February 2020

But equally guilty for these perception problems is that the game’s own hierarchy, who consistently fail to wrest control of their own narrative. During the bitter congress battle, FFA lost the general public war of ideas to an impassioned and united consortium of A-League clubs, the players’ union and lots of state federations. Now those self same clubs appear to be repeating FFA’s mistakes, having promised a brave new world then disappeared into a silent abyss right when the A-League desperately needs defending and decisive action. This seeming reluctance to face up and take ownership imprisons the sport inside a…

Ban starts next season and City also fined €30m (£25m)Club say they will appeal to CAS at ‘earliest opportunity’ Manchester City are banned from the Champions League for subsequent two seasons by Uefa and fined €30m (£25m) after they were found to possess seriously misled European football’s administration and broken financial fair play rules. The severity of the ban from both of Uefa’s elite club competitions and therefore the scale of the fine reflect how seriously Uefa’s FFP compliance bodies consider the club to possess breached the principles and code of conduct. City responded immediately with a characteristically forthright statement,…