Man Utd top 90,000 on Twitter for week, while on FB Barca and Real hit 100m mark
April 4 – Manchester United added 90,000 new twitter followers last week, a high mark even for their impressive weekly growth statistics.
UEFA calendar: club finals to be played in same week, Futsal Euros every 4 years
April 4 – In a notable break with tradition, UEFA have decided to stage the final of both the Champions League and Europa League in the same week from next season.
FIFA Ethics hands Guatemala’s Jimenez life ban. US court to sentence him on April 28
April 4 – Just when it is striving to shake off its tainted past, CONCACAF is having to deal with yet another painful sanction slapped on one of its past federation bosses.
English FA council passes reform package to go before full membership
April 4 – Members of the English Football Association’s council have unanimously backed a package of governance reforms proposed by the governing body’s board aimed at enhancing diversity.
AFC brings in member association gen secs for three-day powwow
April 4 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has gathered its member associations’ general secretaries for a three-day conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
St Petersburg bomb blast will not derail Russia 2018, says Mutko
April 4 – Russia’s chief World Cup figurehead says the subway blast in St Petersburg that killed 11 people should not be used by the country’s critics to call into question next year’s finals or the confederations cup this coming summer.
Politically correct? Lahm caught left field and fails to see April Fool funny side
April 4 – A Munich-based business has been forced to apologise to Germany’s former captain Philipp Lahm after he reportedly threatened legal action following an April Fool’s joke claiming he had invested in them.
Chelsea open talks over West Ham groundshare as Wembley option fades
April 4 – Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are competing for more than just the Premier League title. They both want to use Wembley Stadium while their own grounds are being redeveloped.
US Club Soccer tests its current crop of id2 players on Spanish tour
April 4 – The Mediterranean International Cup (MIC) kicks off this week, a friendly tournament for leading youth teams played on the Spain’s Costa Brava, this year it will feature a team from US Club Soccer’s id2 programme for the first time.
Toulouse players bite the bullet over drive-by pellet gun attack
April 4 – French top-flight club Toulouse have sacked two players for their alleged role in a pellet gun attack.
Morocco 2026 World Cup bid looks doomed as FIFA regs rule out Euro partners
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Any attempt by Morocco to link up with Spain and Portugal in a bid to stage the 2026 World Cup seems destined to fall foul of FIFA’s strict hosting regulations.
Net closing on Radmann and Beckenbauer as more suspect payments discovered
By Andrew Warshaw
April 3 – Yet another potentially significant twist has emerged in the 2006 World Cup scandal that continues to heap suspicion on those who organised the tournament in Germany.
Swiss league tops Euro ranking of goals per game, La Liga 3rd, Premier League 7th
April 3 – If it is goals you want to see then the Swiss Super League is the place to watch football with an average 3.33 goals per game. The Big 5 leagues don’t fare too badly with Spain’s La Liga ranking third (2.9), the Premier League sixth (2.84) and Serie A seventh (2.82).
PSG beat Monaco to win French League Cup, now chase is on for Ligue 1 title
By Samindra Kunti
April 3 – Paris Saint-Germain won the French League Cup for the fourth consecutive season with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Monaco to alleviate some of the pressure on their coach Unai Emery.
Premier League clubs seek Brexit exemption to hold on to European players
April 3 – Premier League clubs have urged the British government not to allow immigration regulations under Brexit to damage the free movement of players into the country.