February 11 – Players and staff at Ligue 1 outfit Stade Reims have accepted salary cuts to help the club navigate the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic which is savaging French football in combination with the loss of TV rights revenues.
February 10 – UEFA have been forced to move even more games to neutral ground as the chaos and confusion over Covid-related travel bans continue to take their toll, presenting a major head-ache to all concerned.
February 10 – The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) decision to break coronavirus stadium lock-out rules and allow privileged access to 150 healthcare workers in for the Fenerbahce vs Galatasaray derby backfired at the weekend.
February 9 – A second successive Champions League last-16 game as been switched to neutral ground in Hungary due to Covid-19 travel restrictions in Germany.
February 9 – Ajax’s international goalkeeper André Onana (pictured) has been banned for one year by UEFA for a doping infraction and is set to miss next year’s African Cup of Nations in his home nation of Cameroon for whom he has 15 caps.
February 8 – UEFA’s plans for a new-look Champions League from 2024 to offset the threat of a breakaway super league are a cause for strong concern, according to the body representing domestic leagues across Europe.
February 8 – In a compromise move caused by the impact of Covid-19, a solution has finally been found for staging the RB Leipzig-Liverpool Champions League last-16 first leg tie, with Budapest selected as a neutral venue after German authorities imposed strict protocols to combat the spread of the pandemic.
By Paul Nicholson
February 8 – Mesut Ozil, no stranger to conflict and controversy in recent years, may not find Fenerbahce the calm and safe haven club he was looking for.
February 5 – Covid restrictions have barred Liverpool from travelling to Germany next week for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against RB Leipzig, prompting a frantic search for a solution.
February 5 – Following months of conjecture, football leagues across the Continent were holding crucial talks virtually today on a new-look Champions League from 2024 that will radically reshape the tournament.
February 5 – France’s professional leagues have been handed a badly needed lifeline to help them over their broadcast rights crisis after Ligue 1 reached an agreement with Canal Plus to screen the remainder of matches this season following the spectacular collapse of a record contract with Mediapro.
February 4 – The British government has threatened social media companies with fines which could amount to “billions of pounds” if they fail to tackle abuse of footballers on their platforms.
February 4 – The great-grandson of Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini has signed for Lazio – a section of whose supporters are notorious for salutes and racist chants at matches.
February 3 – The British government is coming under even more pressure to ban two English top-flight clubs from official projects promoting Britain overseas because of their links to Russian billionaire oligarchs.
February 3 – It isn’t every day that the manager of a top-flight club openly and publicly criticises the way it operates and offers his resignation.