Dell looks poised to close on acquisition of Serie A’s Spezia
February 2 – Spezia are on the verge of becoming the fifth American-owned Serie A Club, with MSD Capital in talks to invest in the Serie A side.
DaGrosa changes tack. With Saints deal dead KFG focuses on player development
February 2 – US private equity investor Joe DaGrosa has dipped his toe in the international football development waters with his Kapital Football Group (KFG) investment company via an agreement, effective July 2020, with Bolivia’s Tahuichi Academy.
Covid: Players are not the vaccination priority, says Infantino
February 2 – Footballers should not jump the queue and be vaccinated before key health workers according to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
January transfer window sees Big 5 club spending plummet by £620m
By Paul Nicholson
February 2 – Spending in the January 2021 transfer window plunged across Europe’s big five leagues from £890 million in 2020 to £270 million in the buying window that closed yesterday, according to figures from Deloitte.
Burnley face Everton fate with potential loss of high rolling betting shirt sponsor
February 2 – Burnley are the latest Premier League club to face problems with a betting partner. Shirt sponsor LoveBet have reportedly hit financial difficulty mirroring issues SportPesa ran into, forcing it to pull out of Everton’s sponsorship before the start of the season.
Matchfixing: Slovak FA beefs up betting monitoring with Starlizard partnership
February 2 – Starlizard Integrity Services (SIS) have agreed a strategic partnership to combat match-fixing with the Slovak Football Association (SFA) beginning immediately.
Munir El Haddadi cleared to switch nationality from Spain to Morocco
February 2 – After years of trying to represent his country of origin, Munir El Haddadi has finally been given the go-ahead by FIFA to play for Morocco following two appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CAS throws Ahmad an election lifeline with freeze on FIFA ban pending fast-tracked hearing
By Andrew Warshaw
February 2 – In a rare and unexpected move that will raise questions over football’s judicial process at the highest level, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dramatically reinstated disgraced African football chief Ahmad Ahmad as head of his confederation pending a full appeal against his five-year FIFA ban.
Motsepe back on the CAF campaign at CHAN before he heads to Qatar for Club World Cup
By Samindra Kunti
February 1 – Patrice Motsepe is intensifying his election campaign in the race for the presidency of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), hitting the campaign trail once again at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) and the Club World Cup in Qatar.
Palmeiras win Copa Libertadores in injury time and head for Club World Cup
February 2 – A dramatic injury-time header from substitute Breno Lopes crowned Palmeiras Copa Libertadores champions for a second time with a 1-0 victory over Brazilian rivals Santos after a final that failed to ignite until stoppage time.
‘Bankrupt’ Barca bleat over leak of Messi’s €138m salary
February 1 – Reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy with massive debts, Barcelona say they will take “appropriate legal action” against Spanish newspaper El Mundo after it published details of Lionel Messi’s eye-watering contract.
Marseilles chaos as ultras storm training ground
February 1 – Marseille officials have denounced a “frenzy of violence” after their game against Rennes in France’s Ligue 1 on Saturday was postponed when hundreds of protesting supporters broke into the club’s training ground and caused widespread damage.
Rashford latest of Man Utd’s black players to be racially abused by own fans
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – Anonymous on-line abuse of black footballers in the English Premier League has reached such alarming and disturbing levels that even Prince William has now made a rare intervention to say it has to stop.
FifaGate: Extradited former El Salvadorian FA boss Vasquez held without bail
February 1 – Former El Salvador FA president Reynaldo Vasquez has been extradited to the Eastern District of New York where he made a remote court appearance last Friday facing charges of bribery and money laundering for his part in the FifaGate corruption scandals.
Portuguese to centralise media sales; Italians talk up €1.1bn target for domestic deal
February 1 – Portugal’s Primeira Liga is to centralise its domestic broadcast rights from 2027/28, forming a company with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) to sell media rights.