France nailed on for Euro 2020 win say stats. England ranked only 4th behind Germany and Spain
June 4 – Follow the stats and France will win the Euro 2020 championships. Second favourites are Germany, followed by Spain and England.
US and Mexico scrape through dramatic semis to set up Nations League Final
June 4 – The Concacaf Nations League final on Sunday will be a repeat of the 2019 Gold Cup final with both the US and Mexico winning their semi-finalsat Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado. But it took an 89thminute header and a penalty shoot out to see them through.
Belfast confirmed as host for Chelsea vs Villareal Super Cup fixture
June 4 – Having missed out on the Champions League final for two straight years because of Covid-19, Istanbul has again been snubbed in favour of Belfast for August’s traditional Super Cup fixture, this time between Chelsea and Villareal.
French agree to cut Ligue 1 from 20 to 18 teams for start of 2023-24 season
June 4 – France will downsize its top tier Ligue 1 from 20 to 18 clubs in the 2023-24 season. The decision was taken at the LFP’s general assembly and is an immediate consequence of the crisis in French football since the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak.
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane pull out of the Asian Champions League
June 4 – A-League clubs Sydney FC, Melbourne City FC and Brisbane Roar have withdrawn from the Asian Champions League, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) confirmed today.
Johansen’s nemesis Michael cleared by CAS to run in Sierra Leone elections
June 4 – Rodney Michael, who waged a long-running battle with the outgoing Sierra Leone FA president Isha Johansen for control of the federation, has been cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to run in Saturday’s election.
Optus agree deal rerun of Women’s World Cup 2023 rights for Aussie
June 4 – FIFA have awarded the TV rights for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 to Optus Sport in the host market Australia, the world federation announced on Thursday.
Infantino bangs the drum for FIFA’s reformed credentials at UN meet
June 3 – At a UN General Assembly event, FIFA president Gianni Infantino once again presented the global governing body as a reformed organisation, stressing the importance of a transparent transfer market, proper bidding processes and praising the partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Controversial Johansen pulls out of Sierra Leone elections to focus on ‘higher level’ at FIFA
June 3 – Isha Johansen, whose eight-year reign as president of the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) has been fraught with in-fighting and power struggles, has ruled herself out of Saturday’s elections and will not stand again.
Covid vaccinations: Martinez defends Belgian players who opted out of taking jab
June 3 – Belgian head coach Roberto Martinez (pictured) has downplayed some of his players not taking a vaccine before the kick-off of Euro 2020, even though the ‘Red Devils’ were fast-tracked to get a first dose in time for the continental finals.
Dominguez accuses FIFPro of ‘lack of respect’ over Brazil hosting Copa America
June 3 – Conmebol president Alexandre Dominguez (pictured) has defended the ruling body’s last-minute and controversial decision to shift the Copa America from both Argentina and Colombia to Brazil following criticism from the international players’ union FIFPro.
EFL announces record viewing for its iFollow streaming service with revenue topping £42m
June 3 – The English Football league (EFL) has reported a record level of subscribers to its iFollow streaming services that was launched in 2017.
CBS Sports adds AFC’s major competitions to its Paramount+ line-up in the US
June 3 – CBS Sports has bought into the AFC’s expanded competition calendar acquiring exclusive media rights for the US to the Asian Football Confederations key competitions, including the Asian Qualifiers for Qatar 2022, the AFC Champions League, Women’s Asian Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023home of AFC competitions.
LaLiga expands Relevent Sports partnership to include Mexico
June 3 – Spain’s LaLiga has expanded its North American 50/50 joint venture with the US-based Relevent Sports Group to include Mexico as part of the territories that it manages.
Man Utd open up podcast feature as app hits 3 million downloads
June 3 – Manchester United has taken more control of its own media, moving its popular UTD Podcast on to the club’s own app, supplementing its distribution on third party podcast platforms.