July 29 – Following the suspension of all betting markets on the Swedish second tier following a series of match-fixing alerts, Svenska Spel has said the only solution to the problem is to suspend all betting, indefinitely on the league.
July 29 – The high-profile move of Gareth Bale from Spain to China is off after Real Madrid cancelled the deal, with the Welsh international now set to stay at the Spanish club instead of switching to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning for a reported £1 million a week.
July 29 – Premier League Newcastle United have struck a deal with cryptocurrency trading platform StormGain for their sleeve sponsorship for the 2019/20 season.
After the shenanigans of the last few days, and weeks, in the Byzantine world of Confederation of African Football (CAF) politics, where Niccolo Machiavelli clearly has his ardent disciples – in the art of ruthless political bloodletting and the decimation of perceived, real and feared adversaries – my original plan was to write a column on the serial governance missteps that are a clear existential threat to the organisation.
By Paul Nicholson
July 26 – FIFA waited more than five months before issuing the verdict banning Liberian Musa Bility from football activity and stripping him of his position on the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The ban was issued after Bility refused to support the FIFA intervention and two days after he said he was taking his complaint to CAS.
July 26 – The penultimate edition of the Club World Cup in its current guise will kick off in Qatar on December 11 with the final taking place 10 days later.
July 26 – Abu Bakarr Kabba, former administrative secretary of the Sierra Leone Football Association, is the latest African official to be sanctioned by FIFA for taking bribes as part of FIFA’s investigation into notorious matchfixer Wilson Raj Perumal.
July 26 – FC Barcelona have broken the billion dollar revenue mark for the second season running, announcing that for the 2018/19 year income rose to €990 million ($1.1 billion).
July 26 – A Premier League player is suing the world anti-doping agency (WADA) for £13 million over claims a drug-test blunder wrecked part of his career.
July 26 – Experienced Swedish coach Pia Sundhage will replace Vadao as the head coach of the Brazilian national women’s team, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced.
July 26 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur have renewed their partnership with principal partners AIA Group Limited (AIA), in a deal reportedly lifting the value of the sponsorship by £5 million to £40 million a year.
July 26 – Everton have unveiled designs for their new £500 million stadium to be built on semi-abandoned dockland in north Liverpool. The clubs the new stadium will deliver a huge economic benefit to the city, regenerating a part of Liverpool.
July 26 – Two Premier League players have been involved in a carjacking attempt by an armed gang in London.
July 25 – With Manchester City now on the Japan leg of their pre-season Asian tour, owners City Football Group and Japanese carmaker Nissan have used the timing to announce they have extended their global partnership that began in 2014 when Nissan became the group’s official automotive partner.
