Manchester United have received permission to install 1,500 barrier seats – standing with rails – at Old Trafford as a trial measure. United will install the new section in the north-east quadrant for the 2020-21 season after Trafford council approval. If the trial proves successful, the club will look to install barrier seats in other areas of the stadium.
European leagues have until 25 May to tell UEFA whether they want to complete or cancel their seasons. Football is suspended in all European countries apart from Belarus because of the coronavirus pandemic. The deadline set by UEFA is referred to in a set of guidelines on ‘eligibility principles’ for European competitions that the governing body’s president and general secretary have sent out to football bodies.
The Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 seasons will not resume after France banned all sporting events, including behind closed doors, until September. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the 2019-20 sporting season was over as he announced plans to ease France’s coronavirus lockdown on 11 May. French football’s governing body had hoped to resume the season on 17 June and finish the campaign on 25 July. Football was suspended indefinitely in France on 13 March.
Teams will be given “temporary dispensation” to make five substitutions to help with the congested schedule they could face when the season resumes, FIFA has proposed. Most leagues around the world have been halted by the coronavirus pandemic. The dispensation can be implemented by organisers for competitions scheduled until the end of the 2021 season.
Formula 1 boss Chase Carey says he plans to start the season in Austria in July, after France became the latest country to postpone its race. French Grand Prix organisers said on Monday the race at Paul Ricard on 28 June was off because of the country’s ban on major events until mid-July.
Egyptian club Al Ahly will pay its players and staff their full wages for the next four months despite the suspension of all football competitions due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Cairo giants will “pay the entire wages for the next four months starting from 1 April to 1 July.”
Everton striker Moise Kean is set to be disciplined by the club after being filmed at a house party in breach of government coronavirus guidelines. The Daily Star Sunday reported that Italian Kean, 20, filmed himself at the party in his apartment. It is likely that Kean will face a fine after Everton said they were “appalled” by the incident.
Two Senegalese clubs are to protest against English Premier League team Watford to FIFA, saying they have not received sell-on payments owed after Ismaila Sarr’s transfer last summer. Senegal winger Sarr joined the Hornets from Rennes in August 2019 for a reported club record fee of £30m. Both Linguere de Saint-Louis and Generation Foot say they have not had the first of five solidarity payments for the 22-year-old’s move. Watford chairman Scott Duxbury said they have been “thwarted” by “insufficient banking detail” regarding one of the payments, while the Hornets have had “direct and regular contact with the other party with a view to imminent resolution” in relation to the other payment.
UFC president Dana White has announced plans for three events in Jacksonville, Florida, next month. They will be closed to the public and “produced with only essential personnel in attendance”. UFC 249 is now scheduled for 9 May, with top-ranked lightweight contender Tony Ferguson facing fellow American Justin Gaethje for the interim championship. There are also plans to hold shows on 13 May and 16 May at the same arena.
Chelsea’s first-team players will not be taking a pay cut to contribute to the club during the coronavirus pandemic, but will “focus on further supporting other charitable causes”. It had been reported that the men’s team would take a 10% cut this month. But a statement on the club website said “extensive talks” had been held to discuss how the team could contribute.
Kenya’s World Cup ban was put on hold after Friday’s deadline to pay former coach Adel Amrouche was extended by FIFA to 30 April 2020. Kenya’s federation (FKF) was ordered to pay Amrouche just over a million dollars in a wrongful dismissal case by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last October. FIFA gave a deadline of 24th April 2020 for the payment to be made or risk Kenya’s men’s national team being thrown out of the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.
The Eredivisie – the top tier of football in the Netherlands – has been abandoned for the season with no title winner and no teams relegated. The move comes after the national government banned major events until 1 September because of coronavirus. Dutch football’s governing body the KNVB said “it has become impossible to play out the 2019-20 season”.
Romelu Lukaku has apologised to Inter Milan for comments he made in an interview where he claimed 23 out of 25 of their players had suffered coronavirus symptoms in January. No members of the Inter squad have confirmed they have had the virus, but in an Instagram Live interview with Belgian television channel VIER, Lukaku claimed players returned from time off in December with what appeared to be symptoms.
Kenya look likely to be expelled from the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers before a game is played, having said they do not have the funds to meet a payment deadline – the result of which will be their immediate exclusion from the competition. Kenya’s football federation, the FKF, have said they are unable to pay former coach Adel Amrouche a million dollars by Friday 24 April, as they were ordered to by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last October.
The UEFA Champions League and Europa League look increasingly likely to be played exclusively in August after more talks about the remainder of the 2019-20 season on Wednesday. UEFA told the 55 associations on Tuesday there was still the possibility of the competitions being played throughout June, July and August.
Tottenham’s Serge Aurier and Moussa Sissoko have apologised for training together despite the coronavirus restrictions. Right-back Aurier posted a video on social media – since deleted – of him wearing a mask while running shuttles and sitting next to midfielder Sissoko. UK government guidelines say you can only exercise on your own or with people you live with.
A six-year-old boy in Italy is celebrating after his football shirt design was adopted by the professional team Pescara. Luigi D’Agostino beat other children in a competition, run by the club for young fans, aimed at easing the boredom of being stuck indoors during the country’s coronavirus lockdown.
Barcelona are to give a sponsor naming rights to the Nou Camp for the first time and donate all the revenue to fighting coronavirus. Barca’s stadium – which is known as Camp Nou in Catalan – has never had another name since opening in 1957.
The Dutch Football Association “intends not to continue” the Eredivisie season after the national government extended a ban on major events until 1 September because of coronavirus. Ajax and AZ Alkmaar are leading the Dutch top flight level on points after 26 games, with Ajax ahead on goal difference. Dutch football’s governing body KNVB said in a statement it “intends not to continue playing the 2019/20 competition” but will consult UEFA before making a final decision.
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min has commenced his three-week mandatory national service in South Korea. The 27-year-old is serving with the Marine Corps on the island of Jeju where he will undergo basic training. Son, who has completed a two-week quarantine following his return to South Korea, is required by law to carry out national service by his 28th birthday.
Naija Sports Crib 