By Mark Baber
April 14 – Lionel Messi tops ‘France Football’ magazine’s annual ranking of the highest paid footballers, becoming the first footballer in history to earn more than €70 million in a year.
April 14 – For the first time, Germany’s cartel office has approved a plan to stop any one single pay-TV broadcaster from buying up live television rights for top-flight games, mirroring the UK where Sky and BT Sport share Premier League live coverage.
April 14 – How many times have you seen elite players emerge from the team bus with headphones clasped to their ears, oblivious to the outside world, or twiddling with the latest software on their mobile phones?
After the seemingly endless rumors came the official announcement: at the end of the next European Championship the coach of the Italian national team will not be Antonio Conte. It is no surprise. The offer from Chelsea (about €21 million for three years) was too good once it arrived, while the not so good prospects for the Blues (Italian national team, not Chelsea) were not helped by Serie A giving the coach too little room for maneuver in preparing the team.
April 14 – Premier League Swansea has commissioned digital agency Rippleffect to overhaul its official web platform with a re-launch planned for the start of the 2017/18 season.
By Paul Nicholson
April 13 – The battle for the presidency of CONCACAF has been reduced to two contenders – Canada’s Victor Montagliani and Bermuda’s Larry Mussenden – after clear favourite Gordon Derrick was removed from the running after being ruled out by CONCACAF’s legal advisors Sidley Austin, supported by FIFA’s Ethics chief Domenico Scala.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 13 – FIFA’s avowed intention to put the misdemeanours of discredited powerbrokers behind it and focus on a reformed future has got off to an inaupicious start – in Brazil at least.
By Mark Baber
April 13 – China, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea are bidding to host the 2023 Asian Cup, with Indonesia in the running despite being under a FIFA-imposed ban from international competition because of government interference in the running of the national soccer federation.
By Paul Nicholson
April 13 – With the spotlight back on the detail of the deal made by West Ham with the London Legacy Development Corporation for their move to tenancy at the Olympic Stadium, more evidence was provided that the need for the club to get a bigger home was provided last weekend with another sell out at the Boleyn ground with just 39 seats left unfilled.
April 13 – Whilst Angel Maria Villar Llona controversially continues to stand in for banned UEFA president Michel Platini despite being sanctioned late last year for failing to co-operate with the official investigation into the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bid process, his son is reported to have has fallen foul of judicial authorities in Uruguay.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 13 – The threat of an international ban on Greek football has been lifted after the government and the Greek FA (EPO) reached an 11th-hour agreement with FIFA to restart the domestic cup competition.
By Andrew Warshaw and Samindra Kunti
April 12 – As he awaits the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over his six-year ban from football, Michel Platini has been assured by the organisers that he can attend this summer’s European Championship finals in his homeland – even if the CAS judgement goes against him.
By Mark Baber
April 12 – West Ham’s move to London’s Olympic Stadium will come under increased public scrutiny following a ruling by the UK’s Information Tribunal which rejected in full the London Legacy Development Corporation (LDDC)’s appeal against an earlier Information Commissioner ruling to reveal full details of the secret contract enabling West Ham to move into the publicly owned Olympic Stadium.
April 12 – If the basis for international success is in the number of young players coaches can pick from their domestic leagues then England, who currently have the youngest national ‘A’ team in Europe, need to be worried about what happens next. France on the other hand has a very bright future.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 12 – Former FIFA vice president and interim CONCACAF president Alfredo Hawit has pleaded guilty to four conspiracy counts as part of the sweeping US investigation into football bribery in the Americas.