By David Owen
April 28 – Robert Herbin, who was a key player in one great Saint-Etienne team and coach of another, has died at the age of 81. Born in Paris, the tactically-astute defensive midfielder played 23 times for France, but it was his exploits with the team in green that came to epitomise French football in the 1960s and 1970s for which he will be remembered.
By Paul Nicholson
April 27 – Qatar is preparing a bid for the 2027 Asian Cup, the AFC’s flagship national men’s team competition, according to local sources. The bid will put the Qataris into direct competition with Saudi Arabia who have confirmed that they will be bidding for 2027.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 27 – Any chance of Dutch football finishing the season is over after the 2019-20 campaign was officially wound up due to the coronavirus pandemic with those in favour and against expressing strong views over the decision.
By Samindra Kunti
April 27 – Belgium’s Pro League has again postponed the decision to rubber-stamp Club Brugge’s coronation as champions because of the evolving lockdown measures in the country. A return to action, however, remains improbable and contradicts a previous recommendation to cancel the season.
April 27 – Italy, the worst hit country in Europe by Covid-19, has given the green light for Serie A clubs to return to individual training on May 4 and team training on May 18 after prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced the first tentative steps in lifting the country’s harsh coronavirus restrictions.
April 27 – FIFA is dishing out $150 million to its 211 member associations over the next few days in the first stage of a relief effort to help them handle the financial impact of the coronavirus.
April 27 – Canal+ and beIN SPORTS and have reached an agreement outside their existing broadcast rights contract that will see them accelerate much needed payments to France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) and its clubs regarding the rights to matches already aired.
April 27 – The resumption of the Premier League may be some time off yet but Arsenal’s players were set to return to light training sessions from today.
April 27 – English top-flight club Everton say they are “appalled” after images were released of their Italian striker Moise Kean holding a house party in direct defiance of the UK’s Covid-19 lockdown restrictions – the latest flaunting of the rules by a Premier League player.
April 24 – In a landmark ruling, nine former executives, players, and businessmen including five former directors of Osasuna and two ex-Real Betis players have been handed prison sentences after being found guilty of being involved in match-fixing – the first time ever that sporting corruption has led to jail terms in Spain.
April 24 – Germany’s Bundesliga has secured agreements with its major broadcast partners that will enable the league to release money to all Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs.
April 24 – Next year’s European Championship will continue to be called Euro 2020 despite being postponed to 2021.
April 24 – The mayor of Liverpool City Region has called for an investigation into the Champions League clash between Liverpool and Atletico Madrid as debate over a possible link between positive Covid-19 cases in the city and last month’s fixture intensifies.
April 24 – Saudi Arabia is to suspend funding to sports and football clubs in an attempt to curb budget deficits amid the global coronavirus crisis, the country’s finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan has announced.
April 24 – Egypt has extended the suspension of all football activities in the country for another 15 days as a containment measure against the spread of the coronavirus.