By Paul Nicholson
April 30 – Ellis Short (pictured), US billionaire of former Premier League club Sunderland, is selling up and getting out of English football after a ten-year ownership spell that has seem him lose £250 million.
April 30 – China’s football expansion beyond the 11-a-side game has a new commercial supporter with electric bike company Yadea announcing that they have become the title sponsor of the country’s elite futsal league – Sina Elite 5X5 Football League 2018.
April 30 – Argentine legend Diego Maradona has left as coach of Al Fujairah by mutual consent after the club missed out on automatic promotion from the United Arab Emirates’ second division.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 27 – The increasingly bitter race to stage the 2026 World Cup has been plunged into unchartered and unprecedented territory after tweets by US president Donald Trump appeared to violate strict FIFA rules over the bid process.
April 27 – Former Brazilian FA (CBF) president Marco Polo Del Nero, already suspended by FIFA’s Ethics committee last December, has had that suspension turned into a life ban from all football-related activities at both national and international level.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 27 – Just six days after apparently being reported to FIFA’s ethics committee for an alleged conflict of interest relating to Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid, FIFA number two Fatma Samoura has been told she has no case to answer, fuelling speculation of a botched behind-the-scenes plot to have the Moroccans thrown out of the process.
April 27 – In a move that has split public opinion across the nation, the most iconic venue in English football, the national stadium at Wembley, could be sold within weeks following a multi-millionaire pound bid by US billionaire Shahid Khan.
April 27 – In an important case that could potentially have implications for player image rights, a European court has ruled that Argentina and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, can trademark his own name for use on sports and clothing equipment.
April 27 – The Turkish Football Federation have announced that the remainder of the Turkish Cup semifinal, abandoned because of crowd trouble by Fenerbahce fans, will take place on May 3 behind closed doors – but Besiktas say they will refuse to turn up.
April 27 – Premier League Liverpool have announced a youth coaching project in Kunming, the capital city of SW China’s Yunnan province, that will initially provide coaching to a selection of schools.
April 27 – LaLiga has expanded its sponsorship portfolio in Nigeria, a key African market for the English Premier League, with the signing of another regional sponsor, multi-national beverage company AJEAST Nigeria, the makers of Big Cola.
April 27 – UEFA, which has recently unbundled its women’s competition rights from its men’s competitions, has issued a tender for the supply of the Official Match Ball and Lifestyle Partner for the 2018-21 cycle of women’s competitions.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 26 – One of Europe’s most influential voting FIFA nations has warned against Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid being sabotaged amid suspicions that Gianni Infantino may be behind an alleged plot to prevent the north Africans making it on to the ballot paper in June.
April 26 – Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani has defended the club’s decision to play two post-season friendlies in Myanmar, saying the decision to play there is about people, not governments.
April 24 – They may have been second to the punch in terms of submitting their bid book to host the 2024 European Championship finals but Turkey hope they will be first when the vote takes place in September.