Liverpool refresh Carlsberg deal for another 5 years
May 23 – Champions League finalists Liverpool have added five years to their Carlsberg partnership that will take them through to the end of the 2023/24 season.
MP & Silva, B4 Capital and IMG fined €67m for colluding to keep Serie A rights low
By Paul Nicholson
May 22 – Italian competition regulators have ruled that Serie A missed out on international broadcast revenue because agents MP & Silva, B4 Capital and IMG fixed the acquisition price of the rights from the league over three rights cycles from 2008 to 2017.
Azerbaijan ‘disappointed’ at Arsenal’s stay-away Mkhitaryan saying safety was guaranteed
May 22 – The decision by Arsenal’s Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan not to travel to Baku in Azerbaijan to play in the Europa League final against Chelsea on May 29 has been described by the Azerbaijan FA (AFFA) as an “unwarranted decision”.
Tebas renews call for ‘financial dopers’ PSG and Man City to be banned by UEFA
May 22 – LaLiga president Javier Tebas, who first applied the phrase “financial doping” to football to describe how the likes of Manchester City and Paris St Germain allegedly attempt to flout UEFA’s financial fair play rules, is back on the attack, repeating his stance that both should be kicked out of European competitions if found guilty of violations.
Liverpool and Spurs crackdown on fans touting CL final tickets online
May 22 – Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have taken action over fans trying to sell on Champions League tickets at inflated prices amid fears that thousands of ticketless supporters will converge on Madrid for the final on June 1.
Angola pull out of Cosafa Cup in South Africa at last minute
May 22 – Angola have pulled out of the Cosafa Cup, the regional tournament for southern Africa that is due to begin Saturday – the second country to do so after Madagascar, throwing the competition into disarray.
WWC performance: FIFA tech group expects faster games and more goals
May 21 – FIFA experts expect this summer’s Women’s World Cup in France to produce the fastest matches yet at the tournament as established powerhouses will square off with lightweights and debutants in the 24-team tournament.
Spanish FA moves to end Adidas deal with 7 years left on contract
May 22 – The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have moved to end their kit supply deal with German sportswear giant Adidas seven years early.
Mastercard invest in women’s game adding CL winners Olympique Lyonnais to roster
May 22 – Mastercard is moving swiftly into the top tier of the women’s club football market in Europe announcing a second team sponsorship in two days.
Decision on expanded 48-team Qatar 2022 World Cup will be made at Paris Congress in June
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising chief has confirmed that a decision will definitely be made one way or the other at the upcoming FIFA Congress over possible expansion to 48 teams – but won’t say which way it will go.
Women’s World Cup ticketing bust-up as buyers find their seat allocations split
May 21 – Tickets for this summer’s Women World Cup are among the hottest in town, but some fans may find themselves sitting on their own as some group ticket buyers have been given split seating allocation for certain games.
UEFA defend Baku as Europa League final venue in open letter to Arsenal
By Andrew Warshaw
May 21 – Amid widespread condemnation of their decision to stage the all-English Europa League final in distant Azerbaijan, UEFA have defended their selection of the capital Baku saying all its member nations deserve a chance to host even though only a small part of the country actually lies within Europe.
New handball and subs rules head raft of law changes set for next season
May 21 – Significant new tweaks approved earlier this year by football’s lawmakers are will come into effect across the game from the start of next season, designed to reduce a number of grey areas.
Bayern fans close season with Bundesliga win and protest over Champions League reform
May 21 – As the German league season came to a close last weekend with Bayern Munich retaining their title for a seventh consecutive time – much to the misfortune of Borussia Dortmund – German fans not for the first time expressed their displeasure of what they perceive as an elitist attitude by European football’s hierarchy.
Aussies launch 2023 Women’s World Cup bid but say it will need more that $5m to win
May 21 – Australian FA (FFA) boss David Gallop has said it will take “many millions of dollars” of government funding to win the hosting rights for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, at the official launch of Australia’s bid for the tournament.