February 17 – With sponsorship of football by gambling firms very much on the radar of UK regulators, Everton have become the first Premier League club to announce they are ending their deal with Kenyan online gaming giant SportPesa.
By David Owen
One line in Watford’s recent annual accounts jumped out at me. Explaining a near 15% increase in turnover, the strategic report said this was “mainly due to an increase in Media & Broadcasting revenue because of a higher finishing position consequently attracting increased centralised distributions from the Premier League”.
February 17 – Former Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg, hailed as a hero for his role in the 1958 Munich air disaster, has died at the age of 87.
By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has issued a statement disputing the “unfounded allegations” contained in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit of the governing body’s finances.
By Paul Nicholson
February 14 – This is a big week for Iraqi football. On Wednesday FIFA announced a normalisation committee would take over the running of the game in the country. This weekend the Iraqi Premier League will restart play after a period of suspension due to political situation and safety fears.
February 14 – Ticket demand for the one-off pan-Continental European Championship this summer, being staged in 12 cities, has gone through the roof.
February 14 – French champions Paris Saint Germain have leapfrogged Manchester City as football’s most financially powerful club, according to Soccerex’s annual Football Finance report.
February 14 – Italy’s Juventus and global insurance giant Allianz have extended their partnership until 2030 in a deal worth €103.1 million.
February 14 – With the elections for president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) due to take place in March, Spanish goalkeeping legend Iker Casillas is back in the frame to stand against the incumbent, Luis Rubiales.
February 14 – The AFC qualifiers for the Tokyo 2022 Olympics women’s tournament have been whittled down to the final four teams after Australia came back in injury time to secure a 1-1 draw against China and win the group on goal difference. Both teams go through to the final play-off.
February 14 – Eight months after one of the most bitter episodes in the history of African football, the Continent’s Super Cup takes place later today between Tunisia’s Esperance and Egypt’s Zamalek on neutral ground in Doha.
February 14 – A new competition for non-FIFA affiliated Oceania regions is in the pipeline according to local reports.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 13 – In a move that has split opinion among the Jewish community and fans of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, the Oxford English Dictionary has changed its definition of the word Yid to include a “supporter of or player for” the north London club.
February 13 – FC Barcelona have become the latest club to embrace blockchain technology with an agreement with Chiliz to launch a ‘Barca Fan Token’.
February 12 – In a significant escalation of the gender equality pay dispute in the United States, the US men’s national team has leaped to the defence of their female counterparts, urging their federation to triple the pay of the women’s team and accusing the federation of “working very hard to sell a false narrative” in an effort to limit the wages of the reigning women’s world champions.