April 11 – FIFA’s 2026 evaluation committee had only just left Mexico City and its Azteca stadium when the iconic venue returned to the real business of play in the Conacaf Champions League. Toronto FC endured a far tougher examination in the Azteca than the FIFA bid bods were likely to have given it.
By Tim Röhn
April 10 – UEFA has refused to comment on a proposal by FIFA president Gianni Infantino to seek approval for a secret $25 billion donor to buy the new UEFA Nations League and the Club World Cup.
April 10 – China became the first nation to join hosts France in the 2019 Women’s World Cup with a 3-0 win over Philippines in a Group A game of the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan on Monday.
April 10 – Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay have agreed on the 12 cities they want for the centenary World Cup in 2030 should they win the right to host, but are not naming them yet.
April 10 – Kathy Carter is to leave her position as president of Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the commercial marketing arm of soccer in the United States, driving sales for the MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation.
April 10 – FIFA’s 2026 bid inspection team have moved on from Mexico City to Atlanta in the US for the second leg of their three-country, four-stop evaluation tour.
April 10 – The Women’s World Cup France 2019 has opened its sponsorship account with French chemicals company Arkema becoming the first national sponsor for the tournament.
April 10 – Controversial Spanish league boss Javier Tebas has again made claims Paris St Germain have broken the spirit of football law in terms of the money they acquire and spend.
April 10 – Genius Sports has added the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) to its roster becoming the federation’s official data and integrity partner.
April 10 – The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has rescheduled the date for holding an election to finally replace disgrace former FIFA and UEFA veteran powerbroker Angel Villar.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – Oceania football chief David Chung, who abruptly resigned last week, did so after an audit of his confederation found “potential irregularities” on a $20 million building project and funding was cut to the region by FIFA, it has been revealed.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 9 – The next crucial stage in the race to stage the 2026 World Cup gets under way today when FIFA begins the all-important process of evaluating the respective bids of USA-Canada-Mexico and Morocco by sending its panel of technical experts into the respective regions.
By Paul Nicholson
April 9 – FIFA general secretary Fatma Samoura has stepped into to the Liberian FA (LFA) election dispute asking general secretary Emmanuel Deah for a report on the allegations of rule breaking. Samoura has asked for the report to be delivered by April 9.
April 9 – Vahid Halilhodzic has been axed as coach of Japan following a string of disappointing results, leaving Japan’s World Cup preparations in turmoil. With two months left until the World Cup, Akira Nishino (pictured) will take over from the Bosnian coach.
April 9 – France’s Ligue 1 and broadcast distribution partner beIN SPORTS have signed a major TV deal in China that will see the league broadcast across terrestrial and digital channels with state broadcaster CCTV.