FIFA clears up match-fixing cases with raft of player bans across Africa and Caribbean
April 25 – FIFA have issued lifetime bans to eight current and former players and an agent after they were found guilty of match manipulation.
Crash and burned: calls grow for Irish FA board to step down after Delaney issue
April 25 – Brendan Menton, a former general secretary of the Irish Football Association (FAI), has called for the entire current board of directors to step down following the recent scandal involving chief executive John Delaney.
Toxic Lazio fans turn condemned for celebration of Mussolini
April 25 – Lazio have blamed “isolated elements” after around 50 supporters displayed a banner honouring Benito Mussolini and performed fascist salutes ahead of Wednesday’s Italian Cup match against AC Milan.
Coppa Italia changes title sponsor tracks, dialling TIM back in with 3-game deal
April 25 – One of Italian football’s most faithful and long term partners, Telecom Italia, has picked up what is probably the shortest ever title sponsorship for a premier national football competition.
LaLiga wins landmark copyright case in Denmark to block pirate channels
April 25 – LaLiga, in co-operation with Denmark’s RettighedsAlliancen, scored a major victory in the battle against broadcast pirate with a Danish court ruling that sites offering illegal streams of live sport should be blocked.
Barcelona gets strategic in China with WE Red Bridge
April 25 – Barcelona have continued their push to capture Chinese hearts and minds via a partnership with the WE Red Bridge communications agency who have been brought in to develop the club’s Chinese growth strategy.
Belgian police raid Anderlecht and KBVB in new corruption investigation
By Samindra Kunti
April 24 – Belgium football has again been tarnished with corruption allegations with Belgian police carrying out raids this morning at top club Anderlecht’s training ground as well at the Belgian FA (KBVB) in a separate investigation into money laundering.
Relevent sues USSF over refusal to allow Ecuadorian league game in Miami
April 24 – Relevent Sports, the company behind the ultimately doomed ground-breaking plan to take a La Liga fixture to the United States, has issued a lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation for refusing to sanction a similar game from Ecuador’s league from taking place in Florida.
Guinea cleared as CAF turn down Senegal age-cheating claims
April 24 – Senegal have had their legal complaint to CAF regarding alleged age cheating by Guinea at the ongoing under-17 African Nations Cup rejected.
Saudi Arabia frontrunners to host Spanish Super Cup in 6-year deal
April 24 – The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has unveiled plans for the Spanish Super Cup to be staged in Saudi Arabia from January 2020 for six editions.
AIFF boss Das criticises ‘rebel’ I-League clubs over Super Cup withdrawals
By Samindra Kunti
April 24 – All India Football Federation (AIFF) general secretary Kushal Das has accused I-League clubs of bringing disrepute to the governing body after they boycotted the federation’s Super Cup last month.
French police probe into €32k cash bet on Tunisian divison 1 match
April 24 – A probe into alleged match-fixing in Tunisia has been launched by both the country’s FA and French police following an alert triggered by French state-owned betting operator Française des Jeux (FDJ).
Stephanie Frappart to become first woman ref in Ligue 1
April 24 – A men’s top-flight match in France will be refereed by a woman for the first time this weekend when Stephanie Frappart takes charge of the fixture between Amiens and Strasbourg.
Liverpool and Dortmund set Indiana date. Reds to step up to the plate in Boston and NY
April 24 – Premier League Liverpool and Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund will both be in the US for pre-season but neither will be playing in the International Champions Cup (ICC) that has become the Summer warm-up fiesta for Europe’s big clubs.
Spurs and Liverpool set new standards in second-best season for Premier League profits
By David Owen
April 23 – The 2017-18 season will go down as the one in which not one but two Premier League teams – Liverpool and then Tottenham Hotspur – set world records for football club profitability. Yet overall, this was only the second-best season ever in profit terms for the 20 clubs who competed in English football’s top flight.