By Paul Nicholson
February 18 – FIFA has released an international ‘Transfer Market Snapshot’ report that shows the impact of the pandemic on player movement is “even more severe” than it 2020 Global Transfer report.
February 18 – Lyon President Jean-Michel Aulas has asked his players to take a pay cut in a bid to mitigate the financial fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and loss of Ligue 1 TV rights revenue.
February 18 – Olympique de Marseille president Jacques-Henri Eyraud (pictured) has said Ligue 1 is “no longer sustainable” and should shrink to confront a post-coronavirus reality.
February 18 – Serie A’s €1.7 billion private equity deal for a 10% stake in the league’s newly created media business looks to have been scuppered.
February 18 – Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta has vowed to do all he can to keep Lionel Messi at the club despite another humiliating night in the Champions League.
February 18 – The 2020-21 edition of the UEFA Youth League – a youth version of the Champions League – has been cancelled due to the difficulties in staging the competition caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions.
February 18 – Ligue 1’s AS Monaco will become the first French club to launch on Japan’s Line social media platform when the club face Paris Saint-Germain this Sunday.
February 17 – With politicking in the election of a new president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in full flow, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has begun a tour of African nations with Mauritania his first stop.
February 17 – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola fears next month’s international break could reap Covid chaos on elite clubs but says he will not stop his players from travelling abroad.
February 17 – Swiss prosecutors are appealing the acquittal of Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi (pictured) on accusations of aggravated criminal mismanagement regarding the allocation of World Cup TV rights.
February 17 – Ukraine’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to award Switzerland a 3-0 Nations League walkover win in November as a result of positive Covid-19 tests in the Ukrainian camp has been heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). But there is no update on any verdict.
February 17 – A new statistical model calculating the number of points clubs will have at the end of the season is predicting that the domestic long reigns of Juventus, PSG and Barca/Real Madrid will be over this season.
February 17 – Paris Saint-Germain stormed past FC Barcelona with a brilliant Kylian Mbappé hat-trick in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Nou Camp to knock the Catalans all but out of the competition.
February 17 – Barcelona and Beko have extended their partnership by a year, but the parties have dropped the sleeve sponsorship rights in a re-worked sponsorship agreement.
February 17 – Players squaring up angrily and just stopping short of a headbutt is nothing new in football but it rarely centres on the referee.