South Africans agree August restart dates for closed door finish
July 28 – South African football will return to action behind closed doors with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) and the Nedbank Cup, officials have announced.
World Football
Exclusive: Bility lays bare FIFA’s ‘corrupt’ African power games in letter to AU and UN
By Paul Nicholson
July 27 – Musa Bility has entered the FIFA integrity debate again with a hard-hitting letter to the chair of the African Union and the secretary general of the United Nations imploring them to “intervene and reform FIFA and organizations such as CAF”.
Mob rule: FIFA bans Guinea-Bissau’s dissenting Nascimento a day before re-election
July 27 – With interesting timing, FIFA has imposed a 10-year ban on the president of Guinea-Bissau’s federation, Manual Nascimento (pictured), over “an incident of mob justice.”
New Covid cases compounds season-completion issues for La Liga’s second-tier
July 27 – Spain’s second tier has been thrown into further chaos after the fixture between Deportivo la Coruna and Fuenlabrada, the final game for both of them, was cancelled after an outbreak of Covid-19 cases at Fuenlabrada.
Slow to restart Juventus secure 9th Serie A title on the bounce
July 27 – Juventus have confirmed they are Europe’s most dominant team at home with a ninth consecutive Serie A crown after goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Federico Bernardeschi against Sampdoria clinched the league title.
FIFPro enters politics banning Ivory Coast for not supporting Drogba’s presidential push
July 27 – FIFPro has taken the highly unusual step of suspending its Ivory Coast member for not supporting the bid of Didier Drogba, the country’s most iconic player, to become the next president of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF).
Barking mad: Tanzania’s Yanga fire Belgian coach Eymael after racist rant
July 27 – Tanzanian top tier club Young Africans SC dismissed their Belgian head coach Luc Eymael (pictured) with immediate effect after he described the club’s fans as dogs and monkeys.
Ivory Coast refs play their cards for Drogba in presidential race
July 24 – September’s election for a new president of the Ivory Coast FA is heating up with the country’s referees announcing their support for former playing icon Didier Drogba even though he remains the underdog.
UCFB expands with new Masters courses and launch of Global Institute of Sport
July 24 – The University Campus of Football Business (UCFB) has launched its Global Institute of Sport (GIS), a new international opportunity for football administrators and students to earn Master’s degrees and executive education.
No relegated teams in unfinished Czech league
July 24 – No teams will be relegated from the Czech league since the competition was left unfinished after one player tested positive for coronavirus.
Exclusive: SA’s Jordaan back in the naughty corner as FIFA Ethics receive wide-ranging complaint
By Paul Nicholson
July 23 – Danny Jordaan, the president of the South African FA (SAFA) and the administrative face of the South Africa 2010 World Cup, has come under renewed pressure following an extensive FIFA Ethics complaint filed by two of his National Executive Committee (NEC).
Colombian government says its ticket touting FA execs should be kicked out
July 23 – Colombia’s government says the national FA should kick out any officials deemed to have been found guilty of wrongdoing following a two-year investigation by the country’s business regulator into the resale of tickets for World Cup qualifiers at inflated prices.
Sending a signal. CTV switches channels on Premier League as China-UK row heats up
By Andrew Warshaw
July 23 – The burgeoning political and diplomatic feud between Britain and China has spilled over into top-flight football with English Premier League games reported to have been pulled from Chinese state television (CTV).
Covid-19 cases hit record level as Paulista returns to play
July 23 – After a four-month hiatus, football has returned to São Paulo with the resumption of the Paulista championship, one of Brazil’s most important state championships.
Hackers foiled in £1m transfer fee sting, but cybercrime is football’s new security frontier
July 23 – An unnamed English Premier League club came close to losing £1 million during a transfer deal because of cyber hackers, according to a new report.