Spain's health minister has expressed doubt about the prospect of spectators returning to soccer matches in September due to the threat of a resurgence in COVID-19 infections.
The government's department for sport and organizing body LaLiga had hoped to let fans back into stadiums at a reduced capacity when the new season starts in September, increasing to 50% in November before full capacity returned in January.
When compiling a list of the best American soccer players right now, it’s paramount to consider the sporting impact of COVID-19. For example, Megan Rapinoe received the 2019 Ballon d’Or as the best female footballer on the planet, but she’s played a total of 366 minutes in 2020 and probably won't add to that.
With this list, we’ll celebrate the players that obviously stayed physically and mentally strong throughout quarantine before channeling that professionalism into a strong return to the pitch — whether that’s in the Bundesliga, Premier League or NWSL Challenge Cup.
It’s been a long time coming but the Real Madrid Femenino team has finally arrived, and there’s some North American representation in the form of Mexican defender Kenti Robles.
Previously known as Club Deportivo Tacón, Real Madrid officially announced the absorption of the team back in June of 2019 following its promotion to the Primera División. The club spent the 2019-20 season as Tacón, finishing in 10th with a record of six wins, five draws and 10 defeats in a season that was brought to a premature end by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Players and coaches around Europe are becoming increasingly perplexed by the current handball rule which one has said is best suited to foosball.
Forwards have seen goals chalked off for almost imperceptible handballs while defenders have conceded penalties for unintentional ones in innocuous situations because their arm was seen as making the body "unnaturally bigger."
Manchester City's two-year suspension from European football was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday, allowing the club to compete in next season's elite Champions League competition.
CAS ruled that City did not breach Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by disguising equity funding as sponsorship. Sport's highest court also reduced a fine for failing to cooperate with UEFA to $11.3 million from $34 million.
Borussia Dortmund’s 2019/20 season is over. Erling Haaland, the 19-year-old phenom who scored 16 goals in his first 18 BVB appearances, is free to do whatever he damn well pleases as a teenager that makes around $170,000 per week. That’s my take as an old poor boy.
But his dad — as all dads are wont to do — sees it differently.
With the 2019-20 Ligue 1 season cancelled and PSG declared champion for the seventh time in eight years, the club has turned to friendlies to stay sharp with participation in the Coupe de France final (July 24 vs. Saint-Étienne), Coupe de la Ligue final (July 31 vs. Lyon) and Champions League quarterfinals (Aug. 12 vs. Atalanta) still to come.
Bayern Munich will face Barcelona or Napoli in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, if it can defend its three goal lead against Chelsea in its last-16, second-leg game.
The Champions League will resume in August after being halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a 'Final Eight' tournament being held in Lisbon after the remaining second-leg games from the last 16 ties are decided.
While COVID-19 has done its best to alter the soccer landscape in 2020, it appears that the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League campaign will, for the most part, continue on schedule.
FIFA wants VAR video reviews to be applied in the same way across all competitions, as they take over direct responsibility for the system.
Issues concerning VAR have been handled primarily by IFAB, the game's law-making body, during the system's two-year experimental phase and its introduction as part of the laws of the game. Soccer's global governing body FIFA, however, took over the role of supporting competition organizers with the implementation of VAR from July 1.