Play but no pay: Fenerbahce escape Euro club ban but will lose UEFA cash
July 22 – Fenerbahce have avoided a ban from UEFA competitions despite breaching Financial Fair Play rules in 2018-19.
Author: Paul Nicholson
Brazil’s 2019 Copa America triumph to star on the small screen with Amazon
July 22 – Amazon Prime Video has bought the series ‘All or Nothing’ featuring Brazil’s 2019 Copa America win on home soil, TV sales agency Pitch International has announced.
Palestine’s Rajoub loses appeal over ban for Messi shirt-burning rant
By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal by the outspoken head of Palestinian football Jibril Rajoub against his ban for “inciting hatred and violence” toward Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
Gold Cup by numbers: Expanded Concacaf showcase feeds growing appetite for football
July 19 – Concacaf has released a new set of numbers from the recently completed 2019 Gold Cup that show a host of tournament records being set from attendances to viewing figures.
CAF comms fumble causes confusion with late switch of AFCON final referee
By Osasu Obayiuwana in Cairo, Egypt
July 19 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has partially explained why it made a sudden change to the referee that will take charge of Friday’s final of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
Gunning for the top execs: Arsenal fan petition hits 100,000
July 19 – Arsenal fan websites in the United States are reported to be playing a key role in a protest campaign against the club’s owners.
MLS and Liga MXs’ combo Leagues Cup to expand to 16 teams next year
July 19 – As the new League Cup to feature four MLS and four Liga MX teams gets ready to kick off next week, the two leading leagues in North America have announced that next season the fledgling competition will be expanded to 16 teams.
Sturridge fined £75,000 for breaking betting rules, but FA to appeal dismissed charges
July 19 – Former England and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has been banned for two weeks and fined £75,000 after being found guilty of breaching betting rules.
UEFA pull Mechelen out of Europa League over matchfixing case
July 19 – European governing body UEFA has removed Belgian club KV Mechelen from the upcoming group stages of the Europa League as a result of its involvement in match-fixing last year.
Standard Chartered and Joie expand Liverpool deals to take women’s shirt positions
July 19 – Liverpool’s women’s team, currently on tour with the men in the US, has announced tour sponsor Joie as their principal partner as well Standard Chartered as their main shirt sponsor.
AS Roma go crypto with Socios.com Fan Token launch
July 19 – Serie A’s AS Roma is to launch club fan tokens via the Socios.com blockchain-based platform, joining Juventus, PSG and West Ham who already have tradeable fan tokens.
Ahmad cements his CAF power base with Congress purge of Africa’s VPs
By Paul Nicholson
July 17 – It has been a day of long and bloody knives at the Ordinary General Assembly of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as president Ahmad worked behind the scenes to remove all opposition (perceived and real) from the key decision-making levels of his empire.
Open Letter to Infantino questions his African ‘love’, his political motivation and FIFA’s integrity
By Paul Nicholson
July 18 – With the Confederation of African Football (CAF) set to cede control of its affairs to FIFA and its ‘delegate for Africa, FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura, a former FIFA employee and candidate for a CAF position on FIFA’s Council, Zelkifi R Ngoufonia (Zul), has written a hard hitting letter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Infantino says he doesn’t understand ‘colonialism’ as he sends Africa a new ‘beating heart’
September 18 – FIFA President Gianni Infantino says the unprecedented move to send in his number two to clean up African football will “significantly improve” the sport on the continent.