By Paul Nicholson
August 10 – FIFA’s newly hired external PR teams went into overdrive at the weekend with a stunning assault, led by FIFA’s new-found media luvvie Alasdair Bell, the organisation’s deputy general secretary, on the FIFA reform process led Basel criminal law professor Mark Pieth (pictured) as being a useless waste of money.
August 8 – Atletico Madrid, due to play in the Champions League quarterfinals this week, have confirmed two positive cases of coronavirus from testing carried out on Saturday.
August 10 – Paris Saint Germain, one of the wealthiest clubs in world football, have signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Chinese consumer electronics and home appliances company Hisense.
August 10 – Concacaf has unveiled a plan to resume its suspended club competitions, though the exact dates and venue(s) for the final 11 games of the Champions League remain in limbo.
August 10 – English premier league side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have reached the Europa League quarterfinals, have been punished for breaching UEFA’s financial fair play rules for the 2019/20 season.
By Paul Nicholson
August 7 – The involvement of organised criminal gangs (OCGs) in sports, and football in particular, is increasing in Europe and the Covid crisis has accelerated that increase, according to a new report by Europol, the European Union’s agency for law enforcement cooperation.
August 7 – The coronavirus is still raging in South America, but clubs traveling for Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana matches will not have to quarantine when crossing borders.
August 7 – Four countries – Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Poland – have offered to act as neutral venue hubs for upcoming Nations League matches and other UEFA competitions if Covid-19-related travel restrictions prevent them being played in the originally scheduled country.
August 7 – Austrian football fans will be allowed to attend next season’s Bundesliga, the Austrian football league has announced, with attendances limited to up to 10,000 fans.
August 7 – English Premier League clubs have voted against continuing to allow five substitutions to be used per league game for the 2020-21 season.
August 7 – With England’s prime minister Boris Johnson opening a national campaign against obesity, chocolate brand Cadbury has unveiled their third Premier League club partnership with Chelsea.
August 7 – Scottish clubs Hearts and Partick Thistle have each been fined £2,500 by the Scottish FA for going to court to try and stave off their respective relegations.
August 6 – An exciting new era looks in store for Roma, with Texas-based Italian-American billionaire Dan Friedkin signing a deal to purchase the famed Serie A side.
August 6 – Players taking part in the climax to the Champions League and Europa League have been warned by UEFA not to breach strict Covid-19 protocols.
