April 28 – Bournemouth have unveiled Umbro as new technical kit supplier in a club record deal. The new partnership will begin with the 2017/18 season and run for five years. Umbro replaces JD Sports.
By Paul Nicholson
April 27 – The African race for a position on the FIFA Council has a new competitor. Former FIFA senior development manager for Africa, Zelkifili Ngoufonja (better known in football circles as Zul), has put himself and is campaigning on a platform of transparency, youth development and a good deal for Africa at FIFA.
By Paul Nicholson
April 27 – News that China’s Lander Sports boss Gao Jisheng has failed the Premier League’s fit and proper person test has opened the door to a rival consortium to move in and complete their own £225 million takeover of south coast club Southampton.
April 27 – Secret payments made to players and agents is reported to be at the centre of the football tax fraud investigation launched by British and French authorities.
By David Owen
April 27 – AFC Bournemouth, the south-coast club growing accustomed to life in the English top flight, have reported a profit for their first-ever season in the Premier League. For the year to 31 July 2016, the Cherries posted pre-tax profits of £3.4 million. This compared with a restated loss of £39.4 million the previous season.
April 27 – The 2019 Copa America in Brazil will be expanded to 16 teams. South American regional governing body CONMEBOL approved the increased number of countries for their regional championship at their annual congress in Santiago, Chile.
By Samindra Kunti
April 27 – Social media platform Twitter has broken into top tier football rights territory with the live-streamed final of the CONCACAF Champions League as part of their partnership with the governing body.
April 27 – In a move that seems sure to receive widespread support even though it is not technically a unilateral decision, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has confirmed that video replays will be used at the 2018 World Cup.
April 27 – Kenyan-based online gaming firm SportPesa has expanded its football sponsorships in Europe becoming the official African betting partner of Spain’s La Liga in a three-year deal.
By Paul Nicholson
April 26 – Five days after CONCACAF filed a lawsuit in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, claiming $20 million in damages against former executives Jack Warner and Chuck Blazer, Warner has responded by saying he will file a suit against CONCACAF for $40 million claiming “persistent defamation” of character. He also says he is suing US Soccer Federation president and FIFA Council member Sunil Gulati personally.
April 26 – Professional football in England and France has been plunged into a tax fraud scandal with a number of arrests following raids linked to alleged transfer activity going back several years.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 26 – FIFA has rejected German accusations that it is restricting press freedom during this summer’s Confederations Cup in Russia, the traditional World Cup warm-up tournament.
By Paul Nicholson
April 26 – French league president Nathalie Boy de la Tour and general secretary Didier Quillot have unveiled a new strategic plan for the French Football League (LFP) that will take them through to 2022 and close the gap on the English, Spanish, German and Italian leagues.
By Samindra Kunti
April 26 – CONMEBOL’s internal audit has revealed an unaccounted gap of $150 million as the organisation seeks to establish the full-scale damage of corruption.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 26 – One of China’s leading teams, big-spending Guangzhou Evergrande, face an investigation after the club’s fans unfurled a provocative banner in an Asian Champions League match describing Hong Kong’s independence movement as ‘poison’ and carrying the words: ‘Annihilate British Dogs’.