April 9 – Amid mounting pressure to accept wage cuts like some of their overseas counterparts, Premier League footballers have launched a fund-raising initiative to raise money for the country’s National Health Service (NHS) charities to help tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.
April 9 – Mauritius has become the first African country to cancel its professional league season “with immediate effect” due to the coronavirus outbreak.
April 9 – Italy’s Serie A is reportedly discussing playing all the remaining fixtures for the 2019/20 season in Rome.
April 9 – 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 released from pre-trial detention and placed under house arrest, his lawyers announced.
April 9 – Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the elections for the presidency of the French Football Federation, originally scheduled for next December, have been postponed to March 2021.
April 9 – Real Madid have become the latest Spanish club whose players and coaches have agreed to take pay cuts to alleviate the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 8 – Qatar’s World Cup organisers, who thought they had finally moved on from years of suspicion and finger-pointing over the process by which they were awarded the 2022 tournament, have been forced to deny fresh allegations of corruption and bribery.
April 8 – Dutch football is drawing up a roadmap to resume the season that was suspended in March following the outbreak of the coronavirus with a return to action behind closed doors tentatively set for June 19.
April 8 – Former Brazil and Barcelona star Ronaldinho, detained in Paraguay after an investigation into the use of fake passports to enter the country, has been released but will remain under house arrest in the country.
April 8 – La Liga has earmarked three possible dates for the resumption of domestic matches once the green light is given by health authorities.
April 8 – FIFA has now confirmed reports that the summer transfer window is being pushed back into whatever gap ends up being between the seasons, and that player contracts due to end June 30 will be extended.
April 8 – With esports providing pretty much the only opportunity for competitive action as the coronavirus lockdown grips the world, clubs and increasingly broadcasters are picking up the opportunity to engage fans.
April 8 – A football merchandise price comparison website based in the north-east of England has secured a £1.625 million round of investment to fund its global expansion plans.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – Football may be postponed indefinitely on the field but off it, the FIFAgate scandal has burst into new life with a fresh catalogue of explosive indictments and allegations relating to widespread bribery, notably over the awards of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar.
April 7 – The summer transfer window will be amended, the 2019-20 season extended indefinitely and player contracts ending on June 30 put back for a short period under radical proposals about to be announced by FIFA, according to unconfirmed reports.