By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
May 29 – Zamalek’s controversial president Murtada Mansour has proclaimed his club as ‘African club of the century’, 20 years after Al-Ahly were officially given the moniker by African governing body CAF.
May 29 – Paraguay has become the first South American country to announce an imminent return of the game with the Paraguayan Football Association (APF) releasing a schedule for the opening of the Paraguayan Championship ‘Apertura’ on July 17 and training sessions allowed from as early as June 10.
May 29 – Italy’s Serie A will return on June 29 in the country hit hardest in Europe in the early weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak.
May 29 – With Europe’s major leagues all stepping up plans to restart their seasons in the coming weeks, the exception is France which has not been lost on the country’s influential daily sports paper l’Equipe.
By Paul Nicholson
May 28 – Real Madrid are still the most valuable club in the world, ahead of Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, according to latest figures in the KPMG Football Benchmark 2020 club evaluation report that looks at the 50 elite clubs in European leagues.
May 28 – In the next step towards the season getting back on track, Premier League clubs have unanimously voted to start contact training, including tackling, despite four more positive Covid-19 results at three different clubs, albeit from over 1,000 tests.
May 28 – The Spanish football federation (RFEF) has given the green light for matches to be played on Mondays and Fridays when La Liga returns in order to allow the season to finish.
May 28 – Football Federation Australia (FFA), A-League clubs and the players’ union have unveiled plans to resume the country’s premier league from mid-July, but proposals could be derailed depending on domestic broadcaster Fox Sports’ position on TV rights.
May 28 – The final AFC spot at the Tokyo 2020 women’s Olympic tournament will now be decided in February 2021 over a two-legged play-off between China and South Korea.
May 28 – French football bosses have rejected the LFP’s proposal to expand Ligue 2 from 20 to 22 clubs for the 2020/21 season. As a result, Pau and Dunkerque will remain in the National, France’s third tier.
May 28 – While the women’s professional game will not return in England this season, in the US is again taking the lead in the women’s game with the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announcing that the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup will kick off in Utah, June 27.
March 28 – Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho, who has spent big for much of his managerial career, says there will be fewer “crazy” transfers after top-flight football returns from its Covid-19 shutdown.
May 28 – Troy Deeney, captain of English Premier League side Watford and one of the few players courageous enough to express his views about concerns over returning to training because of his baby son, says he has suffered online abuse over his stance, aimed at both himself and his family.
By Samindra Kunti
May 27 – Relegated Waasland-Beveren, Virton, Antwerp and former Charlton owner Roland Duchâtelet have all filed complaints with Belgium’s competition authorities (BMA) claiming abuse of power and a conflict of interest at the Belgian FA (KBVB) and the Pro League.
By Andrew Warshaw
May 27 – The proposed £300 million takeover of Newcastle United by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) fronted by controversial Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, has been thrown into doubt after reports that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has found the Saudis breached international law by backing the pirating of Premier League matches.