April 8 – With esports providing pretty much the only opportunity for competitive action as the coronavirus lockdown grips the world, clubs and increasingly broadcasters are picking up the opportunity to engage fans.
April 8 – A football merchandise price comparison website based in the north-east of England has secured a £1.625 million round of investment to fund its global expansion plans.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – Football may be postponed indefinitely on the field but off it, the FIFAgate scandal has burst into new life with a fresh catalogue of explosive indictments and allegations relating to widespread bribery, notably over the awards of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
April 7 – Franco Frattini (pictured left) is the,Justice and Chamber President to the Italian Supreme Administrative Court and the leading judge tackling mafia and organised crime in Italy. Frattini is also the chair the Sports Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA). In a joint statement with SIGA CEO Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros (pictured right), they say the battle against financial crime in sport must be harder and faster fought.
April 7 – The summer transfer window will be amended, the 2019-20 season extended indefinitely and player contracts ending on June 30 put back for a short period under radical proposals about to be announced by FIFA, according to unconfirmed reports.
April 7 – Bundesliga clubs, including reigning champions Bayern Munich, have been allowed to return to training amid strict measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus including the minimum of contact between players.
April 7 – The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has allocated $3.6 million for clubs in the lower tiers of the Brazilian football pyramid and the women’s game in a bid to mitigate the financial crisis caused by the global coronavirus outbreak.
April 7 – A ranking of clubs from 87 top divisions worldwide according to the number of players fielded in domestic league matches since January 2015 finds that top clubs generally change their players the least.
April 7 – Under pressure from supporters and the public at large, European champions and runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool have reversed their decision to furlough around 200 of their non-playing staff amid the spread of Covid-19 with CEO Peter Moore apologising to fans.
April 7 – The mother of Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has died aged 82 after contracting the coronavirus, the club announced on Monday.
April 6 – UEFA has been quick to play down reports attributed to its president Aleksander Ceferin that a deadline of August 3 has been set for the Champions League, which has reached the last-16 stage, and Europa League finals to be completed.
April 6 – English Premier League stars, via their union, have failed to reach agreement with their employers to take 30% pay cuts during the coronavirus pandemic, despite being urged to do so by government officials in order to offset the financial impact of the crisis.
April 6 – UEFA has issued an intelligence alert to its federations warning that match-fixers are quickly adapting to Covid-19 restrictions, despite the bulk of leagues and games across Europe having been shut down.
April 6 – The head of Serie A has warned of a potential “avalanche of litigation” if the domestic season is not completed once Covid-19 eases.
April 6 – More than three years after being banned for life for his role in the FIFAgate scandal, former Honduran FA boss Rafael Callejas has died of leukemia, aged 76, in a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, where he had reportedly been in prison.