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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
January 29 – The Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) has endorsed the candidature of South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe (pictured) for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidency, just days after FIFA concluded the vetting process for the March elections.
January 29 – The British government has been challenged by a group of lawmakers to impose sanctions on two billionaire oligarchs linked to English top-flight clubs following the detention of Russia’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny that has caused outcry among western democracies.
January 29 – Andrea Agnelli, the highly influential Juventus boss and head of the European Clubs Association, has dealt a potential blow to closed-shop European super league talks by instead backing UEFA’s Champions League reforms.
January 29 – On Saturday, Sao Paulo giants Palmeiras and Santos will seek to succeed Flamengo as winners of the Copa Libertadores in a final that will be played behind closed doors at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium.
January 29 – Manchester United say they are “disgusted” after two of their players, Axel Tuanzebe (pictured) and Anthony Martial, were racially abused on social media following Wednesday’s surprise 2-1 Premier League home defeat by bottom-placed Sheffield United.
January 29 – UEFA’s appeals body has upheld a €100,000 fine imposed last November on Qarabağ FK and rejected the club’s appeal.
January 29 – Increasingly concerned about how to manage next summer’s delayed Euro 2020, UEFA has brought in a leading expert in communicable diseases to help with the procedure of somehow letting fans into the 12 stadiums being used for the pan-European tournament.
January 29 – A court of appeal has acquitted Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest owner Vangelis Marinakis (pictured) and 27 others of match-fixing in a case stretching back several years.