June 28 – Mexico made hard work of overcoming Saudi Arabia 2-0 to book their place in the Gold Cup semi-final. Second half goals from Alexis Vega and Santiago Gimenez secured the win against the Gold Cup guests.
February 9 – Two-time World Cup winner Alex Morgan is the latest figure to speak out against the proposed Saudi sponsorship of this summer’s tournament, urging FIFA to scrap the plan.
February 9 – South Africa has scrapped a £42.5 million sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur before it even got off the ground following a national outcry.
February 9 – A depleted Real Madrid still breezed past African champions Al Ahly 4-1 to set up a Club World Cup final against Saudi club Al Hilal on Saturday in Morocco.
February 9 – A bronze medal winner at the 1998 World Cup and a fierce motivator as a coach, Miroslav Blazevic passed away at the age of 87 following a prolonged battle with illness.
February 9 – Analysing the Premier League’s case against Manchester City
“Croesus; man is entirely chance, and nobody knows what the gods may bring tomorrow.” Herodotus, The Histories
February 9 – Former France captain Hugo Lloris has been ruled out of action for Tottenham Hotspur for up to eight weeks after suffering a knee ligament injury in Sunday’s Premier League win over Manchester City.
February 9 – Succeeding Roberto Martinez, Belgium’s new coach Domenico Tedesco has promised he will not break with the past but simply select quality players.
February 9 – Serie A’s AS Roma has added energy company A2A as an official partner. A2A will promote its A2A Energia brand.
February 8 – In one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history, Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal stunned 10-man Flamengo to reach the Club World Cup final with a 3-2 victory over South America’s Copa Libertadores champions on Tuesday.
Will anything change? Ever? Has FIFA cleaned its Augean Stables of US/Latino making? Corruption, bribery, kick-backs, nepotism, favoritism – have they all disappeared, are they gone with the wind? The wind of (US-controlled) change?
“Quo vadis FIFA?”, one might ask, eight years later.
February 8 – The 26 clubs of the Liga Forte (LFF), one of two groups seeking to redesign Brazilian football, have reportedly closed an investment agreement with domestic venture capital group Life Capital Partners and US investment group Serengeti Asset Management, worth R$4.85bn (€879.6 million).
February 8 – Qatari investors are planning to make a massive bid to buy Manchester United in the coming days that will blow rival suitors out of the water, according to newspaper reports citing unnamed sources.
February 8 – All matches in the Chinese Super League (CSL) will be played on home-and-away basis this year bringing to an end three seasons of COVID-19 restrictions.
February 8 – La Liga has filed a complaint with a local court in Mallorca over the racist abuse targeted at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.
February 8 – Crystal Palace are the first Premier League club to sign up to socially conscious social media app WeAre8 with an official presence.