April 4 – The jury in the trial of the police chief facing allegations related to the 1989 Hillsborough stadium tragedy has been unable to reach a verdict with the prosecution now calling for a retrial.
April 4 – Real Madrid have unveiled plans for a refurbished €525 million Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with club president Florentino Perez vowing the renovation will create the best stadium in the world.
April 4 – David Beckham’s dream of building an MLS franchise have hit a legal snag over trademark rights with reports from Italy that Inter Milan are planning to sue MLS over the name of Beckham’s proposed club – Inter Miami CF.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – German Football Association president Reinhard Grindel, one of European football’s most influential figures who continually banged the drum for greater transparency and accountability, has himself been forced to resign after being embroiled in a domestic scandal.
By Samindra Kunti
April 3 – On Equal Pay day in the United States, the national women’s team received a financial boost through a pledge from LUNA Bar to pay each member of the World Cup squad a bonus to equal that of their male counterparts.
April 3 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has urged referees to be brave enough to halt matches in order to help stamp out an alarming resurgence of racism from fans. Ceferin opened a UEFA conference on discrimination on Tuesday, organised in conjunction with England’s Football Association, and believes it is time officials took the plunge and abided by UEFA protocol.
April 3 – Johanna Wood has been elected the first female president of New Zealand Football (NZF) in an overhaul of the ruling body’s governance following a tumultuous 2018.
April 3 – Concacaf have officially announced Jamaica as one of the host venues for the 2019 Gold Cup this summer with the National Stadium in Kingston to host a double-header on June 17 that will include the Jamaican national team.
April 2 – Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala has spoken of his preference for the cities’ clubs to renovate the San Siro rather than construct a new stadium, leaving future plans over the venue in doubt.
April 2 – UEFA have lost patience with Dinamo Zagreb who have been ordered to play their next home European match behind closed doors following racist behaviour by their fans in this season’s Europa League tie against Benfica.
April 2 – A ten-men Brazil were eliminated from the U17 South American championship in Peru after a crushing 3-0 defeat by Argentina, but the Brazilians will still qualify for the U17 World Cup in October as hosts.
April 2 – England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is being investigated by his club Everton over an alleged fracas in his home city of Sunderland at the weekend.
By Paul Nicholson
April 1 – LaLiga president Javier Tebas has hammered the plans of UEFA and the European Club Association to create what he calls a “SuperChampions League” that he says would only widen the divide between Europe’s rich and poor clubs and threaten the sustainability of national leagues.
April 1 – This year’s Cosafa Cup is in danger of being scrapped after the Southern African regional body accused Zimbabwe of reneging on an agreement to host.
April 1 – Puerto Vallerta in Mexico will be the venue for the Concacaf Beach Soccer Championship, scheduled to take place May 13-19.