April 29 – Brazil’s Paris St Germain superstar Neymar has been banned by UEFA for three European games for insulting match officials on Instagram after the Champions League last-16 defeat by Manchester United.
April 29 – Czech international striker Josef Sural (pictured) has been killed following a minibus crash in Turkey according to his club Aytemiz Alanyaspor.
April 29 – FIFA has written to human rights groups to hold talks about issues related to a potential expansion of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams as Gianni Infantino and the governing body continue their push to find one more regional co-host for the tournament.
By Paul Nicholson
April 29 – The world’s newest tier 1 national league kicked off at the weekend with the Canadian Premier League (CPL) officially opening its inaugural season in Hamilton with a 1-1 draw between Forge FC and York 9 FC.
April 29 – Sheffield United have been promoted to the English Premier League for the first time since 2007, joining Norwich City in the top flight, but they had an unusual helping hand from Yorkshire rivals Leeds.
April 29 – Cameroon defeated Guinea 5-3 on penalties to win the final of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Dar Es Salaam on Sunday. Both finalists qualify for the U-17 World Cup in Brazil alongside losing semi-finalists Nigeria and Angola.
April 29 – The father of Emiliano Sala, the promising young Argentine tragically killed in a plane crash in January after he had completed a £15 million move from Nantes to Cardiff City, has died of a heart attack.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 26 – Potentially explosive plans to overhaul the Champions League post-2024 and turn it into the nearest thing yet to a much-debated European Super League are causing an unprecedented rift between Europe’s clubs and leagues as well as threatening to destabilise the main stakeholders within the entire European football landscape.
By Paul Nicholson
April 26 – Saudi Arabia has been put on a ‘Priority Watch List’ by the US and in the UK questions were asked in the Houses of Parliament over the industrial scale copyright theft by Saudi-based pirate broadcaster beoutQ.
April 26 – Confidential meetings between FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Swiss attorney general Michael Lauber – reportedly set up by a childhood friend of Infantino – continue to be the subject of investigation in Switzerland amid intense speculation about exactly what was discussed.
April 25 – In the 2017-18 season English Premier League football clubs’ revenues reached a new high, but that was offset in the pre-tax profits by increased spending on player wages, according to a report by Deloitte.
April 24 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has committed to the Sports law at the Crossroads conference, May 10-11 in Madrid, as a supporting sponsor.
April 26 – The French league are investigating allegations of match-fixing made by EA Guingamp against their relegation rivals SM Caen before the latter’s 1-0 defeat against Angers earlier this month.
By Paul Nicholson
April 26 – The deepening discontent between La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has been further highlighted by LaLiga’s unequivocal rejection of RFEF president Luis Rubiales’ plan to reinvent the Spanish Supercup as a four-team competition, potentially in Saudi Arabia.
April 25 – After spending almost two years in custody awaiting trial, former Barcelona president and European football strongman Sandro Rosell has been acquitted of money laundering charges in a blow to Spanish prosecutors’ relentless campaign to wipe out football-related corruption.