St Louis wins 28th MLS franchise with female-led ownership group
August 21 – St. Louis was officially announced as the newest MLS expansion franchise on Tuesday, in what is the league’s first female majority-owned team.
Concacaf switch Honduran club last 16 games to San Pedro Sula after weekend violence
August 21 – Concacaf has moved swiftly to relocate two Concacaf League round of 16 matches scheduled to be played in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, to the northern city of San Pedro Sula following fan violence at the weekend that saw three at least three people were killed and 10 injured, three critically.
Trashing Twitter: Neville says it is time football sent a message to social media giants
August 21 – Former England international Phil Neville has called for the football community to “send a powerful message” and boycott social media for six months in response to the rise in racist abuse of players.
Poisoned pill? Beckham’s Miami stadium plans hit contamination snag
August 21 – The proposed stadium site for David Beckham’s Inter Miami franchise in the MLS has arsenic contamination levels more than twice the legal limit, according to an environmental report.
Aston Villa fire head of development MacDonald for bullying
August 21 – Newly promoted Premier League club Aston Villa’s long-serving youth coach and head of football development Kevin MacDonald has been suspended following an investigation into allegations of bullying.
African nations dutifully follow FIFA line on World Cup TV rights takeover
By Osasu Obayiuwana
August 20 – With 24 hours to FIFA’s August 21 deadline – for the 54 nations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to sign an “irrevocable” mandate, giving the world governing body the exclusive power to sell their media and marketing rights for the 2022 and 2026 World Cup qualifiers – it appears that the continent has fallen in line with the demand.
Belgian waffle: KBVB says it is not bidding for 2023 Women’s World Cup
August 20 – The Belgian FA (KBVB) has denied that it will bid for the 2023 Women’s World Cup after FIFA announced that the Belgians had expressed an interest in staging the 32-team tournament.
Andrew Warshaw: Is the problem with VAR a problem of the laws of the game?
No sooner has the video assistant referee system been implemented in the Premier League after two years of experimentation than there has been an outcry over whether it is being used properly – or in fact whether it should be employed at all.
Nigerian FA backs Siasia in fight to overturn match-fixing life ban
August 20 – The Nigeria Football Federation is standing by its former national coach Samson Siasia saying it is “shocked” by the life ban for bribery meted out by FIFA and vowing to help overturn it.
Bolton takeover delay forces match postponement over player welfare issues
August 20 – The demise of one of the most iconic clubs in English football who were in the Premier League only seven years ago has taken another damaging turn with Bolton Wanderers forced to postpone tonight’s match against Doncaster Rovers in the third-tier League One.
Twitter’s racist hattrick: Pogba penalty miss sparks social media abuse
August 20 – Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has become the third player in a week to be the subject of racist abuse on social media in England after missing a penalty.
India bring youth player registration app to combat age fraud
August 20 – In a move to combat age fraud, the Indian FA (AIFF) is introducing an app to build a database of youth players.
AC Milan’s digital push sees launch of mobile app with Cesena friendly
August 20 – AC Milan launched their mobile app with the a live stream of their pre-season friendly against Cesena last Saturday with dual language commentary in Italian and English.
Bookies back Lechia and Bochum in last minute sponsorship deals
August 20 – Online betting firms are mopping up last minute club sponsorships as the European season kicks off with French bookmaker Betclic partnering with Poland’s Lechia Gdansk, and VfL Bochum 1848 of the 2. Bundesliga becoming the first German betting partner of Stockholm based operator LeoVegas.
Real Betis exchanges Green Earth for easyMarkets as short sponsor
August 20 – LaLiga’s Real Betis has secured a three-year shirt sponsorship with foreign exchange broker easyMarkets, who take over from Green Earth, an environmentally-friendly cryptocurrency company.