May 18 – Lionel Messi was the best player in European club football this season and Manchester City’s David Silva was the second best. Sergio Aguero was better than Mohamed Salah and they were both better than Harry Kane.
By Samindra Kunti in Lyon
May 17 – Atletico Madrid outclassed Marseille 3-0 to win their third Europa League with an Antoine Griezmann’s brace and captain Gabi’s late goal. The final in Lyon passed off without major crowd incidents, though UEFA have still issued disciplinary charges against both clubs from racism to causing acts of damage in the stadium.
May 17 – The Argentine Football Association has apologised for the publication of a World Cup manual that included advice on how to seduce Russian women.
May 17 – US investment fund PEAK6, a minority owner of Serie A’s Roma that also holds a 25% stake in Premier League Bournemouth, is taking aim at another of Europe’s Big 5 leagues having entered into exclusive takeover talks with French Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne.
May 17 – Europe’s leading football stakeholders have joined forces to oppose Gianni Infantino’s plans to radically change the game’s global landscape by saying they have “serious reservations about the process” surrounding his proposal to enlarge the Club World Cup to 24 teams and create a biennial global Nations League.
May 17 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) will hold the fourth edition of its SIGA Sport Integrity Forum and General Assembly at the United Nations, in Geneva, on July 26-27.
May 16 – Eight teams remain in the hunt for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League glory this season, after the competition’s Round of 16 ties were completed on Wednesday.
May 17 – Former FIFA Executive Committee member Worawi Makudi has scored a token success in the fight to clear his name.
By Samindra Kunti in Lyon
May 16 – Hosts Lyon are on red alert as thousands of Marseille fans descend on the city ahead of the European Cup final with Atletico Madrid. Stringent security measures have been implemented to prevent any scuffles or violence. For the match itself football bookmaker Unibet has the odds stacked firmly in favour of Atletico.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – Morocco’s request for four countries to be pulled from next month’s 2026 World Cup vote has received a non-committal response from FIFA with the simmering controversy quite possibly coming to a head at the ballot itself in Moscow.
May 16 – South Africa’s football leadership are being urged not to break ranks with the Continent and to back Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup.
May 16 – UEFA’s top brass were meeting today in an attempt to forge a united stance against Gianni Infantino’s plans to change the landscape of world football.
May 16 – Korea’s Hankook Tire has renewed its sponsorship of the UEFA Europa League for a new three-year cycle, taking its association with UEFA’s club tournament through to 2021.
May 16 – Never ones to be caught napping when it comes to commercial partnerships, Manchester United have renewed Chinese firm MLILY as the Club’s official mattress and pillow provider.
May 16 – A World Cup-bound Saudi referee chosen by FIFA has been banned for life at home for a matchfixing attempt just days before he was due to fly to Russia.