Man City builds sponsor portfolio with Aldar deal
January 27 – UAE real estate developer Aldar Properties has become Manchester City’s Official Real Estate Partner.
FIFA bats second to cricket’s ICC as most followed international federation on social media
January 27 – FIFA may rule football but it doesn’t rule sports on social media, cricket does. A new ranking puts the world governing body of the world’s game over 38 million followers behind the smaller ball game.
Salah’s penalty puts Egypt into last eight; Equatorial Guinea win shoot-out
January 27 – Equatorial Guinea upset Mali 6-5 on penalties after a goalless draw to complete the last-eight field at the Africa Cup of Nations along with Egypt, who also needed a shoot-out to defeat Ivory Coast.
Premier League and UEFA look into IP issues around John Terry’s NFT promotion
January 27 – The Premier League and European governing body UEFA are taking legal advice as Chelsea look into NFTs promoted by John Terry.
Infantino tells EU politicos that solution to African migrant crisis is a biennial World Cup
By Samindra Kunti
January 26 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has taken his sales pitch for a biennial World Cup to new, unprecedented and questionable levels when he seemed to link a World Cup every two years to a better future for refugees crossing the Mediterranean.
AFCON headaches: Mane plays on to set Senegal on quarter final path but is later hospitalised
January 26 – Liverpool’s Sadio Mane suffered a head injury during Senegal’s last-16 match with Cape Verde in the Africa Cup of Nations but still scored in a 2-0 victory before he was taken off.
Asian 2022 World Cup qualifiers return with key games for Aussie, Japanese and UAE hopes
January 26 – Asian qualifying for the Qatar 2022 World Cup resumes tomorrow (Thursday) with Iran one win away from qualification in Group A. In Group B Australia need a win against China to stay in the hunt for an automatic berth in Qatar.
Match-fixing: FC Floresti sanctioned with automatic relegation from Moldovan top tier
By Paul Nicholson
January 26 – Moldova top tier club FC Floresti has been sanctioned with relegation from the National Division for betting related match-fixing.
Concacaf recruits Rizzoli to boost refereeing output and raise levels
January 26 – Concacaf has pulled off a referring coup with the announcement that Serie A Head of Refereeing and FIFA World Cup and Serie A referee Nicola Rizzoli will join the confederation as Technical Refereeing Advisor.
Hodgson returns to Premier League with Watford mission
January 26 – Roy Hodgson has come out of retirement to lead Premier League club Watford. He will be tasked to steer the Hornets, 19th in the Premier League table, to safety.
AFCON tragedy: Motsepe says tournament will continue but opens investigation
By Samindra Kunti
January 26 – African football boss Patrice Motsepe has said that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and local organisers bear “collective responsibility” for the deaths of eight supporters in a crush outside Yaounde’s Olembe Stadium at the last-16 match between Cameroon and Comoros.
Argentinean official falsified player travel docs to beat covid rules, say Brazil health chiefs
January 27 – Brazilian health authorities have claimed that an official of the Argentina Football Association (AFA) falsified health declarations before the World Cup qualifier with Brazil last September when officials of Anvisa stormed the pitch in Sao Paulo and brought the match to an end after seven minutes.
River Plate switch on Amazon Prime for shirt sponsorship
January 26 – Amazon Prime Video has become a shirt sponsor of Argentina’s River Plate in a one-year deal.
Can Newcastle United stay up this season?
January 26 – As the full-time whistle blew in the Premier League tie between Leeds United and Newcastle United, the visiting supporters were delighted, as they had seen their team pick up just their second win in the top flight this season.
Tragedy at AFCON as 8 killed in crowd crush at Cameroon’s last 16 match in Yaoundé
January 25 – At least eight people died and another 38 were injured in a crush outside the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé at the Africa Cup of Nations last-16 match between hosts Cameroon and Comoros.