By Samindra Kunti
September 14 – Belgian football fans returned to stadiums this weekend for the first since the Covid-19 pandemic began and following specific protocols that were approved by local authorities.
September 14 – France’s most hostile domestic football rivalry resulted in no fewer than five dismissals on Sunday and a claim from Neymar that he heard a racist slur as visitors Marseille upset reigning champions Paris St Germain 1-0.
September 14 – Waasland-Beveren have become the latest foreign-owned club in the Belgian top flight following investment by Bolt Football Holdings, the American majority owners of Crystal Palace.
September 14 – With the crisis over whether Lionel Messsi is staying or leaving resolved, the club have moved on to the next personnel issue and whether president Josep Maria Bartomeu will stay on, setting 20 and 21 March 2021 as the election date for the club presidency.
September 11 – European top-flight clubs have invested €870 million for youth development in 2020, according to a study by UEFA. With an average of €6.1 million per club, the Premier League clubs top the list.
September 10 – UEFA have shifted the draw for the Champions League and the Europe League away from Athens to Nyon over Covid-19 concerns.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 9 – Europe’s leading clubs are to lobby UEFA to let them use five substitutes per game in the group stages of this season’s Champions League and Europa League as part of the effort to ease fixture congestion and the physical burden on players after such a short pre-season.
September 9 – Spain’s FA (RFEF) has approved an extension of the five-substitutions rule until the end of the 2020/21 season after a request from the league, allowing Spanish clubs to apply the rule and mitigate the consequences of what is projected to be physically daunting season for their players.
September 9 – In a potentially significant breakthrough after a six-month shutdown that has crippled club finances, two Scottish top-flight grounds are being allowed to welcome a limited number of fans to games this weekend.
September 9 – A campaign by Barcelona fans to force a vote of no confidence in club president Josep-Maria Bartomeu (pictured) is halfway to its goal according to local reports.
September 9 – Recognised by FIFA and the United Nations as the world’s most environmentally sustainable club, Forest Green Rovers have now attracted attention from Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin who has become the club’s second-largest shareholder.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 8 – The head of European club football’s umbrella organisation warned today of the “deep scars” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the probable “cash crisis” for scores of clubs in the months ahead.
September 8 – Tickets have gone on sale for the European Super Cup between Bayern Munich and Sevilla, due to be the first UEFA club match with fans in attendance since the coronavirus shutdown.
September 8 – Two of England’s most exciting young players have been sent home in disgrace from international duty for breaking Covid-19 rules as indiscipline and irresponsibility not for the first time made footballing headlines across the country.
September 8 – Manchester City are the latest high-profile club to be hit with fresh Covid-19 outbreaks, with both Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte testing positive just days before the start of the new Premier League season.