By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – Pirate satellite broadcast beoutQ, which has been stealing the rights to beIN Sport broadcast content, has continued where it left at the World Cup, with every game of the first Premier League weekend stolen and broadcast via the Arabsat satellite. beoutQ also stole six of the 10 opening games of France’s Ligue 1, including PSG vs Caen.
August 16 – Facebook has added more football broadcast rights to its rapidly growing portfolio, this time bringing to its streaming platform UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup rights in Spanish-speaking Latin American territories.
August 16 – The row over racism claims by German midfielder Mesut Ozil, which led to his surprise retirement at 29 from international football, has taken another twist with national teammate Toni Kroos rubbishing such claims.
August 16 – The Women’s U-20 World Cup has reached the business end of the competition with heavyweight quarter-finals set to decide the last four. Hosts France take on reigning champions Korea DPR, Spain meet Nigeria and Germany face Japan. Debutants the Netherlands play England in the last quarter-final.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 16 – Ghana’s authorities appear to be digging in their heels over FIFA’s ultimatum to get their house in order by August 27 or be thrown of international football.
August 16 – Brexit could be “hugely damaging” to English football, according to the chairman of Premier League club Burnley. Mike Garlick (pictured) warned that the end of freedom of movement and the fall in the value of the pound will harm British clubs.
August 15 – Expedia Group is to become the Official Travel Partner of the UEFA Champions League in a three-year deal that also gives the online travel booking firm sponsorship rights to the Super Cup, Youth League finals and the Futsal Champions League finals.
August 16 – Is this the season where the red and white half of Madrid gets the better of their more globally successful, if not illustrious, rivals?
August 16 – Santiago has been chosen by Conmebol as the venue for the first single Copa Libertadores final in the competition’s history as the Continent’s flagship tournament moves into the line with Europe in 2019 and does away with a two-legged climax.
August 15 – FIFA has moved swiftly to counter criticism of its Ethic processes following global outcry over the removal of the word ‘corruption’ from its updated Ethics Code, and the worrying (if not frightening) introduction of a new ‘defamation’ offence, being widely talked about as a new law for cover-up.
August 15 – Egypt’s sports minister Doctor Ashraf Sobhy has announced that fans will be allowed back into stadia to watch league matches on a regular basis for the first time since 2012.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 15 – Nigeria and Ghana, whose respective federations have been gridlocked for several weeks, have been warned by FIFA to halt “undue influence” in their affairs by outside authorities or risk being thrown out of international football.
August 15 – TAG Heuer has extended its partnership as Official Timekeeper of the Premier League for a further season. The Premier League will continue to play all matches run on TAG Heuer time, both on pitch and on broadcast signals worldwide.
August 15 – Facebook has confirmed it has snapped up the rights to show Spain’s LaLiga on Indian sub-continent in a three-year deal that starts Friday with the kick-off of the new league season.
August 15 – The new launch USL Division III will have at least 10 teams as founding members when it kicks off its inaugural season, according to sanctioning paperwork sent to the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF).