By Paul Nicholson
August 10 – It has been a busy few days of letter sending by FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino who have scrambled to inform FA presidents their version of the circumstances surrounding the criminal investigation into Infantino’s meetings with the Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber.
August 10 – Rui Pinto, the Portuguese whistleblower whose string of incriminating revelations shook the footballing world before he was controversially extradited from Hungary to his native Portugal, has been freed from house arrest while remaining under judicial control.
By Paul Nicholson
August 10 – FIFA’s newly hired external PR teams went into overdrive at the weekend with a stunning assault, led by FIFA’s new-found media luvvie Alasdair Bell, the organisation’s deputy general secretary, on the FIFA reform process led Basel criminal law professor Mark Pieth (pictured) as being a useless waste of money.
August 8 – Atletico Madrid, due to play in the Champions League quarterfinals this week, have confirmed two positive cases of coronavirus from testing carried out on Saturday.
August 10 – Paris Saint Germain, one of the wealthiest clubs in world football, have signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Chinese consumer electronics and home appliances company Hisense.
August 10 – Concacaf has unveiled a plan to resume its suspended club competitions, though the exact dates and venue(s) for the final 11 games of the Champions League remain in limbo.
August 10 – English premier league side Wolverhampton Wanderers, who have reached the Europa League quarterfinals, have been punished for breaching UEFA’s financial fair play rules for the 2019/20 season.
By Paul Nicholson
August 7 – The involvement of organised criminal gangs (OCGs) in sports, and football in particular, is increasing in Europe and the Covid crisis has accelerated that increase, according to a new report by Europol, the European Union’s agency for law enforcement cooperation.
August 7 – The coronavirus is still raging in South America, but clubs traveling for Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana matches will not have to quarantine when crossing borders.
August 7 – Four countries – Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Poland – have offered to act as neutral venue hubs for upcoming Nations League matches and other UEFA competitions if Covid-19-related travel restrictions prevent them being played in the originally scheduled country.
August 7 – Austrian football fans will be allowed to attend next season’s Bundesliga, the Austrian football league has announced, with attendances limited to up to 10,000 fans.
August 7 – English Premier League clubs have voted against continuing to allow five substitutions to be used per league game for the 2020-21 season.
August 7 – With England’s prime minister Boris Johnson opening a national campaign against obesity, chocolate brand Cadbury has unveiled their third Premier League club partnership with Chelsea.
August 7 – Scottish clubs Hearts and Partick Thistle have each been fined £2,500 by the Scottish FA for going to court to try and stave off their respective relegations.
