By Paul Nicholson
April 11 – The movement towards creating a cross-discipline global sports integrity alliance now has a name for the proposed umbrella body. The official formation of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) took step closer last week at a meeting of leading sports representatives in Madrid.
By Mark Baber
April 11 – With Nigeria having been eliminated from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, the factional struggle for control of the Nigerian Football Federation has returned with a vengeance as, on Friday, Chris Giwa’s group returned to court, winning a ruling which effectively makes Giwa head of the federation and overthrows the Amaju Pinnick-led board.
By Bernd Fisa
April 11 – Florence, Italy celebrated the lives and achievements of Stefano Borgonovo and Armando Segato, last weekend. Both men were former strikers for Fiorentina and Italy’s La Squadra Azzura, who lost their battle with neurological disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
April 11 – Fans eager to know what the future holds for Portugal’s famed former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho will have to wait a bit longer.
By Samindra Kunti
April 8 – In the past year Dutch football agents and intermediaries pocketed €9.5 million from professional clubs for their transfer and player contract services, according to the Dutch FA, the KNVB.
April 8 – A British businessman who was managing director of iconic English club Leeds United has alleged he was mistreated and physically abused whilst detained in Dubai for almost two years.
By Matt Scott
April 7 – Greek government officials ordering the Hellenic Football Federation to reform over corruption and crowd trouble have issued a defiant statement in response to FIFA’s threat to ban Greece from international competitions.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – Despite vehemently insisting it acted in good faith over the sale of Champions League rights to an offshore company after being caught up in the Panama Papers tax haven affair, UEFA had its offices raided on Wednesday by Swiss police searching for evidence of any possible wrongdoing.
April 7 – 2016 International Champions Cup organisers have launched pre-sale ticket sales for matches taking place in the US summer with Liverpool being the first to announce ticketing plans for their two games in California in July.
By Paul Nicholson
April 6 – UEFA and its marketing agency TEAM have laid bare the anatomy of the Ecuadorian TV deal that has dragged FIFA president Gianni Infantino into the Panama Papers scandal as the signatory on the contract for Champions League TV rights in 2006.
By Mark Baber
April 6 – With the Zimbabwean national teams performing well and the Warriors three points clear at the top of their 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifying group, a row which threatens future sponsorship of the national team has broken out after an article in local media revealed the national coach’s ‘Salary Hell’.
April 6 – After sinking to the depths of despair as a result of years of financial mismanagement, Glasgow Rangers, one of the iconic names in British football, have regained their top-flight Scottish league status amid scenes of unbridled celebration.
April 6 – Inter Milan could soon have a new Chinese member of their ownership group according to reports in Italy. Suning Commerce Group, which recently bought Chinese Super League side Jiangsu, is looking at European expansion with a 20% stake in the Serie A club.
April 5 – The beleaguered South American Football Confederation, CONMEBOL, could be forced out of its Paraguay headquarters due to a $10 million lawsuit relating to the land where it is situated, according to its president.
April 4 – When it comes to buying in first team talent, Chelsea tops the table for foreign signings with 75% of its players coming from outside of England. The next highest club in the Big 5 leagues is Ligue 1’s Monaco with 73% followed by Manchester City with 69.2% and Italy’s Lazio with 67.9%.