June 24 – French football authorities have defied a court ruling not to relegate Amiens and Toulouse in voting to maintain a 20-team Ligue 1 next season, ending any chance of expanding the league.
By Paul Nicholson
June 23 – The comedy of corruption and financial malpractice that has been, with few exceptions, the Trinidad and Tobago FA’s overriding contribution to Caribbean and world football, has continued with more information of yet another monster contract paid by the TTFA to yet another associate of disgraced former Concacaf president Jack Warner.
June 23 – Spain’s crackdown on tax evasion in football has snared yet another alleged culprit – Everton’s much-travelled manager Carlo Ancelotti.
June 23 – Former Conmebol president Juan Angel Napout and Brazilian FA (CBF) boss Jose Maria Marin have had their appeals dismissed by a US court against their sentences for their roles in the FIFAGate scandals.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 23 – The pain still lingers but all good things come to those who wait. Ten years after the humiliation of being trounced when bidding for the 2022 World Cup, Australia are poised to be granted what could arguably be described as the next best thing – the women’s equivalent. Even if it means sharing with neighbours New Zealand.
June 22 – The recent resumption of the English Premier League suffered a sour off-the-field incident on Monday when a plane carrying a banner provocatively declaring ‘White Lives Matter Burnley’ flew over Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium at the start of the fixture between the teams.
June 23 – BeIN Sports went dark on the broadcast of the return of Serie A from the coronavirus shutdown this weekend as tensions mount over the league’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and the kingdom’s support of pirate channel beoutQ.
June 23 – It took just 120 seconds for the Barcelona blockchain fan tokens to sell out on the Chiliz Exchange yesterday, raising $777,000.
June 23 – FIFA and EA Sports have returned to the football esports market in Asia with the launch of a new competition to be played this month to replace the FIFA eChampions Cup Spring 2020.
By Paul Nicholson
June 22 – Japan have withdrawn their bid to host the Women’s World Cup 2023 leaving just two bids still in contention for the blue riband women’s event, with the joint Australia-New Zealand bid being the clear favourite against the submission from Colombia.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 22 – In a key move that could break the deadlock over the prospective £300 million takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi-led consortium, Saudi Arabia has announced a crackdown on illegally streaming sports events.
June 22 – By a supreme irony, France, the only one of Europe’s major leagues to shut down the domestic league season prematurely because of Covid 19, has now become the first country to announce that a limited number of fans can attend when stadiums re-open in July.
June 22 – The top tier league win in Palestine by Markhaz Balatah, a team from the Balata refugee camp, is a timely reminder of what can be achieved through football, as well as what football can achieve.
June 22 – Football’s world players’ union has expressed its concern that players are suddenly being asked to play too many games and may not have enough time to fully recover between this season’s revised calendar and the start of the next campaign.
June 22 – The Bundesliga has become the first major European league to negotiate a new TV rights deal in the coronavirus age. While the new deal shows a reduction on the previous broadcast money achieved, it nevertheless suggests that there is still some life left in the market.