By Paul Nicholson
August 7 – The involvement of organised criminal gangs (OCGs) in sports, and football in particular, is increasing in Europe and the Covid crisis has accelerated that increase, according to a new report by Europol, the European Union’s agency for law enforcement cooperation.
August 7 – The coronavirus is still raging in South America, but clubs traveling for Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana matches will not have to quarantine when crossing borders.
August 7 – Four countries – Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Poland – have offered to act as neutral venue hubs for upcoming Nations League matches and other UEFA competitions if Covid-19-related travel restrictions prevent them being played in the originally scheduled country.
August 7 – Austrian football fans will be allowed to attend next season’s Bundesliga, the Austrian football league has announced, with attendances limited to up to 10,000 fans.
August 7 – English Premier League clubs have voted against continuing to allow five substitutions to be used per league game for the 2020-21 season.
August 7 – With England’s prime minister Boris Johnson opening a national campaign against obesity, chocolate brand Cadbury has unveiled their third Premier League club partnership with Chelsea.
August 7 – Scottish clubs Hearts and Partick Thistle have each been fined £2,500 by the Scottish FA for going to court to try and stave off their respective relegations.
August 6 – An exciting new era looks in store for Roma, with Texas-based Italian-American billionaire Dan Friedkin signing a deal to purchase the famed Serie A side.
August 6 – Players taking part in the climax to the Champions League and Europa League have been warned by UEFA not to breach strict Covid-19 protocols.
August 6 – Amnesty International has written to the English Premier League proposing a new owners and directors test that covers human rights concerns and sport-washing following the collapse of the takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi-led consortium.
August 6 – Sporting goods giant Puma and La Liga have revealed the match ball for the 2020/21 Spanish topflight season, with Accelerate, in traditional white colours, the primary ball and Adrenalina, with a more catchy design, used for ‘El Clásico’ and other marquee matches.
August 6 – The Europa League returned to action on Wednesday after a four-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Manchester United, Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Copenhagen booking their place for the quarter-finals to be played in Germany.
August 6 – Arsenal’s head of recruitment is among 55 staff redundancies as the club became the first in the English Premier League to announce significant job losses caused by the effects of Covid-19.
August 6 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has released more detail of the centralised locations to complete the groups rounds of the 2020 AFC Cup, the AFC’s baby brother international club competition to its Champions League.
