Infantino and MBS plug in at Esports World Cup in Riyadh
August 27 – Together with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, FIFA president Gianni Infantino attended the maiden Esports World Cup in Riyadh.
England’s first foreign manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, dies aged 76
August 27 – Tributes are pouring in from across the game following the death at 76 of former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.
Somalia’s Dekedda make Champions League progress as football is played again in El-Dheer
July 27 – Battling to re-establish football across the nation, Somalia’s football ecosystem took a step forward on the pitch with Dekedda SC becoming the first club in nearly four decades to qualify for the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.
Germany mourns loss of charismatic Christoph Daum, 70
August 27 – Christoph Daum, the charismatic German coach who was denied the national team job after failing a cocaine test, has died aged 70 from lung cancer.
Concacaf creates bridge to younger audiences with Fortnight and GGTECH hook-up
August 27 – Concacaf has launched itself into the youth gaming market in partnership with gaming and esports specialists GGTECH, with the first project being a football-specific Fortnite map, ‘Concacaf Kick-Off Stadium’.
Fight between U17 FC Nacional and Levski players leaves 3 hospitalised
August 27 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia called on the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) to impose harsh punishments after fighting broke out at end of the match of the U17 match between FC National and Levski.
Denmark sub in Knudsen for Nations League games with Wieghorst on sick leave
August 27 – Augsburg assistant manager Lars Knudsen, has been appointed to lead the Danish national team on a temporary basis in September against Switzerland and Serbia in the Nations League with interim coach Morten Wieghorst unavailable because of sick leave.
NWSL agrees new pay and conditions deal with players, and scraps college draft
August 23 – Women’s football in the US has made landmark changes to its player contract agreements with the NWSL Players Association and NWSL having reached a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will include revenue sharing and the abolishing of the college draft, a peculiarity of the US pro sports market.
UEFA rolls-out new brand identity for new-look Champions League
August 23 – With the draw for the reformatted Champions league to take place next week, UEFA has unveiled a new brand identity for competition, tagged ‘Kick of Light’.
Ronaldo proves to be a bigger draw than FIFA, Real Madrid and the Premier League
August 23 – After becoming the fastest user to reach a million subscribers on YouTube with his new-launch channel – less than the duration of a football match after going live on Wednesday – Al Nassr and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has already eclipsed major entities such as FIFA, Real Madrid and the Premier League.
Premier League see increase in crowd numbers for round one, but slight drop in % of stadia filled
August 23 – Despite an action-packed start to the football season, the Premier League’s opening match day saw a slight dip in attendance compared to 2023, with just under 1% lower capacity across the ten hosting stadiums. This small decline, revealed by IWF’s capacity tracker, suggests that fan turnout has slightly decreased.
LAFC and Columbus Crew advance to Leagues Cup final and 2025 Champions Cup
August 23 – Leagues Cup finalists Los Angeles FC and Columbus Crew have qualified for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Poku transfer marks a significant step for Canadian league, Forge FC and its talent pipeline
August 23 – Canadian Premier League club Forge FC, based in Hamilton, has set a transfer league record with the move of local star Kwasi Poku to RWD Molenbeek in Belgium.
Courtois says he won’t play for Belgium while Tedesco is manager
August 23 – Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has said he does not want to play for Belgium under current manager Domenico Tedesco.
Romanian federation offers blockchain-based VIP promo to national team fans
August 23 – The Romanian Football Federation (FRF) has put on sale three levels of VIP cards for supporters of the country’s national team, each level containing difference special privileges.