April 17 – They began their challenge back in the qualifying rounds when they were 250 to 1 outsiders. But now Ajax of Amsterdam, the pioneers of total football back in the 1970s, are just one round and two matches away from an unlikely place in this season’s Champions League final.
April 17 – The draw for the first phase of Asia’s qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup finals was made on Wednesday despite the fact that the continent doesn’t know for sure how many teams will be represented in Qatar.
By David Owen
April 17 – The schedule for the men’s and women’s Olympic football tournaments next year in Japan has been published, with the sport getting up and running as usual well before the official opening ceremony for the Games.
April 17 – World governing body FIFA is to send a fact-finding mission to Pakistan to assess the administrative crisis in the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), but the FIFA delegation seems unlikely to issues sanctions preventing Pakistan from taking part in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
April 15 – LaLiga has extended its virtual perimeter and virtual goal-side advertising deal with the UK’s Interregional Sports Group (ISG). The deal was concluded via LaLiga’s media agency MediaPro.
April 17 – Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes has been charged with misconduct by the FA for allegedly breaking betting rules.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 16 – John Delaney’s colourful and controversial career as an influential voice in European football administration is under severe threat after the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) announced he had offered to step aside as its executive vice-president with immediate effect amid increasing criticism over an authorised loan he provided in 2017 that called into question serious governance issues.
April 16 – Puma will become LaLiga’s official technical partner from the start of the 2019/20 season, and will supply the official match ball for all matches in LaLiga Santander and La Liga 1|2|3.
April 16 – Cardiff City have submitted evidence to FIFA in their dispute with Nantes over the £15 million transfer fee for the late Emiliano Sala.
April 16 – Jose Maria Marin, disgraced former president of the Brazil Football Confederation (CBF), has been banned for life by FIFA and fined CHF1 million for taking bribes, 16 months after he was convicted of corruption charges in the United States.
By Paul Nicholson
April 16 – The animosity between the Spanish FA (RFEF) and LaLiga has found a new broadcast battleground to play out.
April 16 – An analysis of defensive aerial challenges across Europe by the CIES Football Observatory ranks Olympique Lyonnais defender Marcelo Guerdes as the continent’s leading defender winning 85.5% of aerial challenges.
April 15 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s determination to win his battle to expand the 2022 World Cup beyond Qatar’s borders has taken him to Kuwait in a last-ditch effort to pull in another 16 finalists in three years’ time.
April 15 – Having been stripped of hosting rights for this year’s Africa’s showpiece event, the African Cup of Nations, Cameroon have instead been handed the consolation prize of the 2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals in place of Ethiopia.
April 15 – Six players have been banned from taking part in the U17 Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania after failing MRI tests to determine their age and eligibility for the competition.