May 16 – He may have turned up four hours late, and have key members of his ‘football family’ walk out on him at the interval in protest, but FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino barely missed a beat as he rattled through all the talking points that in his ivory tower make him a global powerbroker and now seemingly bigger than the sport he was elected to administer.
By Samindra Kunti in Asuncion, Paraguay
May 16 – European football leaders staged a dramatic walkout at the FIFA congress in protest against Gianni Infantino’s delayed arrival following his Middle East Trip with US President Donald Trump.
Tensions boiled over at what had promised to be a routine Congress. Europe’s Council members walked out was supported by a sizable number of European football associations.
By Samindra Kunti in Asuncion, Paraguay
May 16 – South American football boss Alejandro Dominguez has once again beat the drum for a 64-team World Cup in 2030 to celebrate the tournament’s centenary. Taking the stage in his home country of Paraguay it was a remarkable exhortion of FIFA’s members to “think in a different way”.
May 16 – Football Unites the World is FIFA’s slogan, but it is money that truly unites FIFA, and FIFA is about to have a whole lot more, announcing at its 75th Annual Congress in Asuncion Paraguay that its new budget for the 2023 to 2026 is $13 billion, exactly double the $6.5 billion of its previous 2019 to 2022 cycle.
May 16 – Real Madrid and Spanish international Raul Asencio, 22, along with three former teammates from Real’s academy could face criminal charges for allegedly recording and distributing sexual images of a woman and a minor without their consent.
May 16 – South Korean international and Tottenham Hotspur captain, Son Heung-min, has filed a criminal complaint with South Korean police after becoming the victim of an alleged blackmail plot.
May 16 – From the muddy pitches of non-league obscurity to Premier League immortality, Vardy’s journey stands alone in the pantheon of sporting miracles. Plucked from Fleetwood Town in 2012 for a then-eyebrow-raising £1 million, this late-blooming phenomenon didn’t grace the Premier League stage until age 27 – practically retirement age for some forwards, but merely the opening chapter for Leicester’s goal-scoring dynamo.
May 16 – Nothing says England more than necking pints and watching football at the local pub – and this summer, bleary-eyed punters will have an extra excuse to tell their bosses they’re “working from home” should England or Wales reach the business end of the UEFA Women’s European Championships.
May 16 – Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad have signed a partnership with Swedish industrial company Husqvarna. As a result of the signed contract, the latest generation of robotic lawnmowers will maintain all the pitches of the club’s training complex in Razgrad.
May 15 – Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappé leads a new CIES Football Observatory ranking of the 100 players over the past two windows whose transfers now represent the biggest potential capital gains for their current clubs.
May 15 – Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has joined the ownership group of Chelsea Women, confirming a £20 million investment that secures him a 10% stake in the reigning Women’s Super League champions.
May 15 – CONMEBOL has renewed its production and broadcast distribution partnership with Spanish media agency Mediapro, locking in the relationship through the 2026 calendar year and ensuring continued delivery of South America’s premier club competitions from a centralised hub in Buenos Aires.
May 15 – AS Monaco have extended their partnership with luxury French furniture brand Roche Bobois for another two seasons, as the club continues to grow one of the most expansive premium partnership portfolios in European football.
May 15 – FIFA’s 75th Congress is set to get started today in Asunción, Paraguay, with plenty of controversy already surrounding the event, which has been marred by the late arrival of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
May 15 – Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Fairsquare have warned of increased migrant worker deaths in Saudi Arabia, the host country of the 2034 FIFA World Cup.