By Paul Nicholson
April 8 – AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa was re-elected unopposed for a second four-year term. He became the third confederation president to be re-elected unopposed for a new four year this year following UEFA’s return of Aleksander Ceferin and Concacaf’s Victor Montagliani.
April 8 – British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is in talks to buy French Ligue 1 side via his chemicals company, Ineos. Reports are that he has already bid $100 million.
April 5 – More than 25 speakers from across the sports law spectrum have been announced for the Sports Law at the Crossroads conference in Madrid, May 10-11.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 5 – Amid the constant debate over the role of agents, new figures reveal that Premier League clubs paid out an eye-watering £260 million to them during 2018-19 – an increase of £49 million on the previous 12 months.
By David Owen
The newly-published Spurs accounts make fascinating reading. Given the world record profit for a football club of almost £139 million at the pre-tax level, this scarcely needs to be said. But there is more to it than that. In one word, you could call it balance.
By Paul Nicholson
April 5 – As AFC delegates navigate their way through the cycling Tour de Langkawi which will pass through Kuala Lumpur city centre closing the roads leading to the Hotel Shangri-La venue for the 29th AFC Congress, they will do so in the near certainty that their own political peloton has ridden their current team leader, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, to a new four-year term.
April 5 – England defender Danny Rose says he “can’t wait to see the back of football” because he so is disgusted at the recent resurgence of racism among fans.
April 5 – Sweden’s female players have rekindled the debate over the pay gap between men and women.
April 5 -Italy coach Roberto Mancini has called for tough measures in Serie A after the “unacceptable” racist abuse of Juventus’s Italian international Moise Kean.
April 5 – Brazilian football legend and three-time World Cup winner Pele has been admitted to a Paris hospital with an infection, but is expected to make a full and quick recovery.
April 5 – Colombia women’s team have returned to the international fray with a 2-1 friendly win over Peru. They hadn’t played a competitive game for nine months.
April 5 – Al Sadd and their star midfielder Xavi Hernandez have been crowned champions of Qatar after a mammoth 7-2 win over Al Ahli to take an unassailable lead in the Qatar Stars League.
April 5 – Digitally driven sports innovators have another tech fund to tap for development finance. Hype Sports Innovation has unveiled plans for a $75 million capital fund with Uli Becker, ex-president of Reebok and Bernd Wahler, former president of VfB Stuttgart.
By David Owen
April 4 – Tottenham Hotspur, the North London club who played their first match at their gleaming new stadium on Wednesday, have announced a world record annual profit for a football club of £138.9 million for the year to end-June 2018, smashing the £125.1 million figure unveiled by Liverpool in February.
April 4 – Prominent figures from across European football have emphasised the crucial importance of diversity in the game.