July 6 – The war on global piracy has seen a new battle win for LaLiga who, working with the Danish Rights Alliance, have won a court ruling that pirate service Rojadirecta is illegal and must be blocked by Danish ISPs.
By Paul Nicholson
July 3 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino took a step nearer towards a full criminal investigation in Switzerland into his behaviour following the announcement today by the supervisory authority of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office that an extraordinary federal public prosecutor had been appointed to examine criminal complaints made against him and Swiss federal prosecutor Michael Lauber.
July 3 – Manchester City are set to learn their European fate on July 13 in a ruling that will have major consequences for both the club and UEFA’s entire financial fair play strategy.
July 3 – French prosecutors have asked that Real Madrid star and French international Karim Benzema face trial over his alleged involvement in the attempted sex-tape blackmail of former teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
July 3 – Rui Pinto, the Portuguese whistleblower whose string of incriminating revelations shook the footballing world before he was controversially extradited from Hungary to his native Portugal, will stand trial on September 4 accused of attempted extortion, computer hacking and breach of correspondence, according to reports.
July 2 – Two former Chelsea youth-team players say they are “still fighting for justice and equality” after alleging they were racially abused at the club in the 1990s.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 30 – After somewhat of a lull, the FifaGate scandal is back in the headlines with two-time Concacaf stand-in president Alfredo Hawit spared further jail time as a US judge ruled he could return home to Honduras, four years after he pleaded guilty.
June 29 – Swiss federal prosecutors have cited former UEFA president Michel Platini in a widening of their probe into the infamous CHF 2 million “disloyal payment” made to him in 2011 by then FIFA president Sepp Blatter.
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
June 26 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino, unable to shake off continuing suspicion over his motives for undocumented meetings with under-fire Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber, has broken his silence by insisting it was “absurd” to suggest he had done anything wrong.
June 23 – Former Conmebol president Juan Angel Napout and Brazilian FA (CBF) boss Jose Maria Marin have had their appeals dismissed by a US court against their sentences for their roles in the FIFAGate scandals.
By Paul Nicholson
June 18 – The takeover of Newcastle United by a consortium led by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) looks in doubt after a senior government minister cast doubt on the legality of the takeover following the WTO ruling that the Saudi’s broke international copyright with their support of the beoutQ pirate broadcaster.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 17 – The pressure on the English Premier League to step in and halt the £300 million takeover of Newcastle United following the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) verdict that Saudi Arabia had facilitated broadcast piracy by the Saudi-based BeoutQ operation is intensifying further after both FIFA and UEFA welcomed the ruling.
June 17 – A key ally of FIFA president Gianni Infantino is reported to be the subject of a fourth criminal complaint to the Swiss authorities involving secret undocumented meetings between the FIFA president and under-fire attorney-general Michael Lauber.
By Paul Nicholson
June 16 – The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has published its report into broadcast piracy in Saudi Arabia stating that the country has not acted to prevent the industrial scale copyright theft by pay broadcaster beoutQ.
By Andrew Warshaw
June 15 – With the resumption of the Premier League 48 hours away, the £300 million takeover of Newcastle United by an investment consortium fronted by Saudi Arabia’s controversial Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman remains very much in the balance pending an imminent ruling on whether Saudi Arabia has been guilty of broadcast piracy.