April 6 – The attraction of e-sports has snared another football big name. Former Real Madrid, Liverpool and West Ham star Álvaro Arbeloa is partnering with League of Legends team Origen.
April 5 – The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) is championing its Women’s Challenge Series 2018 as a “recommitment to female players” in the region. The competition marks a return to locally organised game play in a forgotten region of world football that has been left emaciated, underfunded and excluded by political power plays at CONCACAF and FIFA level.
April 6 – Liverpool have been charged by UEFA over the disturbances at their Champions League clash with Manchester City on Wednesday.
April 5 – Manchester City and Tinder have turned their courtship into a multi-year partnership in a deal that will also see the dating platform connect with sister club New York City FC in the MLS.
April 5 – Liverpool have apologised to Manchester City after bottles were thrown at their team coach when they arrived for the all-English Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
April 4 – Manchester United fans in China will be able to apply for a club branded credit card as part of a new sponsorship agreement with Chinese banking group, PingAn Bank.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 4 – Morocco’s claim of unfair treatment by FIFA in the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup has been strongly rejected by football’s world governing body which has moved swiftly into face-saving overdrive in an effort to maintain credibility.
April 4 – Dominica has become the second CONCACAF nation after St Lucia to come out and confirm it is backing Morocco for the 2026 World Cup despite being part of the same confederation as the rival United 2026 bid.
April 4 – With Qatar having already stated it is supporting Morocco for the 2026 World Cup, Saudi Arabia has said that it is going the other way as the race to clinch Asian backing hots up.
April 4 – The Austrian Bundesliga has announced and extension of their main sponsorship with sports betting company Tipico for at least two years from the summer of 2018.
April 4 – Scotland looks set to secure their future at Hampden Park after League One club Queen’s Park agreed in principle to sell the ground to the Scottish FA.
April 4 – The return from the international break saw Premier League crowds match the ground capacity levels of the opening day of the season at 97.76% across the league, the joint second highest of the season.
April 4 – China’s Wuhan DDMC Culture Co has added a second Big 5 European league to its broadcast rights portfolio, acquiring Spain’s La Liga for the country.
By Andrew Warshaw
March 30 – Gianni Infantino’s insistence that the voting process to choose the 2026 World Cup hosts will be scrupulously fair and clean has come under grave scrutiny amid suspicions of underhand tactics by FIFA over the scoring system being used to assess the two contenders.
April 3 – Michel Platini, not so long ago one of the most powerful men in world football who had aspirations to take over from Sepp Blatter as FIFA president until both were banned for ethics violations, has branded those who threw him out as “clowns” and “worthless judges” and told a French magazine that he will eventually be cleared of any wrongdoing.