By Paul Nicholson
May 5 – FIFA President Gianni Infantino has won what he hopes will be the first step towards a more significant victory in his battle to quash the Swiss federal criminal investigation into his conduct.
May 5 – In a shock ruling under its new president Patrice Motsepe (pictured), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has banned 20 of its 54 member countries from using their stadiums to host international matches because they don’t meet “minimum requirements”.
May 5 – Logistics giant FedEx has added the UEFA Champions League to its Europa League and National Team sponsorships in a three-season deal giving it coverage across all of UEFA’s men’s competitions.
May 5 – In the wake of the European Super League (ESL) protests, Chelsea have become the first of the English breakaway clubs to introduce fan representation at board meetings.
May 5 – On a visit to Ivory Coast, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe announced that the Motsepe Foundation will donate $10 million for the establishment of a pan-African schools championship organised under the umbrella of both CAF and FIFA.
May 5 – In another blow to Kenyan football, Premier League club Zoo FC have been sanctioned for suspected match fixing, and relegated the club from the domestic Premier League.
May 5 – Sports betting integrity specialist Sportradar, which services a bulk of national federations and confederations with its bet monitoring systems, has taken the battle against match-fixing a step further with an MoU with the General Directorate National Police of Bulgaria.
May 4 – The AFC completed the group stages of its The 2021 Champions League (West) last Friday with a number of last minute surprises that saw some of the region’s biggest clubs miss out on Round of 16 slots in what was an exciting end to group play.
May 4 – The English Premier League has taken action to prevent its clubs threatening to break away again and join any future European Super League.
May 4 – FIFA’s Ethics Committee has banned another former employee of the Haitian Football Association (FHF) for 10 years as part of its investigation into multiple allegations of sexual abuse of female players in the Caribbean nation.
May 4 – North Korea have reportedly withdrawn from the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup because of fears over the Covid-19 pandemic.
May 4 – UEFA have launched a limited tickets sales process for the Europa League final in Poland’s Gdansk where up to 9,500 fans will be allowed to attend the showpiece match, following confirmation by local authorities.
May 4 – Inter Milan ended Juventus’ domination of Italian football by winning the Serie A and Ajax claimed a 35th Dutch title at the weekend.
By David Owen
May 4 – The Football Association managed to report a small profit and to invest nearly £150 million in the sport in 2019-20, in spite of being hard hit by the early months of the covid pandemic.
