By Andrew Warshaw
April 22 – In another blow to UEFA’s hopes of domestic leagues across Europe being completed, the Dutch Football Association has all but scrapped the rest of the season after a government ban on public events was extended until September 1 to prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 infections.
April 21 – The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reportedly advised UEFA that football should not return to action until the end of next season in light of the coronavirus.
April 22 – UEFA has admitted for the first time that it is prepared to accept domestic leagues being permanently called off in “special cases” because of Covid-19.
April 22 – In the light of the ongoing situation, as well as considering the expected developments of the coronavirus pandemic, the IWF-RexSport Forum that was scheduled to take place in Barcelona in June has been postponed.
April 22 – Germany looks set to become the first of the Big 5 leagues in Europe to resume playing when the spread of Covid-19 eases.
April 22 – FC Barcelona will sell the naming rights to its famous Camp Nou stadium but donate the proceeds to coronavirus funds.
April 22 – SIGA has updated its Universal Standards in preparation for the pilot phase of SIRVS, the rating and verification system that federations will be able to use to audit the governance integrity standards of their organisations.
April 22 – Serge Aurier and Moussa Sissoko, both of Tottenham Hotspur, are the latest top-flight English Premier League footballers to flout government guidelines on social distancing – once again tarnishing the club’s reputation during the coronavirus.
April 21 – FIFA has said that the coronavirus pandemic will not touch the world federation’s ambitious plans to invest $1 billion in the women’s game.
April 21 – On the eve of three days of pivotal meetings with all of European football’s main stakeholders, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says leagues across the Continent are ready to play behind closed doors in a bid to limit the impact of Covid-19.
April 21 – The global players’ union FIFPro has warned of a massive rise in the number of players reporting symptoms of depression or anxiety since the sport was brought to a shuddering halt by Covid-19.
April 21 – Sporting Lokeren has been declared bankrupt by a local commercial court after the Belgian club failed to find new investors to solve its debt crisis.
April 21 – Amid persistent accusations that the British government, unlike much of Europe, reacted far too late in trying to halt the spread of Covid-19, speculation over a possible link between positive cases in Liverpool and the club’s Champions League match with Atletico Madrid last month has intensified.
April 21 – Brazil remains top of the list of countries with most expatriate players plying their trade outside their countries, but England – whose players are historically reckoned to be the poorest travellers – are a surprising fourth in the ranking.
April 21 – German midfielder Mezut Ozil, who has long divided opinion on the field, is reported to be one of three Arsenal players to have rejected taking a pay-cut after the club became the first to agree a virtual across-the-board wage reduction as a result of Covid-19.