April 30 – The Chinese Football Association has signed a wide ranging deal with Spain-based Mediapro Group to commercialise its top three leagues for the next three seasons – 2021 to 2023.
April 30 – Global integrity body SIGA launches the first of its ‘Women on Wednesday’s’ (WoW) webinars next week (May 5). The webinars will take place on the first Wednesday of every month and feature leading women’s sports executives.
April 30 – Former Germany and Dortmund star Christoph Metzelder (pictured) has been sentenced to a suspended 10-month prison term after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
April 30 – A record number of 51 nations were in the the European qualifying draw for the 2023 Women’s World Cup held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon today.
April 30 – Political unrest in the country has forced the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) to pull out its two clubs – Hantharwady United FC and Shan United FC – from the 2021 AFC Cup and AFC Champions League, respectively.
April 29 – Having managed to fight off threats of a European Super League, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin now faces having to convince the rest of football’s stakeholders that his Champions League reforms are the best way forward.
April 29 – Outlining a new financial model for the Women’s Champions League, UEFA will pour €24 million into the competition for redistribution to teams, the continental governing body announced on Wednesday.
April 28 – Will Istanbul play host to an-all English Champions League final at the end of May? On Wednesday, Manchester City inched closer to elusive glory after exploiting Paris Saint-Germain’s defensive lapses in a high-octane semi-final of the competition. In the other last four game, Chelsea held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
April 29 – Chinese consumer electronics company Hisense is returning as a World Cup sponsor for the Qatar 2022 edition, having debuted with FIFA in Russia in 2017 and 2018.
By David Owen
April 28 – The value of long-term bank loans on Liverpool’s balance-sheet almost quadrupled in size in 2019-20 to stand at just under £197 million on May 31. But year-end cash was up by a similar proportion at £149.3 million.
April 29 – Just when you thought the administration of German football had cleaned up its act after a series of scandals in recent years, it is back in the news for all the wrong reasons with the president of the DFB Fritz Keller publicly apologising for making a Nazi reference.
April 29 – Swedish billionaire and Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek has reasserted his commitment to takeover Arsenal from the Kroenke family, declaring he has the funds in place for a bid and wants to bring the club “back to its glory”.
April 29 – Two goalkeepers are in the top three of a ranking of Big 5 league players who have played the most domestic matches for their club in the past 10 years. Leicester City’s Kasper Schmeichel (372 games) and Manchester United’s David de Gea (337), sandwich Barcelona’s hardy perennial Lionel Messi (340).
April 29 – Fresh from seeing his European Super League dreams crushed by fan power and political intervention, Andrea Agnelli, the under-pressure president of Juventus, is already back in the spotlight – this time apparently telling an Italian prosecutor that he was not responsible for rigging an Italian language exam taken by Luis Suárez last year.
April 28 – UEFA will allow national teams to expand their squads from 23 to 26 players at this summer’s Euro 2020 in a bid to lessen the load on players amid a congested calendar due to the global health crisis.