the club’s Official Home Energy Storage Partner in the UK. No figure was announced for the sponsorship which was described as a multi-year deal (usually three years).
May 5 – Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium reconstruction already looks to be delayed with the club now not expecting to move out of the current stadium until the 2019-20 season – a year later than originally planned.
By Paul Nicholson
May 4 – The former senior FIFA development officer for Africa challenging for a CAF place on the FIFA Council has hit a roadblock with forces at FIFA and CAF hunting for loopholes in the rules to prevent him standing.