April 8 – News from the Chinese football market is generally about big money acquisition of football assets outside the country, or the import of what look like very expensive international players. But there are signs that the domestic football marketing opportunity is not being lost with Super League clubs who are usually owned by one funding sponsor or business conglomerate.
April 8 – Eugenio Figueredo, the former FIFA vice-president not only indicted in the United States as part of the FifaGate scandal but who has also become embroiled in the Panama Papers debacle, has undergone emergency prostate surgery at home in Uruguay.
By Matt Scott
April 7 – Greek government officials ordering the Hellenic Football Federation to reform over corruption and crowd trouble have issued a defiant statement in response to FIFA’s threat to ban Greece from international competitions.
By David Owen
April 7 – Newcastle United may have lost their mojo on the pitch, but they remain one of the Premier League’s most consistent financial performers. The club from England’s football-mad north-east, which has turned to Rafa Benitez in an attempt to salvage its top-tier status, has posted a sharply increased after-tax profit of £32.4 million – up from £18.7 million in the year to 30 June 2014.
April 7 – Colombian match agent Miguel Trujillo is the latest official to have formal proceedings opened against him by FIFA’s ethics watchdog after pleading guilty last month in the United States to four counts of wrongdoing, including conspiracy to commit money-laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – A member of the FIFA body responsible for rooting out corruption has himself resigned after being placed under investigation over his offshore business dealings exposed in the Panama Papers tax haven leak, heaping damage on the accountability and credibility at the heart of football’s world governing just when it is trying to restore its battered reputation.
April 7 – Manchester City has signed automotive component group Astra Otoparts as an Official Regional Partner of the Club.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 7 – Despite vehemently insisting it acted in good faith over the sale of Champions League rights to an offshore company after being caught up in the Panama Papers tax haven affair, UEFA had its offices raided on Wednesday by Swiss police searching for evidence of any possible wrongdoing.
April 7 – 2016 International Champions Cup organisers have launched pre-sale ticket sales for matches taking place in the US summer with Liverpool being the first to announce ticketing plans for their two games in California in July.
By Mark Baber
April 7 – The latest CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report includes statistics showing that young forwards progress a bit faster in terms numbers of appearances than young midfielders, faster than defenders and a lot faster than young goalkeepers on average.
April 7 – FIFA’s ongoing spat with Kuwait, and by association the Asian football heirarchy, has deepened with the Kuwaitis being fined a symbolic SFr30,000 for failing to play two World Cup qualifying matches last month.
April 7 – West Ham sponsor Betway has picked up title sponsorship for an England v Germany Legends match to be held in honour of the Boleyn Ground’s final season and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1966 World Cup final.
By Paul Nicholson
April 6 – UEFA and its marketing agency TEAM have laid bare the anatomy of the Ecuadorian TV deal that has dragged FIFA president Gianni Infantino into the Panama Papers scandal as the signatory on the contract for Champions League TV rights in 2006.
The Panama Papers will very likely change the world of offshore finance forever. That football, its rights holders and its marketing agents have been using the same corporate and financial tools to avoid tax (sometimes legally) is no surprise. But what should be a surprise is that FIFA’s shiny new president has been so quickly dragged into the scandal.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 6 – Both using the word “dismayed”, suggesting they had liaised before responding, FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his former employers at UEFA have both reacted furiously to any claim of wrongdoing after being drawn into the Panama Papers offshore tax haven affair.