Off the back of a thrilling UEFA Champions League night on Wednesday, it is now the turn of the inaugural Europa League group phase to reach its climax on Thursday evening, with all 18 matches kicking off simultaneously at 20:00 GMT.
January 30 – Former Chelsea supremo Roman Abramovich allegedly dodged paying millions in taxes to British authorities through an elaborate fictitious superyacht hiring scheme.
January 30 – Manchester City’s ‘reward’ for narrowly avoiding an embarrassing UEFA Champions League exit on Wednesday night is a play-off against a European juggernaut. A 3-1 comeback victory over Club Brugge clinched 22nd place in the league phase and a match against either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, who finished 12th and 11th respectively, just to reach the Round of 16. Celtic, who came 21st, will take on the other giant.
January 30 – Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain secured vital victories on the final matchday of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League group phase to ensure qualification to the play-off round.
January 30 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the new dates for this year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN), a tournament promoting home-based talent and featuring only players based in domestic leagues.
January 30 – The Municipality of Split is preparing the process to reconstruct and renovate the Poljud Stadium, Croatia’s largest football venue with a capacity of 33,987 seats.
January 30 – The El Clasico, between Real Madrid and Barcelona is widely considered to be the biggest club game in world football and is eagerly awaited every season. On May 11, the second La Liga instalment following Barca’s thrashing of Madrid 4-0 at Estadio Bernabeu, is scheduled to take place at the Camp Nou, however, the game is now in jeopardy of having no facility to play in.
January 30 – SIGA is has admitted 11 Portuguese female footballers as mentees into the SIGAWomen Global Mentorship Programme.
January 30 – UK mobile network operator EE, has extended its partnerships with all four Home Nations football teams – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
January 29 – Sports investment firm Apex has invested in the rapidly growing six-a-side Ballers League, alongside a roster of its football stars – including Diogo Dalot, Diogo Jota, Mason Mount, José Fonte, André Silva, and Ferdi Kadıoğlu – who are participating financially in the league.
January 29 – A helicopter crash that killed the owner of Premier League club Leicester City and four others was an accident, an inquest jury has concluded.
January 29 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Total Energies have renewed their partnership with a four-year deal.
January 29 – The French league has condemned yet another incident of homophobic and sexist chanting and racist banners, this time by home fans during a top-flight match between Nice and visiting Marseille last weekend.
January 29 – The French Football Federation (FFF) and French Rugby Federation (FFR) are preparing to join forces to manage the Stade de France if negotiations with GL Events for the stadium’s operation collapse.
January 29 – A top-flight Israeli game was abandoned at halftime for security reasons after fans threw flares at players and rushed onto the field.