By Samindra Kunti
June 3 – In a three-hour debate in the French senate, French interior minister Gérald Darmanin and sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéa shied away from taking any responsibility for the dangerous chaos at the Champions League final on Saturday in Paris, repeating the bizarre claim that 50%-70% of tickets were counterfeit.
June 1 – In a shift from blaming late fan arrivals to fake tickets, the French FA (FFF) has said that 35,000 supporters coming to the Stade de France for Saturday’s chaotic Champions League final in Paris had no tickets or counterfeit tickets, echoing what French authorities claimed on Monday, but with a slightly different number.
June 1 – Italy and Argentina meet at a sold-out Wembley Stadium tonight pitting the European and South American champions in a new showpiece fixture dubbed ‘Finalissima’.
June 1 – England’s game against Hungary in Budapest on Saturday, which was scheduled to be played behind closed doors, will now have a crowd in excess of 30,000, according to UK media reports.
June 1 – Mouscron has filed for bankruptcy, bringing to an end last-minute rescue attempts by the club and the city to find a new investor.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 31 – European football’s governing body have bowed to public pressure by ordering an independent inquiry into the disgraceful scenes that that marred Saturday’s Champions League final in Paris.
By Samindra Kunti
May 31 – Under pressure for the dangerous disorder at the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid in Paris, French authorities shifted the blame for the chaos to Liverpool fans with fake tickets, which were in circulation because of a “massive, industrial and organised fraud” according to French interior minister Gérald Darmanin.
May 31 – The disturbing scenes in Paris at the Champions League Final bring shame on the French organisers and UEFA. The subsequent blame-game by the French is almost as distasteful.
May 31 – Germany’s Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs have agreed to the inclusion of a binding sustainability guideline in their club licensing regulations.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 30 – Were Liverpool fans deliberately targeted because of past incidents involving English supporters?
By Samindra Kunti in Paris
May 29 – The Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid descended into chaos because of major safety concerns in the hours leading up to the final and even after kickoff had been delayed by 36 minutes. The complete disorder raises serious questions of UEFA and the Paris organisers.
May 29 – UEFA has decided that teams from Belarus and Ukraine will be kept apart in the draws for any future UEFA competitions.
May 30 – After an 18-year stay in the top flight, Saint-Etienne, one of France’s most iconic clubs, were relegated from Ligue 1 on Sunday, prompting a pitch invasion by angry fans.
By Samindra Kunti in Paris
May 28 – Real Madrid won a record 14th European Cup with the narrowest of margins through a second-half Vinicius Junior strike against Liverpool in a Champions League final that failed to deliver on the promise of a great spectacle by the competition’s two finest teams. The final’s kickoff was delayed because of major crowd incidents and security breaches.
By Samindra Kunti in Paris
May 27 – In a repeat of the 2018 Champions League final, Liverpool will be marginal favourites to defeat Real Madrid and win a seventh European Cup, but the resilience and attacking firepower of the Spanish champions can never be underestimated following an extraordinary run to the final.