By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – This is a big week for Iraqi football. On Wednesday FIFA announced a normalisation committee would take over the running of the game in the country. This weekend the Iraqi Premier League will restart play after a period of suspension due to political situation and safety fears.
February 14 – Ticket demand for the one-off pan-Continental European Championship this summer, being staged in 12 cities, has gone through the roof.
February 14 – French champions Paris Saint Germain have leapfrogged Manchester City as football’s most financially powerful club, according to Soccerex’s annual Football Finance report.
February 14 – Italy’s Juventus and global insurance giant Allianz have extended their partnership until 2030 in a deal worth €103.1 million.
February 14 – With the elections for president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) due to take place in March, Spanish goalkeeping legend Iker Casillas is back in the frame to stand against the incumbent, Luis Rubiales.
February 14 – The AFC qualifiers for the Tokyo 2022 Olympics women’s tournament have been whittled down to the final four teams after Australia came back in injury time to secure a 1-1 draw against China and win the group on goal difference. Both teams go through to the final play-off.
February 14 – Eight months after one of the most bitter episodes in the history of African football, the Continent’s Super Cup takes place later today between Tunisia’s Esperance and Egypt’s Zamalek on neutral ground in Doha.
February 14 – A new competition for non-FIFA affiliated Oceania regions is in the pipeline according to local reports.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – In a move that has split opinion among the Jewish community and fans of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, the Oxford English Dictionary has changed its definition of the word Yid to include a “supporter of or player for” the north London club.
February 13 – FC Barcelona have become the latest club to embrace blockchain technology with an agreement with Chiliz to launch a ‘Barca Fan Token’.
February 12 – In a significant escalation of the gender equality pay dispute in the United States, the US men’s national team has leaped to the defence of their female counterparts, urging their federation to triple the pay of the women’s team and accusing the federation of “working very hard to sell a false narrative” in an effort to limit the wages of the reigning women’s world champions.
February 13 – The Belgian Pro League has awarded its new TV rights deal to Eleven Sports for a record €103 million in a five-year deal, but not all the clubs are happy with the proposed income distribution from the new agreement with both Antwerp and AA Gent opposing.
February 13 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) may be in reputational crisis over the revelations in the PwC audit, but it hasn’t stopped it from signing a 10-year hosting agreement to keep its headquarters in Egypt, in a deal that gives the regional governing body diplomatic status in the country.
February 13 – Details have been published by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) revealing that Manchester City sought damages from UEFA for what the club alleged were “unlawful” leaks to the media over an inquiry into possible breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP).
February 13 – UEFA has renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with South American confederation Conmebol covering collaboration across a number of areas from education to refereeing and new competitions.