July 23 – Former Botswana Football Association (BFA) general secretary Mooketsi Kgotlele has been banned for life by FIFA for accepting bribes in the latest serious misdemeanour to rock the image of African football.
July 23 – Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has denied showing disrespect to Gareth Bale, who commanded a world record fee when he joined Real Madrid in 2013 but who has been out of favour despite winning four Champions Leagues with the club.
July 23 – With the transfer window open in West Asia one of its star players, Omar Abdulrahman, is looking for a new club.
July 23 – After weeks of speculation over an incident that allegedly occurred a decade ago, US prosecutors have announced that Cristiano Ronaldo will not face criminal charges of sexual assault because the case cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
July 23 – Arsenal have gone local with their latest sponsor partner. Camden Town Brewery, which has become the club’s Official Beer Partner in the UK and Ireland in a three-year deal.
July 23 – Barcelona are the latest European club to launch on the Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok. They join Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Dortmund and Liverpool as the biggest clubs on the social media channel, others are rapidly migrating the same way. LaLiga is also on the platform.
By Osasu Obayiuwana in Cairo, Egypt
July 22 – The crisis in African football governance appears to have taken a new turn, as an executive committee member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is taking the body, of which he is an important member, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in order to stop FIFA’s direct intervention in CAF’s day-to-day affairs.
July 22 – The changes taking place in the ‘disrupted’ sports TV market are highlighted in a new analysis that finds that 23% of the world’s top leagues and federations now have their own OTT streaming services.
July 22 – Half of the Premier League’s shirts will display a gambling company’s logo during the 2019-20 season, rekindling the debate about betting in sports.
July 22 – The English Premier League is expecting the introduction of video assistant referees to cause controversy next season.
July 22 – Bookmaker Paddy Power has added a second top tier shirt sponsorship to their ‘Save our Shirt’ marketing campaign – with Motherwell of the Scottish Premier League now joining Huddersfield Town.
July 22 – Bulgaria have been ordered by UEFA to play their next two home Euro 2020 qualifiers in a partially-closed stadium due to racist behaviour by their supporters.
July 22 – Fenerbahce have avoided a ban from UEFA competitions despite breaching Financial Fair Play rules in 2018-19.
July 22 – Amazon Prime Video has bought the series ‘All or Nothing’ featuring Brazil’s 2019 Copa America win on home soil, TV sales agency Pitch International has announced.
By Andrew Warshaw
July 19 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed an appeal by the outspoken head of Palestinian football Jibril Rajoub against his ban for “inciting hatred and violence” toward Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.