By Paul Nicholson
May 4 – FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino’s insistence on the Swiss judiciary pursuing a criminal case against former FIFA president Sepp Blatter could blow back on the governing body and potentially become a PR embarrassment for beIN Sports and PSG boss Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
May 4 – Yet again, Belgium’s Pro League has delayed the decision to rubber-stamp Club Brugge’s coronation as champions because of the evolving lockdown measures in the country and concerns over the TV rights contract. The league’s general assembly will now meet on May 15.
May 4 – Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier believes his old club should be awarded the Premier League title even if the season is not completed because of the Covid-19 crisis.
May 5 – Scottish Championship club Ayr United, who in previous years have hit the headlines with body-painted models showcasing their new season kit launch, have not been put off by the restrictions of lockdown.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 1 – In a new and unexpected twist to the FIFAgate scandal that the current regime of Gianni Infantino is determined to move on from, Israel’s largest bank, Hapoalim, has been dramatically dragged into the long-running saga by agreeing to pay $30 million for its previously unknown role in money laundering.
May 1 – Brazil may be in meltdown following the haphazard policies and incendiary rants of its president Jair Bolsonaro in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but the CBF and the country’s clubs are seeking a structured way out of the health crisis by drawing up plans for a resumption of training.
May 1 – With clubs and leagues scrambling to keep sponsors engaged, new research from the European Sponsorship Association (ESA) finds that while sponsors are changing their approaches during lockdown, there is confidence in the long-term health of the sponsorship industry despite short term uncertainty and a root and branch disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
May 1 – The man who has run football in Haiti for the best part of two decades has been accused of sexual abuse in a damning report in Britain’s Guardian newspaper.
May 1 – The Coronavirus has thrown the immediate future of the global game into disarray, but it hasn’t stopped the Belgian FA (KBVB) from expanding the domestic women’s league to ten clubs, a move designed to develop the women’s game after years of chronic neglect.
May 1 – Germany, ahead of the game in Europe in dealing with the spread of Covid-19, has suffered a setback in its bid to start playing matches again after the government delayed any decision over a league resumption.
May 1 – Paris St. Germain have been awarded the Ligue 1 title two days after the government ruled that the French season could not resume because of the coronavirus pandemic.
May 1 – A warning by the mayor of Liverpool that resuming the Premier League, even behind closed doors, would be a “non-starter” because fans would still turn up has prompted an immediate response by the club who are desperate to be crowned champions for the first time in the Premier League era.
May 1 – The Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) has unveiled a multi-year partnership with Farmer John, making the specialty meat brand the ‘Official Packaged Meat Partner of LAFC’ beginning with the 2020 season.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 30 – When the medical experts of football’s two largest bodies disagree over the immediate future of the game because of Covid-19, you know there is no easy solution.
By Paul Nicholson
April 30 – Government bigwigs and sports administration supremos from the Caribbean will be at the heart of the Concacaf Working Group that has been charged with coming up with a format and structure for a Caribbean Pro League.