February 21 – In a significant move to break through footballing ethnic barriers, 17-year-old Ilija Ivic is set to become the first Serb-kosovan player to represent Kosovo having been named in the country’s under-19 squad.
February 21 – Tickets have gone on sale for what will be one of the oldest historical match-ups in world football history. Sheffield FC, the world’s oldest football club (founded in 1857) will play First Vienna Football Club 1894, the oldest club in Austria (founded in 1894) on June 1, the night before Austria host England in a pre-Euro warm-up.
February 21 – Sports News Television, SNTV, have struck a deal to manage the J League’s new international YouTube channel.
February 21 – Tunisia have become the latest country to officially submit a bid to host this year’s Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League final on May 29.
By Paul Nicholson
February 20 – The Swiss Attorney General has issued an indictment against the former FIFA secretary general Jerôme Valcke, the chairman of the BeIN Media Group, Nasser Al-Khelaifi (who is also president of PSG and a UEFA executive committee member), and an unnamed businessman.
February 20 – In a rare example of cost cutting among its highest-ranking officials, FIFA have scrapped plans to hold next month’s two-day session in South America and have told members not to travel.
By Paul Nicholson
February 20 – Sport must be given more power to protect its rights and commercial income from criminal piracy in any form, was the overriding demand from a panel at the World Congress on Global Leadership and Anti-corruption in Sport hoisted by SIGA in Rome.
February 20 – India have become the front runners to stage the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup following a recommendation by the continental governing body’s Women’s Football Committee.
February 20 – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hit back at the president of his former club Barcelona over supporting UEFA’s two-year European ban imposed on the English champions.
February 20 – Everton have appointed construction firm Laing O’Rourke to build the club’s new £500 million, 52,000-seat stadium under a pre-construction services agreement.
February 20 – Spain’s women footballers have signed a historic first collective agreement over pay and conditions, after a battle for rights that led to an unprecedented strike in November.
February 20 – Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s new head of global development, appears to have spoken out prematurely about the need to tweak the offside rule sooner rather than later in order to get rid of the farcical situation surrounding a spate of VAR decisions.
February 20 – Internazionale are expanding Inter Academy portfolio, agreeing a partnership with IT.Sports to launch a series of football schools throughout country.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 19 – Five days after the club were sensationally banned from Europe for two seasons by UEFA, Manchester City’s chief executive has denounced allegations of financial fair play “serious breaches” as totally untrue and politically motivated.
By Paul Nicholson
February 19 – If sport, and football in particular, wants to get rid of the increased presence of organised crime both within their ranks and profiting from their activity, then sport must allocate some of its revenue to tackle criminals head-on.