Facebank takes Crystal Palace sleeve in one-season deal
August 17 – Premier League Crystal Palace have secured Facebank as the club’s new sleeve partner in a one-season deal for 2021/22.
BK8 returns to European club sponsorship with five LaLiga club deals
August 17 – Online betting brand BK8 has secured five LaLiga club sponsorships for Asia for the new season which kicked off last weekend.
WLF will back clubs and players who refuse to participate in Conmebol’s 2022 qualifiers
By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – The World Leagues Forum (WLF) has slammed FIFA’s decision to amend the international match calendar without consultation and which has seen the rescheduling of South America’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers that had originally been due to be played in March 2021 to extended triple match windows in September and March.
ECA re-admits repentant nine of the ESL’s Dirty Dozen back into its membership
By Paul Nicholson
August 16 – The European Club Association (ECA), has agreed that nine of the 12 European Super League (ESL) breakaway clubs can remain as members following their requests to withdraw their resignations from the club body.
Qatar 2022 qualifying: CAF tells 8 nations they can’t use home stadia
August 16 – Eight African countries have been stripped of home advantage in next month’s World Cup qualifiers after their grounds were deemed unfit at international level by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Germany and Bayern legendary striker Gerd Muller dies, aged 75
August 16 – Famed West Germany striker Gerd Mueller, nicknamed ‘Der Bomber’ because of his goalscoring prowess, has died at the age of 75.
Digital media specialist Hopfen to take over from Seifert at Bundesliga
August 16 – Donata Hopfen will become the new CEO of the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) in January, succeeding Christian Seifert who will step aside early, the league body has announced.
PSG parade Messi to fawning Parisian crowd
August 16 – Paris St Germain presented Lionel Messi to fans inside the Parc des Princes stadium ahead of their Ligue 1 clash with Strasbourg on Saturday but the Argentine, as expected, was not included in the squad for the match.
Japan saves Burmese goalkeeper by granting refugee status
August 16 – A Burmese international goalkeeper who refused to return home after protesting the February military coup in his country has been granted refugee status in Japan.
Rwandan president takes furious aim at Arsenal after Brentford loss
August 16 – Rwandan President Paul Kagame lambasted Arsenal’s dramatic opening-day defeat after the club’s 2-0 loss to newly promoted Brentford. He said Arsenal fans shouldn’t “accept mediocrity”.
Ajax add Blox as official cryptocurrency partner
August 16 – Blox has teamed up with Ajax to become the club’s official cryptocurrency partner in a three-season deal.
Betano bets big on Benfica as club’s first sleeve sponsor
August 16 – While their neighbours in Spain face a crackdown on betting sponsorship, the Portuguese are embracing online bookmaking clients with open arms. The latest is Benfica who have secured their first ever sleeve sponsorship with Betano.
Norwich need a drink after return to Premier League reality, Lucozade Sport may have to do
August 16 – Norwich City, who opened their season with a 3-0 home loss to Liverpool, look like they are going to need all the help they get from their new fuelling and hydration partner Lucozade Sport.
Premier League kick off: Man City favourites for title, and Kane
By Andrew Warshaw
August 13 – The English Premier League season kicks off this weekend with the usual suspects likely to fight it out for the spoils – along with some intriguing sub-plots.
LaLiga clubs vote for CVC €2.1bn cash injection but Barca and Real Madrid opt out
By Samindra Kunti
August 13 – On the eve of the new Spanish season, the value of La Liga’s deal with private equity firm CVC dropped from €2.7 billion to €2.1 billion after four clubs voted against and opted out.