By Andrew Warshaw
May 28 – Villarreal’s euphoric upset win over Manchester United in this week’s Europa League final was not only a triumph for the club and its fans, it also cemented the anti-Super League sentiment and justified the narrative that middle and smaller-sized clubs can fulfil their dreams on the biggest stage.
May 28 – With only one international match played since FIFA last published its rankings, the calendar is about move from famine to feast with an explosion of activity including Gold Cup and Euro 2020 and Copa America, as well as World Cup qualifiers.
May 28 – Two more high-profile managers are back in the market for new jobs after Antonio Conte left Inter Milan after winning Serie A and Zinedine Zidane resigned from Real Madrid after two and half years.
May 28 – US sportswear giant Nike says it dropped Brazilian footballer Neymar because he “refused to co-operate in a good faith investigation” into an allegation of sexual assault against an employee.
By Andrew Warshaw
My 27 – In one of his most strongly-worded anti-European Super League outbursts to date, even by his own standards, the boss of La Liga, Javier Tebas, took aim once again today at the orchestrators of the aborted project as well as at Gianni Infantino who he accused of “secretly” supporting the idea.
May 27 – UEFA may have gone to war with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus by opening formal disciplinary proceedings against the three clubs, but the three Super League rebels refuse to abandon their plans and issued a statement on Wednesday to defend their ideas against what they call “threats” from Nyon.
May 27 – World federation FIFA has launched a consultation on the future of the game, focusing on the congested match calendar, fan experience and laws of the game.
May 27 – The Belgian national team will receive a Pfizer vaccination before Euro 2020 with a second jab to follow after the continental finals, the Belgian FA (KBVB) has confirmed.
May 27 – Never mind their ongoing battles in Europe, in Japan they are golden. Barcelona have added to their agreement with existing sponsor Rakuten with the Japanese ecommerce company acquiring exclusive club merchandising rights in Japan.
May 27 – UEFAhas fined Swedish legendZlatan Ibrahimovic for having a financial interest in the online sportsbookBethard Group and ordered that he cut ties with the organisation.
By Paul Nicholson
May 27 – The pandemic has knocked €6.1 billion off the value of Europe’s leading 32 clubs, according to the latest annual football club valuation report from the KPMG Football Benchmark team.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 26 – UEFA has followed up on previous warnings by opening formal disciplinary proceedings against Super League rebels Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus – the only three founder members who still refuse to abandon the aborted project.
May 26 – A former secretary general of Conmebol, Eduardo Deluca (pictured), has been fined CHF 5,000 as part of an official Swiss inquiry into money laundering.
May 26 – Palestine’s Markaz Balata, the team that from the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank that won the country’s national league in 2019 and carried the nation’s hopes into the AFC Cup , are on the verge of creating more football history.
May 26 – Just two days after steering Lille to their first top-flight title since 2011, Christophe Galtier has stepped down as head coach saying four years at one club is “long enough and I just feel I have done my time here.”