March 21 – SoFi stadium, Inglewood, California is for all intents and purposes a spaceship, and the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) probably wishes they were boarding it with a one-way ticket to Mars after being dumped out of the Concacaf Nations League semifinal by Panama.
March 20 – Mexico weathered a relentless Canadian storm to win 2-0 and set up a Nations League final against Panama, a repeat of the Gold Cup final in 2023 when Concacaf were last in the SoFi Stadium.
March 21 – With a goal in the fourth minute of added time Panama derailed the USA’s expectations of a ‘fourpeat’ Nations league win with a goal by supersub Cecilio Waterman in the fourth minute of added time.
May 26 – FC Barcelona have a new sleeve sponsor. Netherlands-based TP Vision has become a ‘main partner’ of the club in a multi-year deal that begins with Barca’s home game against Mallorca this weekend.
May 26 – A stunning 56.9% of clubs worldwide replaced their coaches over the season currently ending. Of 850 teams analysed, 484 changed personnel.
May 26 – FIFA has extended its Memorandum of Understanding with the World Health Organisation (WHO) for a further four years and with a commitment to promote better health through football.
BMO Field, Toronto, Canada
The Gold Cup returns to Canada and the BMO Field, Toronto, for the second time. The last time the stadium hosted Gold Cup was a double header in 2015.
A football-specific outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, the stadium is the home of Toronto FC who play in the MLS and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football league.
Stadium capacity is currently about 28,000 but can be expanded to 40,000.
May 25 – The German Football League (DFL) has walked away from a potential €2 billion of private equity funding for a stake in the Bundesliga’s media rights.
May 25 – FC Shakhtar has responded to the extension of FIFA’s suspension of player and coaching contract with Ukrainian clubs saying it could mean losses of €80 million.
May 25 – FIFA has renewed its long-running sponsorship with Hyundai Motor Group and its Hyundai and Kia brands until 2030.
May 25 – LaLiga President Javier Tebas has issued an apology for his online rant at Vinicius Jr after the Real Madrid star said the Spanish league belonged to racists following the racist insults he suffered at Valencia last Sunday.
May 25 – Brazilian club Santos are in negotiation with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) for a potential sale or stake in the club.
May 25 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia received a ‘conditional’ license for the next season but will be under constant monitoring by the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU).
The club has debts of over BGN 11 million (€5,5 million) to the National Revenue Agency (NRA). The BFU said it will track whether Levski regularly pays its debts to the state. The monthly instalment to the NRA is approximately BGN 140,000 (€70 000).
CityPark, St Louis, Missouri
This 22,423-seat soccer-specific stadium was only completed in November 2022.
It is the home of St Louis City SC that made its MLS debut in March 2023, beating Charlotte FC 3-1.
The stadium is located in the Downtown West district and next to Union Station.
The stadium has a grass pitch 12m below street level, surrounded by two tiers of seating totaling 22,423 seats – an additional 2,500 seats can be added.
May 24 – In Brazil leading clubs are pushing to take control of all their media and commercial rights with the construction of a new league entity. In Chile, the desire for new and increased funding is similar though the professional league is following more of a European model.
May 25 – The Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, desperately in need of renovation, has been put up for sale by the city.
May 25 – French Ligue1 side AS Monaco has signed a partnership agreement with Rarecubes, a Web3 consultingagency, to support the development of a new digital platform for the club.
May 24 – In the aftermath of the Vinicius Jr racism scandal, La Liga will request greater power to punish incidents of racism in Spanish football.