Inside World Football

Pressure builds on Premier League clubs with betting sponsors unlicensed in UK

May 18 – Gambling operator Entain has escalated its campaign against offshore betting sponsors in English football, writing to six Premier League clubs to call for an end to partnerships with unlicensed operators.

SBC News reports that Entain’s General Counsel Simon Zinger has urged executives at Burnley, Bournemouth, Fulham, Everton, Sunderland, and Wolverhampton Wanderers to “commit to only using UK-licensed gambling sponsors next season.” The move follows an earlier appeal by Entain CEO Stella David to the Premier League and the UK’s Independent Football Regulator.

Finance

Ronaldo buys into streaming business LiveModeTV

May 18 – Cristiano Ronaldo has acquired a what is described as a ‘significant’ stake in LiveModeTV, the international broadcast arm of Brazilian streaming enterprise LiveMode, which is affiliated with the influencer Casemiro Miguel’s CazeTV operation.

No value was given for his investment. What Ronaldo does bring to the table is a huge social media following with about 76 million followers on YouTube, 666 million on Instagram, 171 million on Facebook and 115 million on X.

Broadcast

Paramount+ trips over Scottish Premiership title decider

May 18 – Paramount+ left frustrated football fans staring at error messages on Saturday after its streaming service failed to load coverage of the most anticipated Scottish Premiership title decider in decades, between Celtic and Hearts.

For 41 years, the Scottish league title has been shared between just two clubs, the Glasgow pair of Celtic and Rangers. This season, however, broke that pattern, with Hearts entering the final matchday top of the table and chasing a first championship in 65 years.

Europe

Croatian FA launches 2026-30 Women’s development strategy

May 18 – The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has unveiled its Women’s Football Development Strategy 2026–2030, an umbrella document that defines the key goals, development paths, and long-term vision for women’s football in Croatia from grassroots engagement to elite teams.

Ironically titled ‘Women Don’t Belong in Football’, the strategy was officially launched during the HNS “Women in Football” conference held in Sveti Martin on May 12 and 13, which brought together federation representatives,

FIFA

FIFA deepens Saudi ties with major World Cup 2026 sponsorship

May 15 – FIFA has expanded its partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) which has become a major sponsor of the 2026 World Cup. Last month FIFA announced in Atlanta that all its World Cup 2026 sponsorship categories had been filled.

On Thursday, the world governing body announced that PIF will headline the tournament sponsorship, building on a previous partnership around last summer’s Club World Cup and reinforcing the ties between the global governing body and the Arab Kingdom that will host the 2034 World Cup.

World Cup 2026

US waives bonds of up to $15,000 for 2026 ticket holders from flagged countries

May 14 – The Trump administration has suspended a requirement that foreign visitors from countries that have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup pay bonds of up to $15,000 to enter the United States, provided they hold tickets for the tournament.

World Cup

FIFA throws a cold towel over extreme heat warnings

May 15 – FIFA has responded swiftly to a call from a group of health experts and leading scientists to address the heat risk for players at the 2026 World Cup, saying that it “has convened a dedicated Heat Illness Mitigation and Management Task Force comprising medical and operational experts.

World Cup 2026

Madonna, Shakira and BTS headline World Cup final half time show

May 14 – FIFA has confirmed Madonna, Shakira and BTS as the headline acts for the first half-time show in World Cup final history, with this summer’s tournament finale set to adopt a distinctly American-style entertainment format.

EA Sports

EA expands in mobile esports space with launch of FC Mobile Pro

May 15 – Electronic Arts is making a push into mobile esports after unveiling FC Pro Mobile, a new global competitive circuit for EA Sports FC Mobile featuring a total prize pool of $350,000.

It is a significant expansion of EA’s existing FC Pro ecosystem, which has traditionally focused on console competition, and reflects the publisher’s growing recognition that the future of football gaming – particularly in Asia – increasingly sits on mobile devices rather than consoles.

Broadcast

RTL and AMC enter negotiations for UEFA’s men club competitions in Hungary

May 15 – Politically Hungary’s media landscape may be in a state of flux, but its need for premium football product appears unaffected.

UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and European Football Clubs (EFC) that controls and manages the strategic marketing, sales and delivery of commercial rights for UEFA club competitions, has entered exclusive negotiation periods for all three UEFA men’s club competitions.

RTL are set to retain the premium Champions League media rights for the 2027–31 media rights cycle.

Premier League

Saints halo slips as beaten Middlesbrough demand they are kicked out of EPL play-off

May 15 – The Championship play-off final has been thrown into uncertainty after the English Football League confirmed it is investigating allegations that Southampton spied on a Middlesbrough training session ahead of last weekend’s semi-final first leg.

An Independent Disciplinary Commission hearing is scheduled to take place on or before Tuesday May 19, just four days before Southampton are due to face Hull City at Wembley Stadium for a place in next season’s Premier League

Tagged as the world’s richest football match,

esports

Konami returns to Bangkok for eFootball Championship 2026 World Finals

May 15 – Konami will take the eFootball Championship 2026 World Finals back to Bangkok this summer as the publisher continues to double down on the growing commercial potential of football esports and fan festivals in Asia.

The tournament finals will take place on July 26 as part of the wider eFootball World Festival, with the Thai capital once again acting as host following last year’s event.

While the World Finals are the headline attraction,

FIFA

Shakira tunes up for a big World Cup

May 15 – Having been announced as one of the acts to perform during the half time show of the World Cup final this summer, her song Dai Dai, recorded with Burna Boy, has been released as the official World Cup 2026 song.

Released via Sony Music Latin, the song is available now on all streaming platforms.

Revenue raised from the sale of the song will go to support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund,

Europe

VakıfBank puts its money on the future success of Turkish national teams

May 15 – The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) have agreed VakıfBank as the main sponsor of its national teams.