LaLiga demands greater powers to punish racism, police make arrests over Vinicius ‘hate crimes’
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.
El Salvador bans fans for a year over Alianza stadium disaster
May 24 – The El Salvadorian football federation (FESFUT) has moved quickly to sanction the Alianza club after the crowd surge that crushed fans causing 12 deaths and more than 500 others needing medical attention.
Serbian FA sanctions FC Kolubara with 9 point deduction for match-fixing
May 24 – The Football Association of Serbia (FSS) has punished Serbian Super League team FK Kolubara Lazarevac with a nine point deduction, one round before the end of the season, virtually ensuring the club will be relegated to the second tier for next season.
Serie A’s De Siervo promises ‘zero tolerance’ on racism
May 25 – The head of Serie A Luigi De Siervo has said that Italian football will adopt a “zero tolerance” stance towards racist fans, and will leverage technology to identify culprits and enforce stadium bans.
Senegal officially joins the race to host Africa Cup of Nations 2024
May 24 – Senegal have become the fifth candidate and the seventh country to submit a hosting bid for the African Cup of Nations (CAN) in 2027. The country officially submitted its bid on Monday.
Manchester City are bookies favourites for Champions League Glory
May 24 – The Champions League final is fast approaching and the betting market is becoming frenzied with guides and betting tips providing online players and bettors with winner odds and lists of the latest soccer betting sites and best betting apps available on the market.
Guardiola tells regulators to speed up ruling on financial doping charges
May 24 – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that he wants the 115 Premier League financial charges against the club to be dealt with “as soon as possible”.
Puma bounces Mitre out the game with official ball deal in Scotland
May 24 – Scotland’s top men’s and women’s leagues have appointed Puma as the official match ball provider in a multi-year deal starting with the 2023/24 season.
Istanbul warms up for final with UEFA Champions Festival
May 24 – UEFA has launched detail of its Champions Festival that will run alongside the Champions League Final between Manchester City and Internazionale at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on Saturday June 10.
USA
What to expect
The US were the strongest of the four nations in Las Vegas in the CONCACAF Nations League beating Mexico 3-0 in the first semi-final and Canada 1-0 in the final with an exciting brand of football driven by a young team of extremely talented players who visibly grew in confidence. They come into the Gold Cup having dropped the bulk of that squad and are relying more on the MLS and LigaMX players.
Mexico
What to expect
Mexico come into the tournament with a win, having beaten Panama 1-0 in the third place play-off at the Nations League finals a week ago. But Mexican fans demand more and so does a federation in presidential flux. With the US having made wholesale changes this Mexican team should be good enough to go all the way and they will have packed stadia driving them on. However, they are in the group of death with a fast improving Honduras with all their stars fit,
Canada
What to expect
Canada on their day can be the most exciting football team in the region going forward. They will be anxious to put the disappointing Nations League final loss behind them as well as three losses at the Qatar 2022 World Cup – they gained prose for their performance in Qatar, but praise doesn’t win games. The key thing for the Canadians is not losing games that they should win,
Honduras
What to expect
Honduras are making their 16th appearance at the Gold Cup only having missed one final in 2002. They made the final in 2002 and have been semi-finalists in 2009, 2011 and 2013. They are a very proud footballing nation and have a strong and vocal supporter base in the US that expects their team to be better than they have shown in recent years. With the changing of the old guard this could be their time but the are in the group of death with Gold Cup royalty,
Panama
What to expect
Panama are a team looking to transition and under Christiansen have maintained momentum since their qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, however, they just missed out on 2022 qualification to Costa Rica and that hurt. They struggled at the Nations League finals in Las Vegas a week ago but will be stronger at the Gold Cup with players returning from injury.
Star players
Right back Michael Murillo who plays his club football at Belgium’s Anderlecht has the ability to get forward and score.
Jamaica
What to expect
Jamaica come into the Gold Cup on a mission. They have twice made the Gold Cup final in 2015 and 2017. In 2015 they beat the US to get there, and in 2017 they beat Mexico. They are in a group with the US, Trinidad and Tobago and St Kitts and Nevis. With their Premier League looking forward line they will expect to qualify from the group. If that frontline start to find the back of the net then they could go all the way.