By Samindra Kunti
April 17 – World players’ union FIFPro has warned that the women’s game faces an “existential threat” as football’s global shutdown due to the coronavirus will upend the sport’s finances.
April 17 – Clubs from England’s Football League (EFL), the three divisions below the Premier League, have been told that all matches will probably be played behind closed doors when fixtures resume – but, crucially, that they should be broadcast live.
April 17 – Former Nigerian international Dickson Etuhu (pictured), who played for a raft English teams including Manchester City, has been banned from football in Sweden, where he last competed, for five years for attempted match-fixing.
April 17 – The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) and Soccerex are launching a series of bespoke webinars for the sports industry on hot topics impacting the sector.
By Paul Nicholson
April 16 – Concacaf president Victor Montagliani has said that the confederation is committed to completing the Final 4 play-offs to decide its first Nations League champions, but that it will likely have to rethink the qualification process for its 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
April 16 – Concacaf have taken steps to explore the potential for a Caribbean professional league with the setting up of pro-league working group. It will begin its work in earnest once the coronavirus crisis eases.
April 16 – U.S. Soccer has announced it is closing down the federation’s development academy structure saying the decision was due to the financial impact of the coronavirus. The shutdown will have immediate effect.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 16 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter says Qatar should be stripped of the 2022 World Cup as a result of the latest FIFAgate revelations, with the United States best-placed to step in as replacement hosts.
April 16 – English Premier League clubs are to meet tomorrow (Friday) to discuss, among other things, placing a June 30 deadline on the 2019-20 season because of the thorny issue of player contracts.
April 16 – Arsenal’s entire executive team have agreed to waive more than a third of their salary as a result of Covid-19 with the club warning it is facing “one of the most challenging periods” in its 134-year history.
April 16 – Belarus, the only country in Europe where men’s professional football is still being played before spectators, has announced it is postponing the start of its women’s Premier League amid fears that several players have been exposed to Covid-19.
April 16 – The second, third and fourth tiers of Scottish football have all ended their seasons with Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers declared champions.
By Andrew Warshaw
April 15 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has hailed the dropping of criminal mismanagement charges against him by Swiss prosecutors as a partial success in his bid to clear name and has dragged his successor Gianni Infantino into the narrative by implying Infantino was partly behind a conspiracy against him.
April 15 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the first regional body to postpone its international club and national team calendar when the coronavirus hit, has pushed back its competitions scheduled for May and June into July earliest, remaining fully committed to finishing its seasons on time. But only after public health issues are prioritised.
April 15 – Major League Soccer in the US has hinted that it may reduce the number of games this season as a planned return to play in mid-May looks increasingly unlikely.