July 25 – It isn’t every day that the referee changes his or her mind about a crucial decision in a pivotal competitive match after being read the rules by one of the players.
July 20 – With pre-season fixtures starting to come thick and fast for Europe’s elite clubs it seems attention in some areas is already turning to which manager will be the first to be sacked.
July 19 – The agent of a former Cameroon player who died last year after suffering heart problems is calling on FIFA to train all players and coaches in how to treat victims of sudden cardiac arrest.
July 12 – Ajax’s Abdelhak Nouri will be taken out of an induced coma after tests showed he suffered no heart or brain damage when he collapsed in a friendly in the Austrian Alps on Saturday.
July 7 – Premier League clubs are least likely to buy from each other in the transfer window and Manchester City have spent £1.14 billion on players over the past 10 years of which only 35% has stayed in England.
By Mark Baber
June 28 – The outspoken Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has written to UEFA requesting an investigation into the circumstances around his country’s exit from the under-21 European Championship.
By Samindra Kunti in Moscow
June 22 – The Confederations Cup heated up last night as tensions flared in Sochi as Mexico edged New Zealand 2-1. Meanwhile in Moscow, hosts Russia face a first-round exit after Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal for Portugal leaves the hosts needing a win against the fiery Mexicans to make it into the next round.
June 20 – The French football revolution being engineered at Lille looks to have lost focus. New coach Marcelo Bielsa didn’t up show up for his first training session at the club as it seeks to rebuild after struggling in previous seasons in Ligue 1.
By Samindra Kunti in St Petersburg
June 17 – Russia and New Zealand open the 2017 Confederations Cup, the warm-up tournament for the World Cup in 2018. It is also a gauge of where are Russia on the playing side with an expectant country putting pressure on coach Stanislav Cherchesov to deliver on home soil. Germany, Portugal and Chile begin the tournament as favorites.
By Mark Baber
June 12 – This weekend’s qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2018 has seen all 52 teams vying for the 13 World Cup spots allocated to UEFA reach six matches completed in the first round group stage.
June 12 – Paris Saint-Germain have reshuffled their sporting directors with the arrival of Antero Henrique and the departure of Patrick Kluivert as the club seek to reboot after a season of regression.
June 12 – Fabio Capello is back in team management having signed a deal to take charge of Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning. Capello extends the Italian connection with Suning Sports, owners of Jiangsu and majority owners of Italy’s Internazionale.
By Paul Nicholson
June 9 – The CIES Football Observatory have taken a step away from their number crunching analysis of the Big 5 men’s leagues in Europe to examine the composition of playing squads in the four most developed women’s league in Europe (Germany, Sweden, France and England), as well as the Women’s National Soccer League in the United States.
June 7 – The coaching mantra of not changing a winning team has been questioned increasingly in recent seasons as increased numbers of fixtures and pressure on players has seen many managers complain of not having large enough squads to compete in all competitions.
By Samindra Kunti in Cardiff
June 4 – Real Madrid were crowned European champions for a 12th time after comprehensively defeating Juventus 4-1 in the Champions League final. Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice for Madrid to retain their European title, a historic feat.