Club Brugge place 24,000 QR codes in stadium to combat racism
April 21 – Belgian champions Club Brugge will introduce QR codes to combat racism at home matches. Fans will have the opportunity to report racist incidents via their smartphones.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Cook to leave FIFA but will keep focus on abuse in sport with new agency advisory role
April 21 – FIFA’s Chief Social Responsibility and Education Officer, Joyce Cook, is leaving the role and returning to the UK to concentrate on tackling abuse in sport.
Yoshimi Yamashita to make history as first female to referee in AFC Champions League
April 21 – Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita (pictured) will make history tonight as the first female referee to take charge of an AFC Champions League match.
Concacaf releases Concacaf W match schedule
April 21 – The US will open the inaugural 2022 Concacaf W Championship against Haiti in the Estadio Universitario stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, on July 4. They will be followed by hosts Mexico against Jamaica.
Sorare adds SPFL license to its NFTs portfolio
April 21 – Sorare have added another European league to their NFT game portfolio, securing a multi-year license agreement with the Scottish Professional Football League.
UEFA opens ticket sales for Champions League and Europa League finals
April 20 – UEFA has today opened ticket sales for the Champions League final in Paris and the Europa League final in Sevilla.
Serie A cancels plan to play its 20 teams in Orlando during Qatar 2022 World Cup
April 20 – Serie A has shelved ambitious plans to organise a tournament in the United States during this year’s World Cup using players not called up by their national sides.
Pique furiously defends €24m ‘fixers’ fee for taking Spanish Super Cup to Saudi
April 20 – Famed Spanish international defender Gerard Pique claims he has done nothing illegal after his sports event company, Kosmos, was reportedly paid a massive €24 million as part of the deal to move the Spanish Super Cup to the Middle East.
Brazil’s CBF reports record revenues of €191m
April 20 – The Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF) has reported a record revenue of 971 million reais (€191.7 million) as well as a profit of 68.92 million reais (€13.64 million) for 2021, a year in which the governing body battled a major institutional crisis as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.
China pulls out futsal team from AFC qualifiers as covid takes its toll
April 20 – The Chinese FA has pulled its national futsal team from the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022 Qualifiers (East Zone) following the surge in covid infections in the country.
Iceland captain slams playing Euro 2022 matches at Man City training ground as ‘disrespectful’
April 20 – The final of this this summer’s Women’s European Championship being staged at Wembley has already sold out along with host nation England’s three group games.
US draw Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti in Concacaf W group that doubles as 2023 WC qualifying
April 20 – Women’s World Champions USA have been drawn with 2019 World Cup qualifiers Jamaica and Concacaf’s third-highest ranked nation Mexico in the Concacaf W Championship that kicks off in Monterrey, Mexico, July 4-18.
AFCON 2023 qualifying draw plots national team routes to Ivory Coast finals
April 20 – Record seven-time Nations Cup winners Egypt were handed a difficult draw alongside Guinea, Malawi and Ethiopia in Group D of the qualifiers for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast.
State gambling monopoly Veikkaus increases support for Finnish football
April 20 – The Finnish FA has agreed a sponsorship agreement with state gambling monopoly Veikkaus Oy for the country’s top-flight division, the Veikkausliiga, as well as the National League men’s Ykkönen and men’s Kakknen teams and the men’s and women’s Futsal league teams.
Scotland vs Ukraine Qatar 2022 play-off semi set for June 1, winners meet Wales in decider
April 19 – Despite the devastating invasion by Russia, Ukraine is not letting the war crush its hopes of reaching World Cup finals and has agreed to play its postponed playoff with Scotland on June 1.