By Andrew Warshaw
January 21 – As the Rolling Stones famously sung, it’s all over now. John Delaney (pictured), the flamboyant Irishman who strode European football’s corridors of power until being forced to resign as chief executive of his federation (FAI) 10 months ago, has finally given up his position on the UEFA Executive Committee.
Fouzi Lekjaa, the 49-year-old Director of National Budget in Morocco’s Ministry of Finance, wears a few important football hats. He’s President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and second Vice-President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), as well as being the Chairman of CAF’s Finance Committee. In an exclusive interview Lekjaa spoke to Osasu Obayiuwana
January 21 – David Beckham’s new franchise is holding talks with Qatar to secure a headline sponsorship for Inter Miami ’s first season in the Major League Soccer.
January 21 – A ranking of teams by the number of fouls committed per game see Liverpool leading the way as the team with the least fouls per match so far this season (8.1).
January 20 – Iran is considering boycotting the Asian Champions League after the Asian Football Confederation apparently banned the country’s clubs from staging home games.
January 20 – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has come out fuming over the decision to move the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations to January, calling it a “catastrophe” for his club.
By David Owen
You would never guess from the complacent tone of the new UEFA club licensing benchmarking report, but January 2020 may be set to go down as a turning-point in English, and therefore European, club finances – and not in a good way.
January 20 – Football in Cyprus has once again been plunged into a suspected match-fixing scandal after a raft of matches were postponed at the weekend following notifications sent by UEFA with regard to suspicious betting activity and a bomb attack against a local official.
January 20 – LaLiga’s Atletico Madrid is bidding for a club franchise in Ottawa to compete in the Canadian Premier League (CPL).
January 20 – UEFA stand accused of deliberately manipulating their team of the year award to accommodate Cristiano Ronaldo.
January 20 – Flamengo’s curtain raiser in the Rio state championship, a 0-0 draw with Macae on Saturday, was not broadcast after the club and TV Globo failed to reach a rights agreement.
January 20 – With all indicators pointing to a significant slowdown – and for many leagues a decline – in broadcast revenues, a section of the just published UEFA Benchmark report points to a clear area of growth opportunity.
January 20 – Barcelona are the most popular club online in China, the Premier League is most influential competition and Cristiano Ronaldo is still the player that excites Chinese more than any other, according to the latest Red Card Report from Mailman, published last week, which ranks online performance in the country.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
January 17 – A leading figure at Lagardere Sport, the French sports marketing company, has told Insideworldfootball that his company is seeking up to $90 million in compensation from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), for breaking their 12-year marketing contract.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 17 – In a hugely significant move that will have major repercussions for domestic leagues, UEFA and the European Clubs’ Association (ECA) are apparently “close to an agreement” to add four more rounds of fixtures to the Champions League each season.