Greeks to crack down on violence after Aris fan murdered
February 9 – Greece is to clamp down on fan violence following the killing of a 19-year-old fan in what was believed to be an attack by rival supporters.
FIFA logs over 3,500 transfers in Jan window and spend of $1.bn+
February 9 – The first set of data on transfer spending and trends from the January 2022 transfer window has been released by FIFA showing an international market that is very much on the bounceback with fees breaking the $1 billion mark.
England knocked out of another World Cup
By Andrew Warshaw
And so it goes on. While Italy, France, Germany and Spain have all hosted the World Cup in the last 40 years, the other member of Europe’s so-called Big Five elite – England – remain outside looking in, conspicuous by being overlooked when it comes to staging football’s greatest show on earth.
Spotify’s €280m deal would be music to Barca’s ears
February 8 – Financially challenged Barcelona are reportedly on the verge of agreeing a €280 million shirt and training kit deal with streaming service Spotify.
Paris FC set to add Armenian investor as club pushes for Ligue1 promotion
February 8 – Ligue 2 club Paris FC is poised to announce a new investor from Armenia in a reshuffle of their ownership structure.
Cazoo to accelerate Spanish expansion with Real Sociedad shirt deal
February 8 – Online car retailer Cazoo will become the main sponsor of LaLiga’s Real Sociedad from the start of next season. The deal will see the brand take the club’s front of shirt logo position.
Morocco debate rolling the World Cup bidding dice again for 2030
February 8 – Morocco is rumoured to be considering a bid for the 2030 World Cup – the sixth time the country would have attempted to land football’s showpiece tournament.
TEAM retains global rights to UEFA’s Champions League but US media goes to Relevent
February 8 – TEAM Marketing has retained the rights to the UEFA men’s Champions League for the rights cycle 2024-27, but has ceded media sales rights to Relevent Sports Group in the US.
IFAB to take another look at VAR
February 8 – World football’s lawmakers will once again discuss changes to the offside law at their annual meeting next month, being conducted virtually.
Nike terminate Greenwood deal
February 8 – Nike have terminated their endorsement of Manchester United and England striker Mason Greenwood, the sportswear firm has announced, citing “deep concerns” following his arrest on suspicion of rape and assault.
JLab plugs into Man City Women and NYCFC for US and UK push
February 8 – The advantage of having a large sales portfolio of big and champion (or near champion clubs) means you can slice and dice your inventory.
Rooney fronts up to past pressures in TV doc
February 8 – Retired former England captain Wayne Rooney has opened up about his problems with alcohol in a much-publicised upcoming documentary.
British and Irish FAs dump World Cup 2030 bid in favour of a run at hosting Euro 2028
By Paul Nicholson
February 7 – The combined British and Irish bid to host the World Cup in 2030 has been officially shelved with the five FAs instead saying they will focus on a bid to host the Euro 2028 championships.
More African Super League talk as Motsepe says it will be FIFA run and privately funded
By Samindra Kunti
February 7 – On the sidelines of the Africa Cup of Nations, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) convened a meeting with FA presidents, club chairmen and FIFA president Gianni Infantino to discuss plans for the creation of an African Super League, but the governing body again was able to give little detail on the project.
Mane and Senegal have last word over Salah and Egypt to win AFCON
By Samindra Kunti
February 7 – Senegal won their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations despite Sadio Mane missing a penalty in the first minutes of the final. He later atoned for the miss delivering the winning spot-kick in a 4-2 shootout victory to wrap up a tournament that was overshadowed by the loss of eights lives at the last-16 tie involving hosts Cameroon.