May 30 – As the first 2022 World Cup stadium opened its gates for Qatar’s Emir Cup final last week, a pilot sensory room project also kicked off, designed to improve the match-day experience for supporters with cognitive disabilities.
May 31 – It may not be quite as remarkable a fairytale as Leicester City’s Premier League title a year ago but Huddersfield Town are the latest club to defy the odds – and all financial logic – by grabbing a spot in English football’s top flight.
May 30 – He is one of world football’s best-paid players, reaping the rewards of Chinese football’s import boom, yet Carlos Tevez has told a Spanish broadcaster the sport in the country of his latest employers is 50 years behind Europe.
May 30 – What should have been a day of celebration ended in tragedy when at least four people died and many others were injured during a stampede prior to the sellout league title game in Honduras between Motagua and Honduras Progres.
May 30 – New Balance has added its first European national team to its roster, picking up the kit sponsorship of the Republic of Ireland (FAI) national team from the start of the 2017/18 season. The US sportswear firm is also sponsor of Costa Rica and Panama.
May 26 – Once one of the most influential figures in European football, playing a prominent role in the European Club Association and representing the body on various UEFA and FIFA committees, Sandro Rosell faces a grim future after a Spanish judge ordered prison without bail for the former Barcelona boss.
May 26 – Having already snared one of the two best players in world football in Lionel Messi, the Spanish tax evasion scandal could be about to involve the other after prosecutors revealed they are considering whether Cristiano Ronaldo should face charges over allegations that he defrauded the authorities of €15 million between 2011 and 2014.
May 26 – Chelsea topped the table of Premier League revenue share from TV, commercial and merit awards with £152.8 million for the 2016-17 season. The season marked an earnings breakthrough for Manchester City who came second, ahead of rivals and perennial cash machine Manchester United who were down in fifth spot in terms of PL earnings.
May 26 – A report by Britain’s Guardian newspaper claims FIFA knew about North Korean workers being employed in dire conditions in the construction of a 2018 World Cup site in St Petersburg.
May 26 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur have extended their shirt deal with insurance group AIA until the end of the 2021-22 season. The club announced the extension while on their post-season tour to Hong Kong at AIA Group’s headquarters.
May 26 – The biennial Premier League Asia Trophy will be held this July in Hong Kong with Liverpool leading the line-up and being joined by Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 25 – Ten months after Lionel Messi and his father were given 21-month suspended jail sentences for tax fraud relating to the player’s image rights, Spain’s Supreme Court has confirmed both the sentence and the €2 million fine imposed on Barcelona’s Argentine superstar.
May 25 – Arch-rivals on the pitch, Manchester City and Manchester United have jointly pledged £1 million to an emergency fund set up to support the victims of Monday’s suicide bomb attack that killed 22 people and left 64 injured.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 25 – In a move designed to halt the flow of highly-paid overseas players to clubs in the red, the Chinese FA has announced prohibitive new curbs less than a month before the next Chinese transfer window opens on June 18.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 25 – Costas Takkas, close associate of disgraced ex-CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb and like Webb one of the original ‘Zurich Seven’ arrested two years ago in that infamous hotel swoop that plunged FIFA into unprecedented crisis, has changed his plea to guilty to money laundering conspiracy as his trial gets closer.