Politics

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. 

Professional soccer returned to Japan on Saturday after more than a three-month layoff. While the first round of matches was played in empty arenas, fans of Japanese soccer will now be able to attend games in person.

Beginning Friday, July 10, capacity at matches will be limited to 5,000 fans, or 50 percent capacity in stadiums that hold less than 10,000 spectators. The announcement was made following a joint coronavirus task force meeting Monday that included health officials and leaders from Japanese sports leagues. 

An initiative aimed at increasing the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) coaches in English football has been launched by the Premier League, Football League and PFA.

The move followed comments from high-profile players such as Manchester City's Raheem Sterling who said few black players make the progression into full-time coaching roles.

The Rio de Janeiro state championship restarted once again on Sunday as Botafogo — one of the clubs opposed to what they see as a premature resumption of top-level football —— took the field with a banner protesting the decision.

The move to get back underway in Rio has focused attention on the wider confusion surrounding football's stop-start status in the South American nation. Although many clubs are back in training, only Rio has restarted its state league as the daily number of dead and infected due to the new coronavirus remains high.

Linfield FC is the most successful team in Northern Ireland, winning the NIFL Premiership an astounding 53 times, but recently they made the news for another reason.

On June 10 they launched their new away kit for the 2020-21 season, which, upon first glance, looks like an awkward combination of purple with an orange sash.

Manchester City will attempt to overturn their two-year UEFA ban from European football when a three-day hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland begins on Monday.

European soccer's governing body UEFA ruled in February that City had committed serious breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failed to cooperate with its investigation, handing them a ban and a $34 million fine.

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has begun to consider repealing its ban on players kneeling during the national anthem. The board of directors plans to meet on Tuesday, June 9 to discuss the policy.

This comes in the wake of outrage and resulting protests over the murder of George Floyd while in police custody. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against police brutality have sprung up across the nation and are now drawing global attention.

Runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool should play Everton at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby instead of the game being switched to a neutral venue as local authorities can now provide a safe environment, Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said on Sunday.

Liverpool will resume their quest for a first top-flight title in 30 years against Everton on June 21 but the venue for the behind-closed-doors fixture was not confirmed when the league released its revised fixtures for the season's restart.

On Monday, March 9, Leicester City defeated Aston Villa 4-0 in what’s since become the final match of the 2019-20 Premier League season. Since then fixtures have been postponed as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus pandemic. But when will the Premier League resume?

Queens Park Rangers chief executive Lee Hoos has slammed the English Football League's plans to resume the Championship (second-tier) season on June 20, saying clubs were informed of the decision only moments before it was made public.

The Championship has been suspended since March 8 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but the government has given the green light for elite sport to return from Monday behind closed doors provided strict conditions are met.