By James Dostoyevsky
After months of research, discussions, and hearings, after a Herculean effort to “do the right thing” (as the present Tory government in the UK regularly tells everyone it is doing), the mountain has given birth to Mighty Mouse.
February 24 – Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has warned that a new independent regulator for English football cannot be used as a “sledgehammer” to the game.
February 24 – Uzbekistan is set to host the AFC U20 Asian Cup, kicking off March 1, which will qualify four AFC nations to the U20 World Cup 2023 to be hosted in May/June in Indonesia.
February 24 – Spain’s LaLiga has confirmed that an investigation is underway regarding a possible case of match-fixing during a Copa del Rey match two years ago.
February 22 – Under-fire French football chief Noel Le Graet has come under further pressure to resign permanently following an intervention by a high-profile colleague within the French federation (FFF).
February 24 – The MLS has announced a multi-year extension of its kit partnership with Adidas that sees the sports and leisure brand supply every MLS team.
February 24 – The Russian Football Union’s (RFU) has had its appeal to the Swiss Supreme Court over the suspension of its national teams and clubs from international tournaments dismissed as it missed the deadline.
February 24 – At the beginning of February, Deloitte crunched the numbers for Premier League transfer spending, looking back at the recent January Wwindow, as well as the spending in the summer of 2022. As Deloitte pointed out, the figures were startling, with records being broken on all fronts.
February 23 – In a massive shakeup of the governance of English professional football, an independent regular has been confirmed by the government with widespread powers to ensure the financial sustainability of clubs – and, crucially, stop teams from joining any breakaway European Super League.
February 23 – Panama became the sixth Concacaf nation to qualify for the Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand this summer with a 1-0 play-off win over Papua New Guinea in Hamilton, New Zealand.
February 23 – England’s Lionesses retained the Arnold Clark Cup on Wednesday by thrashing Belgium 6-1, the perfect tonic for the European champions in the build-up to the World Cup this summer.
February 23 – English football authorities have begun trialling body cameras on referees in grassroots leagues to help “improve participant behaviour and respect towards referees”.
February 23 – The MLS has revamped its play-off format, increasing the number of teams that qualify as well as bringing in a new best-of-3 series at the first round.
February 23 – Colombian logistics company Inter Rapidísimo has become an Official Supporter of the Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 tournament.
February 23 – Ali Abdi Mohamed is the new president of the Somali FA. He was elected unopposed at the third time of asking and will serve a four-year term.