Forest fire themselves into Premier League play-off with Huddersfield Town
May 18 – Nottingham Forest will play Huddersfield Town in the so-called richest individual game in football after reaching the English Championship play-off final.
Zimbabwe suspends top league after uncontrollable violence in Bulawayo
May 18 – Zimbabwe’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) has suspended all matches until further notice after the biggest domestic club game had to be abandoned because of fan violence.
NFTs deal fuels Bundesliga’s 280% next cycle revenue leap for stickers and trading cards
May 18 – Germany’s Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 clubs will receive more than €170 million from the 2023-24 season from the licensing of the global rights for stickers and trading cards, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Ghana relegates clubs and bans players and officials in match-fixing scandal
May 18 – Ghanaian football has been struck by a match-fixing scandal with top-flight clubs Ashanti Gold and Inter Allies hit with demotion to the third tier and players and officials of both clubs heavily sanctioned.
Abramovich failure to give legal guarantees raises new questions over Chelsea sale
By Andrew Warshaw and Paul Nicholson
May 17 – The much-publicised £4.25 billion sale of Chelsea to a US-led consortium is reported to be at risk of collapsing because of a dispute between the UK government and owner Roman Abramovich over where the funds might end up.
India’s Patel under pressure to organise new presidential election
May 17 – Pressure is growing in Indian football on president Praful Patel and for the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to stage fresh elections with Football Delhi president Shaji Prabhakaran writing to the world governing body, demanding FIFA form a normalization committee in India.
LaLiga takes major step into the metaverse with TVM
By Samindra Kunti
May 17 – La Liga has taken another big step in its bid for digital transformation by partnering with TVM, a South Korean global sports metaverse platform, in a two-and-a-half-year deal.
Daniels’ ‘coming out’ could open the door for more players
May 17 – Jake Daniels’ decision to come out as the UK’s only openly gay active male professional footballer is being hailed as a watershed moment that will lead to more players coming out.
Mauritius win 2023 AFCON qualifier slot after Sao Tome break covid rules
May 17 – Mauritius will play in the group stage of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after Sao Tome and Principe were thrown out for fielding an ineligible player during their preliminary round tie and breaching COVID-19 protocols.
AFC Cup 2022 groups set for kick off in Bahrain, India, Kuwait and Oman
May 17 – The AFC Cup begins its 2022 group stages tomorrow in centralised hubs in the South and West Zones.
Racism is ‘alive and well’ in football, says Kick it Out’s Townsend
May 17 – A leading anti-racism group says incidents at Premier League matches on Sunday show “hate is alive and well within football.”
Last line of defense or first line of attack? Ranking of keepers by passing
May 17 – Goalkeepers need to be more than just shot stoppers. With possession-based football requiring keepers to be confident with the ball at their feet, their distribution is no longer just about kicking the ball long.
Botafogo add name to Brazil’s new Libra league team sheet
May 16 – Botafogo are the latest club to sign up to the Liga Brasileira (Libra), the new launch breakaway league that will be managed by the clubs instead of the Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF).
NISA and LPF MX create cross-border alliance to grow ‘independent’ leagues
May 16 – US third tier professional league NISA (The National Independent Soccer Association) has linked with the professional league Liga Profesional de Futbol Mexicano (LPF MX) in a bid to drive the growth of both leagues and their clubs across their shared borders.
Russian clubs appeal to CAS for inclusion in next season’s Champions League
By Andrew Warshaw
May 16 – Russian football, kicked out of international competition because of the invasion of Ukraine, is making another desperate attempt to return to the fold by once again going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).