August 2 – Manchester City have returned from their Japan pre-season jaunt with a new sponsor. Melco Resorts & Entertainment is to become the club’s Official Partner in Japan in a deal that also covers City’s sister club in Japan, Yokohama F. Marinos.
August 2 – Argentina giants River Plate will carry Turkish Airlines as their new shirt sponsor in a three-year deal reportedly worth $15 million.
August 2 – Premier League Southampton have extended their one-season deal with trading platform eToro for the 2019/20 season.
August 1 – He has become the most notorious ‘villain’ still at large in world football – if the US indictments of 2015 are to be taken a face value – Jack Warner has returned to the Trinidad and Tobago courts. This time he is not fighting his extradition to the US – still on-going – but battling the local FA for $2.3 million of loans he claims he provided but hasn’t been repaid.
August 1 – The women’s World Cup finals will expand to 32 teams in 2023, putting it on a par with the men, though prize money will still doubtless remain an issue.
August 1 – Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli has rejected allegations that the Italian champions broke contract terms when Cristiano Ronaldo failed to feature in a pre-season friendly against the K League All Stars in Seoul last week.
August 1 – Australia have been the first of the declared bidders for the hosting of the 2023 Women’s World Cup to reaffirm their interest in the expanded competition which is being put out to retender.
August 1 – La Liga has not found a home for its broadcasting rights in the UK and Ireland for the 2019/20 season, leaving the big kick off in August in doubt for fans across the UK.
August 1 – The Bundesliga and Sportradar have renewed their match-fixing monitoring and integrity services partnership for a further two years.
August 1 – Bury’s 125-year membership of the English Football League could come to an end if club owner Steve Dale fails to provide the EFL with sufficient evidence he can sustain the club.
By Osasu Obayiuwana
July 31 – In a further twist to the controversy that has bedevilled last May’s abandoned African Champions League final in Tunis, between Esperance of Tunisia and Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco, the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) has nullified the decision of CAF’s executive committee on June 5 in Paris, ordering a replay of the game.
By Paul Nicholson
July 31 – Musa Hassan Bility, the CAF executive committee member banned by FIFA less than 24 hours after filing a complaint to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), has written an Open Letter to the FIFA Council calling into question the governing body’s “weaponised” Ethics committee.
By Paul Nicholson
July 31 – Football’s most powerful governing bodies and rights holders have issued the largest combined statement to date condemning the theft of their broadcast rights by pirate broadcaster beoutQ and “requesting” the Saudi Arabian (KSA) government to immediately take “swift and decisive” action.
July 31 – Angry South Korean fans are seeking compensation after Cristiano Ronaldo stayed on the bench during a Juventus pre-season friendly in Seoul despite being contracted to appear.
July 31 – Portugal and Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is sport’s top earner on social media, according to new analysis by analytics firm HopperHQ.