By Paul Nicholson
June 22 – Japan have withdrawn their bid to host the Women’s World Cup 2023 leaving just two bids still in contention for the blue riband women’s event, with the joint Australia-New Zealand bid being the clear favourite against the submission from Colombia.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 22 – In a key move that could break the deadlock over the prospective £300 million takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi-led consortium, Saudi Arabia has announced a crackdown on illegally streaming sports events.
June 22 – By a supreme irony, France, the only one of Europe’s major leagues to shut down the domestic league season prematurely because of Covid 19, has now become the first country to announce that a limited number of fans can attend when stadiums re-open in July.
June 22 – The top tier league win in Palestine by Markhaz Balatah, a team from the Balata refugee camp, is a timely reminder of what can be achieved through football, as well as what football can achieve.
June 22 – Football’s world players’ union has expressed its concern that players are suddenly being asked to play too many games and may not have enough time to fully recover between this season’s revised calendar and the start of the next campaign.
June 22 – The Bundesliga has become the first major European league to negotiate a new TV rights deal in the coronavirus age. While the new deal shows a reduction on the previous broadcast money achieved, it nevertheless suggests that there is still some life left in the market.
June 22 – Rio de Janeiro’s mayor Marcelo Crivella has suspended the local state championship until June 25 after Flamengo defeated Bangu and Portuguesa drew with Boavista in the middle of Brazil’s self-inflicted struggle with the coronavirus pandemic.
June 22 – Former UEFA president Michel Platini turned 65 on Sunday – retirement age in Switzerland where he still lives for most of the year.
June 22 – SIGA has completed the 30th call to action of its SIGA Strives initiative, marking the end of the campaign that has worked to keep sport integrity issues current during coronavirus crisis that has ripped the heart out of amateur and professional sport.
June 19 – If the Covid-19 crisis has had one beneficial effect on European football, it is perhaps that fact that the various stakeholders have pulled together for the common good.
June 19 – The FA’s Paul Elliott (pictured) has outlined a voluntary code for greater diversity in leading roles in the English game.
June 19 – The start of the new Chinese Super League season, postponed from February, has been plunged into further doubt because of a new outbreak of Covid-19.
June 19 – Inter Miami and Atlanta United have revealed a player at each club has tested positive for the coronavirus, less than a month before the league is set for a restart in Florida. In France, Saint Etienne has announced five positive tests.
June 19 – Harry Kane is back, fit and ready to go. But is Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho trying to get his excuses in early ahead of the club’s hugely anticipated opening game of the Premier League resumption against Manchester United tonight?
June 19 – FC Barcelona are to take their first steps into the Fan Token blockchain zone with a 48-hour flash sale of $BAR, in partnership with bitcoin platform Chiliz.