April 3 – Fulham have been condemned to relegation from the Premier League with five games to play after an abject 4-1 defeat at Watford. Apart from already relegated Huddersfield, no club has been dropped down this early in the English top flight. Across Europe’s Big 5 leagues these are the first two teams to be relegated this season.
April 2 – Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala has spoken of his preference for the cities’ clubs to renovate the San Siro rather than construct a new stadium, leaving future plans over the venue in doubt.
April 2 – UEFA have lost patience with Dinamo Zagreb who have been ordered to play their next home European match behind closed doors following racist behaviour by their fans in this season’s Europa League tie against Benfica.
April 2 – FIFA has a new communications chief after announcing that Portugal national team spokesman Onofre Costa has taken over from Fabrice Jouhaud, who has led its media department since August 2016 when he arrived from l’Equipe broadcasting.
April 2 – A ten-men Brazil were eliminated from the U17 South American championship in Peru after a crushing 3-0 defeat by Argentina, but the Brazilians will still qualify for the U17 World Cup in October as hosts.
April 2 – An American investment group led by Jordan Gardner has acquired a majority share in Danish second-tier club FC Helsingor. Gardner is a minority investor in Swansea City and wants to use the Danish outpost to develop American talent.
April 2 – LaLiga’s Valencia will swap Adidas for Puma from next season in a €4 million a year kit deal that will run through to 2022.
April 2 – The German push into the Chinese market notched up another partnership with Bayern Munich signing a co-branded credit card deal with Industrial Bank of China (CIB).
April 2 – England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is being investigated by his club Everton over an alleged fracas in his home city of Sunderland at the weekend.
April 2 – The second year of the Women’s International Champions Cup, the women’s version of the men’s International Champions Cup (ICC) organised by Relevent Sports, will be played as a four-team tournament in August at North Carolina Courage’s WakeMed Soccer Park.
April 2 – Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, clinging on to hope of a play-off slot for a Premier League place, has sealed a major deal in another part of his business empire with the launch of new corporation, Diamond S. Shipping Inc, on to the New York Stock Exchange.
By Paul Nicholson
April 1 – LaLiga president Javier Tebas has hammered the plans of UEFA and the European Club Association to create what he calls a “SuperChampions League” that he says would only widen the divide between Europe’s rich and poor clubs and threaten the sustainability of national leagues.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 1 – FIFA’s top medical official has criticised the decision to allow Fabian Schar to play on during Switzerland’s recent Euro 2020 qualifier against Georgia after suffering from concussion – and warned that authorities have to be ultra-careful when it comes to head clashes.
April 1 – This year’s Cosafa Cup is in danger of being scrapped after the Southern African regional body accused Zimbabwe of reneging on an agreement to host.
April 1 – Espanyol Barcelona have signed a strategic partnership with Chinese football school San Gao FC, expanding their operations in China. Atletico Madrid and the DFL also have plans to tap into the Chinese market.