By Andrew Warshaw
September 1 – Amidst all the talk of Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona and possibly signing for Manchester City for an eye-watering sum of money, spare a thought for Burton Park Wanderers as far down the other end of the footballing financial scale as you can get.
By David Owen
August 31 – FIFA invested nearly twice as much in last year’s Women’s World Cup in France as in the tournament’s previous edition in Canada in 2015.
August 28 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, speaking ahead of his Swiss judicial hearing next week says that the whole case was cooked up to prevent former UEFA president Michel Platini taking the FIFA presidency. Blatter is facing charges of “suspicion of unfair management and breach of trust” regarding a CHF2 million payment to Platini.
By David Owen
August 28 – Gianni Infantino’s New FIFA may have enjoyed the odd commercial success, notably with esports, but it has failed to reignite the body’s value as a marketing vehicle for international corporations. This has been treading water since FIFA was engulfed by reputational issues in the final days of the Blatter era.
August 28 – Belgium’s federal prosecutor has launched an investigation into Kevin De Bruyne’s agent, Patrick De Koster (pictured left), who was detained on Thursday and spent the night in jail.
August 28 – Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast’s most iconic footballer – all-time top goal scorer with 65 goals from 105 appearances – has finally been ruled out of the contest for next month’s federation (FIF) presidential election.
August 28 – The Premier League is coming under government pressure to make more live games available to fans while stadia remain closed.
August 28 – Manchester United captain Harry Maguire says he feared for his life and thought he might never play again after being arrested by plain clothes police officers following a much-publicised fracas on the Greek island of Mykonos.
August 28 – Swedish football fans will be allowed to attend domestic matches again after local health authorities green-lighted a government proposal to cap attendance at public events at 500.
August 28 – Manchester United star Paul Pogba has been left out of France’s squad for the upcoming Nations League games against Sweden and Croatia after testing positive for coronavirus.
August 28 – Despite some countries making tentative plans for a gradual return of fans, the Bundesliga looks set to remain largely behind closed doors until at least the start of next year after German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that a ban on large events will be extended from October 31 to December 31.
August 28 – Manchester City who just avoided falling foul of the ‘buy now, pay later’ mentality when it won its CAS appeal against UEFA’s sanction for overspending and breaking its financial fair play rules, has somewhat appropriately signed a new financial sponsor who offers exactly that kind of consumer service.
By Paul Nicholson
August 27 – The soap opera that has become Trinidad and Tobago football took another turn for the worse for the rank and file of the game on the islands yesterday as FIFA issued a deadline, via letter, and a clear warning of suspension. At the same time former TTFA former president William Wallace issued his own warning to FIFA that he and his allies will not back down.
August 27 – Major League Soccer cancelled five games that were due to be played on Wednesday (yesterday) joining a wave of boycotts in US sports, with NBA play-off games, baseball and tennis matches all called off in protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin on Sunday.
August 27 – The SIGA organised Sport Integrity Week taking place September 7-11 has now released a list of 38 speakers as it nails down its final agenda.