UEFA starts programme to hunt and destroy on-line racist content
July 4 – UEFA is launching a programme to combat online racist abuse of players by working with social media companies to remove harmful content from platforms.
India hit by sexual misconduct scandal as U17 coach sent home from Norway tour
July 3 – In the latest scandal to rock Indian football, U-17 women’s football team assistant coach Alex Ambrose has been sacked for sexual misconduct.
Women’s Euro passes record 500k ticket sales as Wednesday kick off nears
July 4 – The Women’s European Championship starting on Wednesday will draw a record attendance with 500,000 tickets already snapped up before the first ball is kicked, breaking the previous record set in 2017 in The Netherlands where 240,000 fans attended matches and saw the hosts lift the trophy for the first time.
Backing the bookies, Antwerp sign betFIRST as main sponsor
July 3 – In a controversial move, Antwerp have signed up BetFIRST as their new, headline sponsor despite the Belgian authorities’ intention to outlaw betting ads by 2025.
Konami picks up video game license and naming rights in multi-part Inter deal
July 4 – Inter Milan has agreed a deal with video gamemaker Konami that will see it become the club’s Global Football Videogame Partner, as well as being designated Youth Development Centre Partner and Training Kit Back Partner.
FIFA fuels Qatar 2022 carbon-neutral debate saying its methodology is not misleading
By Samindra Kunti in Odense
July 1 – FIFA’s head of sustainability Federico Addiechi has defended the world governing body’s claims of staging a carbon-neutral World Cup in Qatar.
Semi-automated offside cleared to make World Cup debut in Qatar
July 1 – FIFA have confirmed that semi-automated offside technology will be used at the Qatar World Cup, providing alerts to video match officials using 12 dedicated tracking cameras inside the stadiums along with a sensor in the match ball.
DoJ earmarks another $92m for ‘Remission Fund’ from FIFAGate collections
July 1 – FIFA will receive another $92 million in compensation for losses sustained in global football corruption schemes, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) said on Tuesday.
Costa Rica have 9 players suspended after U20 World Cup qualifying clash with US
July 1 – A mass brawl after the USA’s 2-0 win over Costa Rica at the Concacaf U20 Championships in Honduras earlier this week has resulted in bans for nine Costa Ricans and one American.
Serie A left with ADM in cut-price TV deal after beIN throws in the towel in frustration
July 1 – With beIN Sports pulling out of the bids for Serie A broadcast rights, the Italian league and its chief executive Luigi De Servio has awarded the rights to Abu Dhabi Media group in a deal that is less than beIN were offering before they pulled out.
Barca confirm €207.5m sale of stake in TV rights to Sixth Street
July 1 – Barcelona have confirmed the sale of a 10% stake in their LaLiga TV rights for the next 25 years to US private equity firm Sixth Street.
FIFA greenlights return of Pakistan’s domestic league and international play
July 1 – Fifteen months after the country was kicked out of world football for “undue third-party interference”, FIFA has lifted its suspension of Pakistan.
AFC U23 Asian Cup breaks social media with video content hitting 46.9m views
July 1 – The AFC is reporting record engagement across its social media channels for its just completed U23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan, hitting a high of nearly 340 million impressions, a jump of 193.8% over the Thailand edition years ago.
Qatar human rights concerns force Shrewsbury to cancel friendly against club side
July 1 – A second English team has cancelled a fixture against Qatari opposition following a backlash over the World Cup host’s human rights record.
Canada taking big steps but can they maintain a sustainable pace?
July 1 – Football is a cruel master, Canada will tell you. Having broken back into the upper echelons of Concacaf’s national team hierarchy with World Cup 2022 qualification, they came down to earth with a bump losing the second match of their new Nations League campaign to Honduras.