April 9 – In their legal dispute with Flamengo, the parents of the late Christian Esmerio are demanding 10 million reais (€1.5 million) in damages from the Rio Club. In 2019, a night-time blaze swept through the Flamengo training centre on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, killing ten youth players.
April 8 – Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana stadium won’t be renamed after Pele following a decision by state legislators. The proposal for a name change had been mired in controversy.
March 24 – South American governing body Conmebol incurred a loss of $14.5 million in 2020 due the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisation announced on Tuesday at its annual congress.
March 23 – As the coronavirus pandemic deepens in Brazil, the country’s football competitions have been plunged into chaos with pressure mounting for a complete suspension of the national game.
March 16 – Co-hosts Argentina will kick off the 2020 Copa America in Buenos Aires on June 13, with South American Football Confederation Conmebol releasing the competition’s new calendar after both invitees Australia and Qatar withdrew because of the coronavirus pandemic.
March 12 – Brazil’s iconic Maracana stadium will be renamed ‘The Edson Arantes do Nascimento-Rei Pele stadium’ in honour of the country’s football legend Pele, following a decision by the Rio de Janeiro state legislature.
March 11 – In Brazil, the ball keeps rolling, even as the country experiences it most dramatic moment of the coronavirus pandemic yet, breaking national daily death toll records day after day.
March 8 – South America’s World Cup qualifiers in March have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions, leaving continental governing body Conmebol with a headache to reschedule the fixtures in a heavily congested calendar.
March 5 – Brazilian football is under pressure to suspend play with three states having halted the local state tournaments and calls for common sense to be applied in light of Brazil’s dramatic spike in Covid-19 deaths.
March 3 – Conmebol and FIFA are seeking to convince European clubs to allow their players to travel for March’s World Cup qualifiers. Brazil have postponed their call-up, which had been scheduled for Friday.
February 24 – Australia and Qatar, the two non-South American teams due to take part in this year’s Copa America, have pulled out of the competition – the oldest in international football – because of scheduling conflicts caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
February 16 – CBF president Rogerio Caboclo has rejected renewed criticism from Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira over Brazil’s congested club calendar.
February 16 – Leopoldo Luque, the instantly recognisable moustachioed striker who played a key role in Argentina’s first ever World Cup on home soil in 1978, died on Monday of a heart attack while he was receiving treatment for Covid-19, according to the hospital where he was being treated.
February 10 – Brazilian club Flamengo is seeking a €5.3 million loan to provide working capital for the start of the 2021 season.
February 8 – Fans in Argentina and Uruguay are mourning the apparent suicide at just 30 of forward Santiago Garcia, nicknamed ‘Morro’, who played for Godoy Cruz.
