Italy’s Serie A clubs vote to keep league at 20 teams
February 13 – Serie A will remain a 20-team division after an attempt by Italy’s biggest clubs to cut it by two clubs failed.
World Football
OneSoccer will stream W Gold Cup despite Mediapro and CSB spat
February 13 – While the spat between Mediapro and Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), the sponsorship and broadcast rights holder for Canada’s national teams and leagues, isn’t over, the OneSoccer streaming service that looked on the brink of closure will continue.
US Soccer give Division One status to new women’s pro USL Super League
February 12 – The NWSL, the US’s top tier women’s professional league has a new rival with the U.S. Soccer Federation’s sanctioning of the start up USL Super League as a Division One League.
Wwin signs 5-year naming rights deal for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s top tier league
February 12 – The Football Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FSbiH) has signed a sponsorship contract with online bookmaker Wwin.
Just Eat agrees renews UEFA sponsorship for new 3-year cycle
February 12 – UEFA has announced that long-term partners Just Eat have renewed their sponsorship of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League until 2027.
German fans protest plans to sell off ‘ownership’ stakes to private equity
February 12 – Fans groups in Germany stepped up their protests at the weekend against the league’s plans to sell a stake of revenue to an outside investor.
UEFA and Adidas get Champions League final ball rolling
February 12 – UEFA and Adidas have unveiled the design for the 2023/24 Champions League final match ball.
UEFA says there is no appetite to ban Israel from competition
February 9 – UEFA has no intention of throwing Israel out of international competition despite the ongoing conflict in Gaza that has killed an estimated 25,000 people – almost half of them reportedly children – and left thousands more homeless.
UEFA doubles women’s exco slots, Ceferin suggests media should look at their own gender bias
By Andrew Warshaw
February 9 – Aleksander Ceferin’s surprise announcement not to stand for re-election for the UEFA presidency in 2027 overshadowed other key business on the agenda of UEFA’s Congress in Paris.
Denmark and Sweden drop neighbours to combine for 2029 Women’s Euro bid
February 2 – Nordic neighbours Denmark and Sweden have declared their intention to bid for the 2029 Women’s Euro, leaving their regional partner Norway out in the cold.
England adapt to life in second tier of Nations League, Scots look to future in top flight
February 9 – England were drawn with the Republic of Ireland in Group B2 of the Nations League with Finland and Greece completing the group. Elsewhere, Italy and France meet in League A.
Messi and Suarez get on the pitch in Japan, further infuriating Hong Kong and questioning the Miami business case
February 9 – After a sensational opening to the Lionel Messi American dream, which soured as 2023 came to a close, the beginning of 2024 has brought forth even more challenges, underscoring the precariousness for both the league and Inter Miami as they pin their performance hopes and business ambition on the Argentinian superstar.
With term limits clarified, Ceferin drops bombshell that he won’t run again in 2027
By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
February 8 – In a dramatic move that took most of his supporters as well as his critics totally by surprise, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin announced today that he would be stepping down in 2027, ending months of speculation about his intentions.
Ceferin says ESL backers are predators, not victims, and can’t be allowed ‘to dig football’s grave’
By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
February 8 – The threat of a revived European Super League and tackling the resurgence of racism – two of the main pressing issues across the European football landscape – dominated UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin’s address to delegates at the UEFA Congress today.